Today I bit the bullet and wrote out a clean copy of the draft rules for my game 'Potlatch', hunted down or created all the bits needed, and set up a playthrough (like a playtest but way less polished and formal- think a hand-drawn gameboard and bits borrowed from 4 games).
A Potlatch, for those not familiar with the idea, is a feast among Northwest Coast First Nations tribes, where the host tribe seeks to win prestige by giving the most and greatest gifts (often creating bonds of obligation to those who receive the gifts). My game borrows from this history, and is set in the context of another popular first nations story, that of Raven (Raven is a trickster figure in First Nations mythology and is also part of many creation stories).
Raven is throwing a feast in 12 months, and the chiefs are all competing to bring the best and greatest gifts, hoping to win Raven's special favour.
Players gather resources (oolichan- a type of fish, cedar, berries, goat, abalone and copper ore) which they then use to build gifts for the feast (canoe, 'copper'- a ceremonial copper shield, bentwood box, ceremonial mask, a feast, and a button blanket). Each gift has a 'prestige' value, and the first player to build any one item gains a bonus token worth a certain amount of prestige as well.
The game uses a simultaneous worker placement mechanic- players choose where to send their tribesmen and then conflicts over resource areas are resolved. Items are then purchased, the time track advances and a new round (month) begins. At the end of 12 months, Raven throws his feast and the chiefs reveal their gifts.
Anyways, I got the rules worked out cleanly in my head, wrote out a good copy and set to putting together a play-through. My long-suffering husband sat down with me to see if my draft was playable. It was.
For the most part I am really happy. This is actually the second iteration of my potlatch themed idea, and the first had huge problems. This version worked really well, and now I'm motivated to get some more done on this game.
Things I liked:
-the rules are really really easy to grasp and very 'clean' (there are no exceptions or confusing actions that only occur on certain rounds etc...)
-the blind bidding/simultaneous worker placement mechanic worked quite well, and did a great job of making players compete for resources
-there are no dice. (I don't mind dice- as a matter of fact, I quite like Stone Age, but I'm still happy that there are no dice in this game)
-the score was close, and we both felt that it was enjoyable and had a nice level of tension.
-12 rounds for 12 months made the game play in a really nice amount of time. I think just over 1/2 an hour, maybe 45 minutes, for a 2 person game. It didn't have time to get boring despite a player's choice of actions being fairly limited.
Things that need work:
-When 2 players tie for a resource, they both get nothing. This is fine- it does make for lots of laughter, but one round we tied for everything, which was a bit annoying. I think that I'll add the ability to 'bid' resources from a player's store to break a tie, like in Tigris and Euphrates, with the added rule that the loser wins all the resources bid while the winner gets to stay on the board and claim the disputed resource.
-We used the screens from T&E, and my husband thought that as the worker placement was so central to the game that perhaps better screens would be in order. Otherwise, there may be a way to indicate how workers are placed differently, ie; without a screen at all.
