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Searching for the right mechanic to make pick up and deliver exciting

10 replies [Last post]
Sun, 04/14/2013 - 15:02
ChowYunBrent
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Joined: 07/11/2012

Hi there,

I'm working on a a game that can broadly be described as a pick up and delivery game. The game has 4 rounds and each round is split in half, loading boats, and then unloading the boats/delivery.

The first phase I'm really happy with, there is a conveyor belt of cards representing goods that are to be loaded on the boats. The further from the docks the goods are, the more players have to bribe and use influence to get them on their boat.

However the second half, which involves the boats sailing to different ports and players taking it in turn to make deliveries is quite frankly a little lacklustre. Currently each port has a series of deliveries that are required with players satisfying the deliveries and earning points. It's a bit like going through the motions however and isnt very fun.

Can anyone suggest possible mechanics I could explore to try and make the delivery phase a little more fun? I've been considering each port triggering an auction between players for who gets to make the delivery but feel his might be a bit of a cop out.

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Sun, 04/14/2013 - 15:49
#1
MarkKreitler
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Joined: 11/12/2008
Push you luck

Don't know how this will work with boats, but how about a "push your luck" mechanic to get to ports faster? If there is a bonus for being first (or penalties for being later), players would race from port to port.

Push your luck would allow people to balance going fast against the possibility of a "breakdown" that costs valuable time.

And who doesn't like a race? :)

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Sun, 04/14/2013 - 16:25
#2
silasmolino
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Joined: 02/01/2013
Perhaps

Perhaps you could randomly generate a point value each turn for every good at every port. For example, for turn one Port 1 has a point value of 5 for good 1, 4 for good 2, 3 for good 3, 2 for good 4, and 1 for good 5. For turn two, the port randomly generates a different point value: 5 for good 3, 4 for good 2, 3 for good 1, 2 for good 3, and 1 for good 5. Theme wise this would quickly illustrate the ebb and flow of the market without adding too much to the game. Mechanic wise, this would create an atmosphere of risk/reward to the game, the player asking, "do I put all in for good 1 in hopes of it paying off big IF that good is in high demand? Or do I spread my money out on several goods and slowing make a profit?

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Sun, 04/14/2013 - 18:07
#3
McTeddy
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Joined: 11/19/2012
I'm a little confused by the

I'm a little confused by the "Each port has a series of deliveries" part... so forgive me if my comment doesn't apply.

But along the above race/push your luck aspect... why not limit the number of boats allowed in one port. Let's say whoever loads the least goods takes off first and may select his destination. No other player may travel to this port because it's full... meaning they'll have to settle for selling their goods at a potentially less valuable port.

By blocking another players action you both add emotions to the mix and a new strategy.

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Sun, 04/14/2013 - 18:39
#4
MikeyNg
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Joined: 07/12/2012
Limits and Choices

I like the above idea about limiting access if your boat is there - you want to allow your players the chance to play strategically and thoughtfully.

Another idea may be to limit the number of resources that a specific port might want. Of course, the farther the port is, the more points you get, but you run the risk that by the time you get there, that they've already been full up from other people. And then your goods spoil. :(

But I would think that even limiting it by 1 - there are 10 goods on boats, but there are only spaces at ports for 9 of them - may at least add something.

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Tue, 04/23/2013 - 06:53
#5
ChowYunBrent
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Joined: 07/11/2012
Thanks...

Cheers for the suggestions. I do like the idea of limiting the number of 'spaces' that are available to players. It becomes a bit like a worker placement in that respect.

I'm playing with the idea of players using influence to determine which ports are visited. If all the players have to visit the same port with the same available trades. then using your influence to visit the more beneficial ports seems like it could create some tension.

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Tue, 04/23/2013 - 15:28
#6
kpres
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Joined: 04/20/2013
Use the same mechanic twice.

You could use the same mechanic that you are using in the first part. A player owns a port on each side of the water. Players use their influence to get those goods onto boats in their ports, and then when the boats set sail, players use their influence to get the best boats unloaded in their ports on the other side of the water. This gives the players a second chance at receiving points for a really good good (assuming that you earn points by loading a good, and earn points by unloading a good). The strategy would get interesting, too; a player who spends all of his money bribing to get the best goods in the loading round will have no money left to bribe the ships in the unloading round. Players have to find a balance.

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Wed, 04/24/2013 - 11:28
#7
rgbiv
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Joined: 02/28/2013
More information, more decisions.

ChowYunBrent,

My recommendation would be to inject some more information into the game right before the unloading stage. This additional information should prompt new decisions on the players' parts and create some fun tension.

Here's an idea:

Each player is randomly dealt a hand of "Delivery Cards" (which he keeps secret) corresponding to the number of deliveries he has to make in the second phase. I.e., five goods to be delivered = five delivery cards in his hand. That player must pair one Delivery Card with one "goods card." The idea is that the Delivery Cards govern (a) the order in which goods are delivered as among the players, (b) the availability of a port to receive a good and/or (c) point bonuses/penalties for delivering the paired goods (e.g., goods spoil in transit, goods are off-spec, a shortage of the goods at the port creates a price/point bonus, etc.).

Choice comes into play because, presumably, players earn more or fewer points from some goods compared to others (let me know if that's not right). So for goods where a player anticipates that he won't get a big payoff, he can pair that good with one of the crappier/penalty cards. But for goods where the payoff is potentially large, players would want to pair their best Delivery Cards with those goods. If you chose to include "delivery numbers" with those cards (first, second, third to deliver, etc.), where players *tied* for their delivery number, they could then spend influence points to resolve the tie.

Good luck. Interested to see how you solve this problem!

Rex G. Baker IV
Montrose Games LLC

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Thu, 04/25/2013 - 10:31
#8
ChowYunBrent
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Joined: 07/11/2012
nice idea,

Hi Rex,

That is definitely a good idea. I really like using the possibility of making some kinds of deliveries less 'valuable' than others via a limited set of cards.

My reservations with this approach are that it introduces yet more cards and mechanics on to what is already shaping to be a overly complex game! I probably should have mentioned this, but the values of various goods are largely equal. instead the calues of various good deliveries depend on each player's secret mission card. Each player has a 'missions' that reward them for particular deliveries.

Hmm, thanks for your suggestions though, this is shaping to be interesting.

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Thu, 05/09/2013 - 10:33
#9
eponym
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Joined: 04/29/2013
There are quite a few

There are quite a few similarities here to the game I'm developing. Though I won't go into a lot of detail, one mechanic I'm using to make deliveries more interesting is players deciding ahead of time the sequence (like plotting a route). So the "race" aspect is part guessing game between players.

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Fri, 05/10/2013 - 09:45
#10
ChowYunBrent
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Joined: 07/11/2012
This seems

This seems like a nice idea. Secret/hidden information is always an appealing feature in games for me. Something similar could be achieved with secret votes as to destinations to be visited... hmm....

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