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Blind Test of 'Minions!'

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gibwalker
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Joined: 01/30/2012
IMAG0561.jpg

Hey there!
I'm Gilbert Walker, a new member and designer of an abstract strategy bgame.
I'm calling it "Minions!" at the moment. Its been over 3 years in the making, and functions fine as a game,
but it possible still contains glitches I haven't found yet...

Brief Description:
Minions is a strategic race through the woods (a fantasy veneer over an abstract game).
You control a force of creatures and race against your opponent to get 3 to the opposite side of the board.
You will summon wolves, squash frogs, and use magic elves to push turtles into the fire!
These 4 creatures (each with unique skills and abilities) have interactive abilities
that can be used in combination with each other. You can move multiple creatures in a turn and
creative strategy is the key to success.
It is quirky and fun, but essentially Minions! is all about movement and spatial awareness.
There is no dice and very little chance in the game.

I've only sold a few copies of the game so far, and I'm weighing up whether to self-publish or get an agent...
Or not publish at all. I'm trying to gauge it's marketing viability.

Would any of you experienced and critical designers want to participate in a blind test?
(Is that what usually happens?) I'd be keen to receive any feedback, but in particular whether you think the game has potential as a product and why.

Many thanks,

Gil

Aquilius
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Joined: 04/08/2011
Play style

Can you perhaps tell us more of the play style? How many players? Do they interact much and compete directly (Blokus) or is it more solitaire against the game and its mechanics, where the player that beats the game first wins (Dominion)?

gibwalker
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Joined: 01/30/2012
Ah great idea! It's 2 player

Ah great idea!

It's 2 player (how did I forget to mention this?).
And the game is pretty much all about direct interaction (probably more like HIVE than Blokus)
Each of the 4 creatures has a 'move' (how many spaces they can move per turn) and an 'ability'.
So the strategy is pretty much all in the movement (ie. spatial awareness).

Hmm...does the lack of other replies to this thread indicate that external playtesting is not a done thing here?

Aquilius
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Joined: 04/08/2011
Playtesting

I'm sure there are quite a few people here who would love to help you, me included. The lack of replies is mostly due to the fact that most of us are rather overwhelmed, in general.

Testing games can be fairly hard work, it requires access to printers, the magic spray glue and scavanging for cardboard if you are building a board game. I don't even want to think of how one would build a card game. Tokens are easy, at least.

Given all the hassle of testing someone else's game, it is only fair that they should offer to test your game too.
Are you up for this?

Dralius
Dralius's picture
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Joined: 07/26/2008
People do play test for each

People do play test for each other from time to time. You could try offering an exchange, you test mine and I’ll test yours. That would give people an incventive.

Aquilius’s assumption that most of us are very busy is correct.

1. I’m working on a demo video for my game Tahiti’s Kickstarter campaign.
2. Doing development work on the protospiel card game design contest winner Card farm.
3. Finalizing plans for this years Protospiel
4. And trying to do a rpg board games based on a book in time for the Game Crafter contest.

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