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Paragraph wording help

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Mon, 07/17/2017 - 14:16
Desprez
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The concept:
Essentially, a deck of cards needs to be created. All the cards need to randomized, then a smaller number of those cards will be used in the game based on the number of players. These need to have a specific card, and then randomized again.

There are 19 cards, and the final deck needs to have 4 cards per player.

Here's my wording now, but it seems a little awkward. Does anyone have a better way to word this simple concept?

"Remove the red-bordered Lost City Ruins from the Lost Continent cards, then shuffle and deal four cards per player in the game, minus one card. Then add the Lost City Ruins to those cards. Set the rest aside; they will not be used in this game. Re-shuffle, then deal and arrange the cards face down in the center of the table."

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Mon, 07/17/2017 - 18:23
#1
MAR
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Wording

Hello,

I am still trying to figure out what is going on here, (since I don't know the rules/ how to play/ your vision) but I will give it a shot.

First impression of your paragraph: as a player reading the rules for the first time, I don't know what to do. Maybe it would help with other context or physical components, but I still don't know what to do. It needs to be written for the dummy (like me).

Are these the instructions?

1. Separate the Red-bordered "Lost City Ruins" cards from the "Lost Continent" cards and place them into two piles.

2. Shuffle the "Lost Continent" cards and deal four cards per player of the game, minus 1 card. Example: If there are 3 players, you will have a total of 11 remaining "Lost Continent" cards.

3. Take your remaining "Lost Continent" cards and add them to the pile of "Lost City Ruins" cards that you had set aside. Shuffle this combined deck of cards. These will be the playing cards for the game. The unused cards may be discarded.

4. Deal and arrange the playing cards face down in the center of the table.

Ok, that is a start. Make it a step by step process. I am unsure what you mean at some parts, but I did the best I could. Perhaps if you provide more details, it could become more clear. I am intrigued now, though, regarding "lost continent" and "lost city ruins". Sounds fun.

Thanks!

-MAR

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Mon, 07/17/2017 - 18:48
#2
Super-Tooned
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Instructions.

I agree with MAR. They sound like instructions so thus you would write them like instructions. Or if you want a paragrapgh, I would write it like this.

'To start remove the red-bordered Lost City Ruins from the Lost Continent cards, then shuffle and deal four cards per player in the game, minus one card. Next, add the Lost City Ruins to those cards. Now set the rest aside; they will not be used in this game. To complete set-up, re-shuffle, then deal and arrange the cards face down in the center of the table.'

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Tue, 07/18/2017 - 05:39
#3
Desprez
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Ok. So the Lost City Ruins is

Ok. So the Lost City Ruins is a single specific card. It's the one that needs to be present somewhere in the deck once it has the proper number of cards. All the cards have the same back, but the Lost City Ruins has a red border on its front side to make it easier to distinguish.

Instead of getting mathy, I could word it like this:

"Remove the Lost City Ruins card from the Lost Continent cards (it has a red border on the front side), then shuffle and deal four cards per player in the game. Randomly replace one of those cards with the Lost City Ruins. Re-shuffle, then deal and arrange the cards face down in the center of the table. Set the extra cards aside; they will not be used in this game."

I could break it down into separate steps, but it just seems like a lot of text for what isn't really a complicated process, and breaking it into steps makes it seem even worse.
Also, I'm getting a little crunched for space in the game set-up section (there are other unrelated steps.)

• Remove the Lost City Ruins card from the Lost Continent cards. (It has a red border on the front side)
• Shuffle the Lost Continent cards and deal four cards per player in the game.
• Randomly replace one of those cards with the Lost City Ruins.
• Re-shuffle them, then deal and arrange the cards face down in the center of the table.
• Set the extra cards aside; they will not be used in this game.

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Tue, 07/18/2017 - 23:53
#4
Esoteric Fulcrum
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Hey there, So I think the

Hey there,

So I think the problem lies with the way you approaching making the deck. Using the word 'remove' for the Lost City Ruins makes it seem like you are taking it away from deck, when the reality is, it is the first card of the deck. Also, instead of choosing the cards you want to play with, I think it works better if you choose the cards to leave out of the deck. These can be removed.

If I am correct, you can only have a maximum of players, and 3 cards at least are always left out?

"Each player needs 4 random Lost Continent cards, and the Lost City Ruins must be in play. An easy way to do this is:

- Set aside the Lost City Ruins card (easily identifiable by it's red border)
- Shuffle the remaining Lost Continent cards, and then count cards off the top of the deck, face down, according to the number of players (3 cards with 4 players, 7 cards with 3 and 11 cards with 2). Put these cards back in the game box. They will not be used in the game.
- Add the remaining cards to the Lost City Ruins card, shuffle, and deal 4 cards to each player. You should have no cards left.
- Leave the cards in face down piles, and arrange them in the center of the table."

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Wed, 07/19/2017 - 04:28
#5
Desprez
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"[...] when the reality is,

"[...] when the reality is, it is the first card of the deck."

Why would it be the first card of the deck?

Removing cards is an interesting approach, but could be problematic due to potential expansions adding more players or area cards to the game, if the players don't realize there are basically 4 cards per player.

My other concern with the original wording is that I was trying to avoid the impression that the players are getting the cards dealt to them.

But I see the the last part of the instruction then tells them to place them in the center of the table. I wonder if this causes confusion.

Some blind testing may sort this out.

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Wed, 07/19/2017 - 07:15
#6
MAR
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wording continued

Now things make more sense knowing that the ruins card is a single card. Your improved wording is indeed much better. I do like the approach that Esoteric Fulcrum took, removing cards from the original deck, but I see your follow up point regarding the inclusion of more players or cards later in the game. Yes, what you will need to do is to have a few different write ups and give them to a few groups and see how they interpret them with the cards and see which is easier to understand and which brings the best results.

In regards to how you mentioned "dealing" the cards- yes that is confusing. I was not sure if you meant to deal them to players or in a pile. If you are not dealing them to players then say something like "after assembling the cards, arrange them in the center of the table (however you like). OR if you are dealing them to players, deal them to players. Whichever works.

-MAR

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Wed, 07/19/2017 - 07:27
#7
Esoteric Fulcrum
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I mean, it is the first card

I mean, it is the first card being set aside to be part of the deck. Then you add the other cards to it to make the deck.

Good point about future expansions. It is the word 'deal' that could be confusing, so use 'count' instead. "Count cards from the top of the deck, 4 cards per player minus 1 (so in a 3 player game, count 11 cards). Add the counted cards to the Lost City Ruins and put the remainder back in the box (they will not be used this time).

Yes, I'm not sure of the reason for keeping them face down in the middle of the table. I was just copying from your first paragraph.

Cheer
Shane

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Wed, 07/19/2017 - 16:14
#8
Desprez
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Oh, I agree that 'count' is a

Oh, I agree that 'count' is a much better word than 'deal.'

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