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Proofread: 3 Simple Card Games

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Fri, 01/22/2016 - 09:22
let-off studios
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I'm leading a workshop where I will be introducing people to Nomic card games: games where you can make it up as you go along, and/or add cards to them while you play. I developed three simple card games to illustrate how to combine different mechanics and game dynamics, as well as to argue that one can make a game about ANYTHING, using nothing more than a blank deck of cards.

If you've a spare moment, please review these rules (about a page and a half each), and share any notes you may have about them. I'm open to any constructive criticism.

These games are targeted for the casual market, appropriate for all ages, and designed to be picked up and played in a matter of minutes.

MUSH-RING!
http://www.let-off.com/bgames/mushring/mush-ring.pdf
Emphasizes draw-and-play, take-that, and set-building mechanics.

NUTS AND GRAINS
http://www.let-off.com/bgames/nutsgrains/nutsgrains.pdf
Card drafting, open trade and negotiation, graduated scores, and secret agenda.

CROSSING GUARD XL! (XGXL!)
http://www.let-off.com/bgames/xgxl/xgxl.pdf
Simultaneous bidding and secret agendas.

Thanks for your time, folks!

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Fri, 01/22/2016 - 09:24
#1
let-off studios
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Nuts & Grains - Scoring

One change I'm making to the scoring of Nuts & Grains that's not factored in the rules above (at least, as of this writing):
1 card by itself is 1 point.
2 matching cards is 3 points.
3 matching cards is 5 points.
4 matching cards is 8 points.
5 matching cards is 11 points.
6 matching cards is 15 points.

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Fri, 01/22/2016 - 12:08
#2
polyobsessive
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Mush-Ring

Is there any particular type of feedback you are after?

I've had a quick look at Mush-Ring, so here are a few comments...

What is the Shroom-Mat?

What is your Mush-Ring? Is it something on the Shroom-Mat?

"The player collects the cards of the color in their Mush-Ring that add up to the highest value, and moves them under their Shroom-Mat." I think I get what you mean, but I think there should be a clearer way to explain this.

Why does everyone wait until the end of the round to draw cards? Surely this would be smoother if everyone draws as they go.

"The game ends when, at the end of a round, at least one player has collected 10 cards." ...and stored them under their mat? Possibly a little awkward keeping track of how many are stashed when they are hidden away.

In general, I find the 3rd person style ("the player"..."they"...) here a bit clumsy. Have you considered 2nd person? ("On your turn, you play a card...") Just my personal preference.

Also, the Regular Capitalisation of all sorts of Key Terms looks to me A Bit Awkward. It makes words jump out more than they should, making the text flow a bit less well.

I must admit that I am also not a fan of "Deth Kapp" -- it sounds to me like an attempt to be edgy (and you'll soon be talking about KAOS and stuff) and makes me want to constantly change it to "death cap". Again, just my personal preference.

I may get a chance to look at the others later.

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Fri, 01/22/2016 - 13:01
#3
let-off studios
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polyobsessive wrote:Is there

polyobsessive wrote:
Is there any particular type of feedback you are after?

General notes on the comprehensibility of the rulesheets as I've written them is what I'm after right now. I don't have PnP sets of the games just yet, though as I'll likely be snowed-in this weekend I'll have a bit more time to do it. After they're built I'll be making requests for gameplay feedback from those willing to make the download, print, and play.

Each game is a deck of cards or less in size (54 cards, at most), printable on 6 sheets of 8.5" x 11" paper.

Thanks for your comments regarding the wording of the Shroom-Mat and end-of round. To clarify a few things:
- The Shroom-Mat is a card that sits at the center of a player's Mush-Ring. It's a card with six arrows all radiating in different directions, so a player knows how to line up their cards. Again, a PnP version can help sort this.
- I'm also wondering about the fact I'm asking players to wait until all others are done, since this opens up the possibility that players may lose a full Shroom-Ring to an opponent's Steal or Stomp cards. I want to make sure that all players have a chance to make the same number of turns, but I'm sure I can make this more intuitive.
- Same with forcing players to move their scored cards under their Shroom-Mat. It's not necessary, and you make a good point about being able to check player scores throughout the game.
- I'll have another go at (not?) capitalizing key terms. Sorry to hear it was a bit jarring to read. That's something I want to avoid, so thank you for pointing it out.
- Deth Kapp is a stylistic choice. As the themes for these games are at best a bit silly, changing this for posterity is a low priority at this stage. The idea is to encourage players to say to themselves, "Even I could make a game better than this!" So hopefully you're not the only person who wants to avoid tropes like this one. :)

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Fri, 01/22/2016 - 16:45
#4
polyobsessive
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Nuts and Grains

Ah, so these are just intended as examples to show the sort of thing that the students might be expected to produce? Cool! I'll try to tone down the pickiness a little. ;)

So, some thoughts on Nuts and Grains...

First draft phase... What do you do with the cards you keep? It looks like you repeat the draft step until you are down to the last card, but this is not explicitly stated.

Trade Phase... I assume this is trading the 5 cards that were retained in the first draft? Do you have to trade one-for-one or does anything go?

Resolution phase... Can you trade all 10 cards that have been retained/traded?

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Fri, 01/22/2016 - 21:00
#5
let-off studios
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polyobsessive wrote:First

polyobsessive wrote:
First draft phase... What do you do with the cards you keep? It looks like you repeat the draft step until you are down to the last card, but this is not explicitly stated.
I added something like "when you have one card left in hand, it is Discarded." The cards one keeps are not part of the hand. I'll look at rules for 7 Wonders and see how they describe it, as I don't want players to discard the cards they've decided to keep, only those that have been moving around the table. The end result is that each player should have five cards remaining after the card drafting is done...Perhaps I should explicitly state that in the rules.

polyobsessive wrote:
Trade Phase... I assume this is trading the 5 cards that were retained in the first draft? Do you have to trade one-for-one or does anything go?
Anything goes, except for the rather sparse set of guidelines I wrote. I want the players to determine what they feel is fair. The main restriction I placed was that I don't want it to go on forever, and when players feel like no one has any worthwhile/reasonable offer to make or take, then the Phase is over.

polyobsessive wrote:
Resolution phase... Can you trade all 10 cards that have been retained/traded?
Again, this is acceptable - though likely not in a player's best interest. The Favorites Card gives them a commodity that will offer them point bonuses, and there are certain cards that will offer bonuses or penalties. However, I wanted to make sure the players were the ones to determine what they felt was fair. There's no enforcement of 'fair trades' in this game however, and only two rounds of trading means that players will be naturally wary of taking a risk with trading away their whole stock of kept cards on one turn.

Thank you for all the questions and feedback! This has been very good for me. :) Keep them coming, if you wish!

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Sat, 01/23/2016 - 08:20
#6
let-off studios
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polyobsessive wrote:I've had

polyobsessive wrote:
I've had a quick look at Mush-Ring, so here are a few comments...
- Addressed the end-of round issues with resolving things like a full Mush-Ring, creating a Score Pile instead of placing cards under the Shroom-Mat, etc.
- End of game/last turn is now clarified, still linked to a player having 10 or more cards.
- Added "DIG IT!" which allows a player to grab a Shroom Card from the Discard and put it in play.

I'll be addressing capitalization and then revising Nuts and Grains next.

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Sun, 01/31/2016 - 09:14
#7
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After a weekend of polishing

After a weekend of polishing and playtesting, I've adjusted rules for each of these games as follows.

MUSH-RING
- increased ability of the Deth Kapp, adjusted end-game conditions, and some other small tweaks.

NUTS & GRAINS
- clarified some trading rules. No "bum deals" are permitted and cards traded must be face-up.
- Favorite cards now have a scoring track separate from other Commodities, instead of merely +1 to that player's score.
- Upped point values for sets in general, providing for a wider spread of scoring options.

XGXL!
- player Patron Cards are now face-up.
- players start each new round with their full hand of Hustle Cards.

That's about it for now. I think this was the last weekend I'd be able to have a legit playtest before the workshop next week. If anyone has a moment or two to review the rules and pass along some feedback, please do so.

Links for the rules are above, and/or available at the front page of
http://www.let-off.com

Thanks!

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