So I've just wrapped up a newer Version of "Quest Adventure Cards(tm)", I call it the "Reboot". In principle you are STILL trying to "complete" Quests but the method of doing so is different. The difference are as follows:
1> No more "Quest" Definition Cards.
Instead we use a STAR for required cards that must be played into the play area. You can start from one (1) to three (3) Victory Point cards which are required. That means you can start a quest from any of these three cards.
2> No more "Treasury".
It felt clunky and useless since players would just dump duplicates of cards or cards of little to no value. It seemed like that was just too much and not very useful. Plus you have to manage two (2) hands (one the Hand and two the Treasury).
3> More varied Take-That Cards.
Features more different types of Take-That Cards. This was due to more gaming experience with all kinds of different types of card games which gave me more on HOW (?) I could design more cards to improve the adversarial game play.
So in a way, the game is SIMPLER (I think a 7 year old could play...) and that is also something that I wanted: to make the game more accessible to younger players. It may be a bit too simple... But I'm not counting on volumes of sales ... Just something to offer gamers a chance to try and mainly have a product for sale over at "The Game Crafter" (TGC).
I'm also looking into what is required to market the game to 7+ years of age. Based on some research, I find that the game is simple enough for them to understand how to make MELDS and how to be competitive with the Take-That cards and be interested in MATH for adding and keeping score. I'm not sure yet...
I am reading up more on the subject:
6 to 8 Years: "They are beginning to have an interest in simple fantasy, adventure-type games that do not require extensive memory of detail."
So I think 7+ could be good with the MATH scoring being the most challenging aspect of the game. The MELDS are simple enough (count from 1 to 5) and the Take-That requires no memory or math. I do believe that since there is ONLY one hand to manage... That too makes the game even more accessible!
I'm doing more research on the subject and seeing what I can learn and find.
Comments
More good news following more research!
Between 6-7 years your child may:
Be able to count up to 100 and count a few numbers backwards. Be able to do some basic maths such as adding '1 apple to 2 apples makes 3 apples' and will be able to tell when numbers are higher than other number.
So the game goes up to 30 Victory Points (To be playtested) and there are simple ADDITIONS (Bonuses) of "+1" or SUBTRACTIONS (Penalties) of "-3" for example.
Numbers are incremental for MELDS: from "1" to "5".
That's all great news and maybe (just maybe) kids will LIKE "Quest Adventure Cards(tm)" the Reboot which will be available in a month on "The Game Crafter" (TGC).
I will work on writing a more complete "digital" Rulebook (in PDF format) to be a little bit more explicit and state all of the rules more clearly.
Cheers!
I am fully aware that...
The game is rather "simple" TBH. But I can't believe that COMPLEXE games can be designed with 3 Poker Cards of instructions. Or on 3 sides of a Hook Box ... Maybe it's just me, but I can't possibly imagine rules that are very easy to write and require less room for them.
What I mean is that: "there is not sufficient room on 3 Hook Box sides to write rules that span a 20-Page rulebook for a game..."
So this leads me to believe that those games are VERY SIMPLE TOO. And there is nothing WRONG with this... It's just a game that appeals to a younger audience.
I had put images (card samples) and even with the few images that I put... There was HARDLY enough room to put all the French rules (because French is a more verbose language)...
I will playtest the game when I get the cards and then we shall see if it passes my Game Design Test. I know I'm not looking for something too complex but at the same time, I know the audience for the product.
Armed with this information, I should be able to make a determination IF the game is sufficiently interesting enough. And BTW I was given a 3/10 for the original version of "Quest Adventure Cards(tm)" from "Purple Pawn" way back in 2011 (or was it 2012?) But he was looking at it from an "Adult" Perspective not a game that a 7+ Year Old may be interested in playing especially if they are being drawn to Adventure/Fantasy and card games (given that the MATH is much simpler than your Standard Deck of 54 Poker Cards)...
I will need to wait until around 27 or 28 January before...
I need to confirm what the game is like AS-IS. Afterwards then I can explore. The real issue is that I want the game to be able to be played by 7 or 8 year olds. Why? Well it could be a nice gift for a Cousin's Son and I know others who like the "Quest" Franchise.
I just want to make sure I don't make it TOO complicated.
The other fact of the matter is that I am also thinking about offering a Digital PDF "Strategy Guide" for the game which will explain better the rules and ensure that everyone understands HOW(?) to play.
Could be a nice "Digital Download" from TGC when you BUY the game.
We'll have to wait and see...
After some much needed revision, I have decided to up the ante.
It's true that while I wanted to appeal to a younger audience with this game, I quickly realized that the game was much too simple and needed more depth of "strategy" to entice older players like parents and siblings along with the younger folk too. Knowing this has led me to realize that the game needed some "important" changes TBH. And so I have made some significant changes when it comes to the complexity to master the game and have added more levels of abstractness. So let us look at the changes together:
No more ordering of cards
Previously the cards had an "easy" set of "Victory Points" which went from 1 to 5 points. Melds were rather simple and followed a numerical order. Well I got rid of that mechanic because it made the game too simple. It felt more like a game of Poker than a game of "Quests" and "Adventure".
I made an entirely new spreadsheet today to address this problem and realigned all the scoring for each card. What this does is significantly make it harder to predict what is the best move or play in most situations.
Added suits to the game
Precisely four (4) suits have been added and are: squares, circles, triangles and stars. This addition will put a wrench in the younger players as they may not comprehend the abstract nature of these symbols. I think this means that the game is playable by older players such as 9+ or higher depending on each player's mental reasoning. We state that the game is for both Families and kids aged 12+ and with this addition... It may be more accurate.
What does this imply? On a player's turn, they build one of two (2) types of "Quests": Quests by color or Quests by suit.
The amount of cards playable on a turn is still two (2) quest cards and one (1) Event card. Or you may play one card towards a quest already in-play. This makes the game more "open" and adds a bit of abstractness to the game.
Scoring needs more playtesting
Originally players needed 30 "Victory Points" to win. Now with more valuable cards, I think it may be necessary to up the win clause to 40 Points.
Of course this requires more playtesting in order to determine the right balance. In addition, it will require me re-design ALL the cards in this version of the game. I'm going to work on it while I wait for the first prototype to arrive (Jan 27 or 28)
I wanted to talk a bit about how all these changes affect the game. Colors were already at seven (7) and is not new. Colors require one (1) of each suit AT MOST, that is new (and this makes for melds or sets of 4 cards). We simply state that Quests can have at maximum four (4) cards. To play a Colors Quest, you must have two (2) or more cards of the same color in your hand. Or you may play one or two cards into existing Quests in-play.
Now with the addition of four (4) suits, you can now play two (2) cards with the exact same suit. Much like the Color Quests, Suit Quests also allow for a maximum of four (4) cards.
It will be interesting to receive and playtest the first version of the game knowing that I have already made changes to the game prior to playing the prototype. We'll have to see how matters play out. Playtesting will help reveal any flaws in the design.
I also have to work on the "Strategy Guide"... which will have more explanations than the "Folio Rules" which are just a quick reference.
If anyone has questions, comments or feedback they'd like to share, feel free to add your thoughts and I'll answer any feedback I receive.
Cheers all!
Wrapped up a day's worth of editing... quite the effort!
I think that I'm finally comfortable with the version of the game. It's been a bit of a whirlwind and very aggressive state of getting all the pieces together!
But I think these edits were essential in making the game more challenging. With the Victory Points now varied per Quest, the result is a more dynamic game style of play.
I will wait until I get prototype #1 later in January and then we'll see how things evolve from there.
Of course as always, I will keep you all posted on my progress as things move forward.
Sincerely.
Finished the rulebook and that's great!
It took a few days to get it made. I had a bunch of images to insert, plus icons too for the suits and then I had to fiddle with MS Word because it wasn't allowing me to make identifiers on the sample cards.
But now it looks pretty decent TBH.
I was thinking that I could make a Strategy Guide instead... but it's much to complicated and would require so many sample cards, it would be too much work.
So a Game Rules document it is! Cheers.
Building quests
Are quests that are built by matching colors required to have different suits?
And vice versa, quests built by matching suits required to have different colors?
That would slightly complicate hand management while still being easy to explain.
Yes you are correct! 2 types of quests.
Indeed there are two (2) different types of quests: one having all the same color with different suits and one having all the same suit with different colors.
There is now only one (1) hand to manage also. Previously there were two (2) hands to manage. It made the 2nd hand dumb: you would dump extra cards into that hand.
And it was pretty much useless otherwise.
I still don't have this version of the game... I am awaiting some funds to pay TGC for an updated version.
The amazing thing about this "Reboot" is that it no longer has any problems or weird stuff like: discard to the "middle" of the draw deck. And then there was the Treasury (as mentioned above). There were Quest Definition cards too, those were there to control the flow of the game. A bunch of things that were not natural.
It also had weird events too. Things like the old blacksmith which sounded cool but were hard to manage. If you need 2 pages in a rulebook to explain 1 card... well I guess you get the point...
But yeah... much better and with medium complexity with the addition of suits. Not all kids will understand... but more adults will enjoy the experience.
Cheers and thanks for that keen observation...
Will be working on refining the ruleset.
I have managed to do some minor edits today... For the digital rulebook and need to apply those changes to the folio such that all the rules are consistent.
I'm going to have to update the cards with the newest set... While I wait for funds to be available to order this latest version of the game.
Still waiting for the initial prototype to arrive... It's on its way and sound be delivered sometime next week. I'll just proof that version until I can get the "real" version that needs to be playtested.
Keep you all up-to-date.
Cheers!
Uploaded all 70 cards today... also re-worked the folio too!
So it probably took about an hour to upload all of the new cards for the latest version of the game. I also had the time to upload the folio and update that component also.
Still waiting for the original version to land... it's on its way too! It has cleared customs and should be delivered by Friday.
I just want to have a look of the overall quality of that product and order the revised version asap...
I'll let you all know my thoughts about the original reboot version soon enough.
Best!
I was thinking about foil cards and then realized...
That making an entire set of foil-only cards would be cost prohibitive and made little business sense.
However makings "Promo" cards that are premium and only available at events... That could be something entirely different.
Why? Because they are event specific and therefore RARE. I'm not talking about card rarity like in CCGs or TCGs... just RARE in the sense you CANNOT buy them.
I'm still going to wait until I get some funds to make my new TGC order because I don't want to pay exchange rates.
USA to Canada Dollar is a bit of a killer these days.
Sincerely.
Got the first prototype today and some of my thoughts are...
The tuck box looks great, the cards look real nice too... but there would be plenty more room to have extra space for expansion cards. However I'm not sure.
I bought some Deck Boxes over at Temu for $15 CAD each and they should arrive at the end of the month. Like I said in the previous post, I am waiting for some money to come in that will allow me to purchase a newer copy of the game (Quest) and allow me to playtest that version.
Right now it's a question of finalizing the game and seeing how improved it is from the current version.
I will let you all know when that version is on its way!
Best.
Temu is a rip off...
Both deck boxes which were being sold at 50% off have defects. The red box has a more repairable defect... because all it needs is some glue to keep one of the corners of the box glued to the remainder of the box.
The blue one is less pronounced and is a stress line as if something may have squeezed the box and that is permanent and cannot be fixed.
The rest of the boxes are good except for those two flaws. The boxes have no branding like "Ultimate Guard" but it is apparent that these are leftovers that all have flaws.
They look to have the SAME quality like "Ultimate Guard" deck boxes at a cheaper price and with defects and flaws...
Oh well... I guess one flaw out of two is not that bad TBH. Like they say you get what you pay for...
FYI... Cheers all!
Have revised the rulebook a bit and...
I also removed the Folio. Why? Because I felt like it was hard to summarize all of the information required to play into a small format (3 poker cards) since it needed to be bilingual (English & French) and that did not leave enough room for proper explanations.
I've still got to proof it a few extra times... But this rulebook (the BIG one) has only 5 pages and is fully bilingual too...
So I'm happy that's not too overwhelming TBH.
I'll let you know as soon as I order the current version for playtesting.
Sincerely.
I uploaded the latest rulebook to TGC...
The current version is now part of the product available on "The Game Crafter" (TGC) and I plan to offer a FREE download from my website too.
The rules are bilingual (English & French) as recommended by the laws in Quebec. All I await is some conclusions to make the purchase of the game online for further playtesting.
The current rules are tweaked and require some playtesting to ensure everything works correctly.
TBD... Almost ready to move forwards with this design.
Cheers all...
Made some corrections...
I've managed to add a couple of additional layers to add some complexity to the game. It's pretty clear some things need to be confirmed with some playtesting.
What exactly???
Well playtime (how long a 2-Player game or a versus 4-Player game, etc.)
And then there is the "collections" versus the "quests" and how the interaction between those two work.
Seeing how scoring works... what is the minimum and how Team play is affected, etc.
Some of the details still need to be validated.
Cheers.
The prototype is on its way... finally (Yay!!!)
Can't wait to get the promo cards and see if they are worth it or not! Plus it will allow me to playtest the rules and various details like scoring points for 2-Players and for 4-Player Teams (2 vs. 2)...
Should be good to bring to the table real soon.
Cheers all! Let you know when the Eagle Lands (officially).