one on one

My guess is this game has NOT been playtested... Collecting 150 cards is a lofty goal, considering if there are six (6) Players playing the game. That totals up to 900 cards!

While I think the game may have merit, I would suggest streamlining the design to ONE (1) card per State (so 50 cards). Again even that is a lot if you have six (6) players. That totals up to 300 cards!!

Perhaps a BETTER solution is to gather different "fact" TYPES. So if you have 10 categories, that adds up to 60 cards (more reasonable amount for six (6) players)...

What could be good is IF you have 20 categories but each player had his OWN "collection" card (which could be randomly selected at the start of the game). Then it's a bit like "Ticket-To-Ride" where you have a card and you are trying to collect other cards on the board.

You may start with 25 cards on the board. Player move around the board from State to State and collect cards when they reach a destination that matches their "collection" card (and they have not collected that category card already).

To me it seems a bit "Simple" – but that is common in many Euros where each player races to do his "own thing" and players rarely interact with each other.

But you can see how we went from 900 cards to maybe 60 cards. Think about it ... And you'll understand how to better "streamline" your design.

Cheers.

Note: If you have 20 categories and a maximum of six (6) players, that's 120 cards IN TOTAL. Not too bad. That at least is FEASIBLE... You don't have in excess of 900+ cards! And if you do it per State, a nice ROUND number like 150 cards might be better. So three (3) cards per State... See where I am going with this???

Update: If you have three (3) cards per State (so 150 cards in total), each state could be NUMBERED (1 to 50) and each card could have a corresponding number too (1 to 50). This makes placing the cards randomly on the map much more easier too.

Update #2: What if you draw a card for a State that already has a card? Well you could stockpile cards at a location... When a player comes to this location, he could "WHAM!" pick-up all the cards at that location... This is introducing some cool ideas and make the game more challenging too!

What if the board was divided into "areas" like Southern which includes California, New Mexico, Texas and that the Categories for those States are SPECIFIC. Meaning that in order to GET Category A-B-C, you MUST Travel and visit one of those "Southern" states...

This type of "organization" would be cool, because it would REQUIRE players to forcefully travel around the state map.

That kind of "designed" requirement would make the game (perhaps) more interesting...

Update: You could also give players ONE (1) Plane Ticket which can drop you off at one of several locations and ONE (1) Train Ticket which brings you from East-To-West (or the other way around) on the US Map.

That could inject some more "variance" into the game too!

I personally feel "positive reinforcement" is more effective than criticism. He may well only have an "idea" in his mind ... but exploring his "version" proves that there are some things that have not been tested – Yet!

Like YOU said: "Collect 150 cards to win?!"

I just showed how unrealistic this is, if you play up to six (6) players. That totals to 900+ cards. No game has 900+ cards. Even Dominion has about 500 and then with expansions you can swap out certain deck piles ... Collectively it probably has MORE than 900+ cards (if you count multiple expansions). But the truth is, you only play with a "fraction" of those cards.

MY "version" is just something "sensible" where the ideas are NOT "extremes". Just from the IDEA itself, there are a LOT of problems. So you need to trim and refine the game idea so that it is something "doable".

I'm just giving an "example" of what a "streamlined" version of HIS game may look like. Just to give some concrete ideas about how to go about to refine his idea(s). Even my version is a bit "dry" even for a euro game... What I am saying, is this kind of "collection" game is not something that interests me (personally). But if it has a bunch of cool "categories" and fun facts about the USA ... could be fun to play (once or twice).

There is no way this guy has "playtested" a game with over 500+ cards for four (4) players. That's 150 x 4 = 600 cards. That's ridiculous. Do you know how long such a game will take and the "chaos" of remembering which cards you Have and Don't Have???

Seriously people have a hard time remembering 10 cards they need to get, let alone 150 cards!

Unless this is a Video Game, well then it could work. But TableTop Game (IMHO) – No! The computer could take control of maintaining cards (150 count) and could hi-light the cards on the board yet to be obtained.

But seriously you "believe" he has designed a game with over 500+ cards that can be played within a reasonable amount of time???

My guess is that we'll never hear back from him... Posts and then probably just disappears. Much like on BGG.

So what is the number of cards? I don’t think you did give that. We were just guessing, because the only detail I can see that you provided is that a player has to collect three things from each US state.

I don’t know what the concept is, so I’m not sure what I can offer. My best design skills are probably rule set simplification and poking holes in systems. I’m not quite sure what you’re looking for here, but I suspect it’s neither of those two things.

However, as I said, I don’t even know what a single minute of gameplay might look like.

@Let-off he's no Joseph Oberlander... He's not a headbanger, nor does he only use Female Artists! And he wouldn't start an All-Girls Band but he may request that he gets more than one woman...

Nobody will want to contact you by Yahoo. If you want to discuss your game, do it on BGDF. What do you think this website was designed for???

Mostly only designers read it but some Publishers do lurk too. I do get the impression that you're of the "Paranoid" type (worried that someone will steal his big money idea) ... And you should know attribution is more than 50% ownership.

What does that mean? Well it means if you TALK about your game (on forums) and you describe HOW your game is played, most people will accept that this was YOUR idea to begin with.

See what I mean??? And you are a STRANGER to this "community". I can mostly list off MOST of our communities user's by their first names. Why? Because I interact with them almost on a daily basis.

I should also add that I am a "Forum Moderator" and one of the Admins if you need help (with anything related to our Forums).

So don't be so worried about your idea. Talk about it. Send us your rules, etc. We probably can HELP you ... Once we figure out what it is you are looking for.

And please no posting about "How GREAT your game idea is..." I've seen that numerous times before, people come to this forum, say they have the best idea... Then when they share they idea with the community... It turns out it's a very CRAPPY idea. Has happened at least three (3) times over the years. Glad there are not too many "paranoid" people because then nobody would be discussing their games.

Sincerely,

Kristopher
Aka QuestCCG
"Indie" Game Designer
BGDF Moderator – Publisher List

That's really frickin' sad.