First on the Board! Frog God’s Pond by Matthew Frederick
This is our first scoring from the judges, and here’s hoping that we meet the expectations of those competing… So here it is, as per the “numbers” provided me by our playtesters, and the guidelines as posted for the contest by our site admins.
Theme: (10 points) Frog God’s Pond is about a group of Frog’s who’s pond is shrinking… and they’re ability to bribe the supreme deity into assuring that it dries up in a fashion that allows their frogs to die last. Doomed? Most certainly! Civilization? – A bit of a stretch. 5 points for being doomed.
Originality: (10 points) the tile-laying aspect pf this game has been done before, but then, what game mechanic hasn’t? The application of this mechanic in this game is fairly innovative, and this is the only game I can think of other than “Frogger” that has really taken the ‘doomed frogs’ approach. The response from our 5 playtesters was of similar ilk… and so we give this 9 out of ten for Originality. If it had used a mechanic I had never seen before it would be a ten… so those hoping for a ten, be warned… they’re hard to come by. 9 points for being a unique concept as well as for a rather ‘different’ use of an already common mechanic.
Cohesiveness: (15 points) FGP actually has a rather complex turn sequence, although this gets much easier as you become familiar with play. There are, however, EIGHT distinct phases to the turn, which is a bit much, although the handy ‘turn sequence reference cards’ help out considerably in this regard. In addition, the ‘Frog Shaman’ was adding an average of 14 flies to the pond every turn (until the end game), the location of which was determined randomly, and individually. This was a bit of a slow spot in the turn sequence, and there are several rules affecting ‘fly placement’ which must needs be known by the players. As this placement is a vital part of game strategy, none of the players got bored during this portion of the turn.. but most got a little ‘antsy’. Over all, there are no dead spots in the turn, and the entirety of the mechanics as a whole work well together. So, the rules are a bit tricky at first, but highly cohesive overall. 12 points because of the slight difficulty in learning the rules, and because of excess dice-rolling in the 1st phase of the turn.
Components (5 points): When I review games, I generally don’t form an opinion based on the aesthetic quality of what someone has submitted for my review, but this prototype deserves enormous kudos, and the folks that set up this contest DID include it as a factor. FGP is, in point of fact, of higher quality than most of the commercial product we sell. All of the pieces are highly durable, full color, and expertly crafted. ‘Nuff said. You get the full 5 points on this one Matthew.
Fun (25 points): Frog God’s Pond is a nice mix of chance, player determined outcomes, player politics, and strategy. It ran a bit longer than it should have in the opinion of those of us who played (about 3.5 hours), and although everyone had a good time, the players had passed the peak of the curve, as it were. Still a well done game, and one that everyone at my table said they would purchase! (Matthew – let me know if you want to sell the proto you sent… several of our gang mentioned that they would pay for it just to have it in the office). Would it make my Top-Ten Desert Island List? Possibly; it is that good… although it would more likely make the next cut, which is my top-30 list. The average score as received from those who played give this game : 22 out of 25 for fun (which is better than most of the ones I make).
Side Note: The ‘back story’ for this product, the ‘envelope in which it is wrapped intellectually’ is also well thought out and well written, and Matthew deserves enormous credit for that as well. It is too complex in its componentry to be something my small company could afford to produce at a profit…. But who knows what the big boys might say? If this were a $20-$25 Mayfair product, I know I’d buy one.
Personal Prediction: This one’s going to make the top-5….
Total score: 53 points
Here's the 'rub' on the flies being added to the game... The rules say, "The Shaman rolls the dice to add new flies to the board, one roll for the number of players remaining minus one.
Example: If there are four players remaining, the Shaman will roll the dice three times...
I NOW understand that these 'rolls' are for the placement of individual flies... not to determine the total number of flies to be placed...
Here's hoping that makes sense to you Matthew... with 5 players we were adding an average of (3.5 X4)=14 flies to the kitty every turn...
(Four standard dice rolls with 3.5 being the mean result on a six-sider...)
...and for those listening... The time involved with a game has no real bearing on how good it is... I too have written great games in four hours... and terrible games in two months...
If it clicks in your head, it clicks... and thats all there is.
...and you get no further kudos from me unless you win Matthew... no matter how humble or self-effacing you try to appear :-).
XXOOCC