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How to REWARD your players

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Fri, 06/30/2017 - 21:06
questccg
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While working on my WIP "SpellMasters", I have come to a STRANGE roadblock.

In the game, players are one (1) of five (5) Wizards competing to earn Experience Points (XPs) by playing Game Tiles. Each tile has its very own point score.

Now each level of the "Dungeon Delve" has several words that need to be spelled-out (aka SpellMasters). Players that contribute to the words earn XPs. So far, all this has been playtested and is working fine.

My problem lies with "Quests". Quests are triggered at the end of spelling some word and rely on a RANDOM "Quest" card. To win the quest, you must spell the word required by the quest. So if the quest was to spell the word "Jewel", players need to spell that word out.

The problem I have is that asking ONE (1) Player to spell the entire WORD is too difficult. If all players contribute, my PROBLEM is this:

  • How do I REWARD ONE (1) Wizard with the LOOT card if multiple players contribute to the forming of the WORD.

I have thought of rewarding the player with the MOST XP ... but he's already the winner of the level -- because he got the most XP.

What other ways can I reward one (1) player with the LOOT reward obtained from the quest???

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Fri, 06/30/2017 - 21:59
#1
john smith
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Maybe a Wild card that can be

Maybe a Wild card that can be used in the next round? Or Perhaps a second type of XP called Co-op XP? You can have a second Victor in that case. Most Cooperative Player Title??

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Sat, 07/01/2017 - 08:33
#2
let-off studios
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Reasoning

What's the reason for the Quest Card to be in the game in the first place? I'm not sure why they're there, based on your description above. What do you hope to gain by including them in your design?

Beyond that, I'd propose quests be for acronyms using uncommon letters. I know that nearly every time I play ScrabbleI end up with a bunch of consonants that I consider leftovers: they cannot be combined usefully with other tiles I currently have to make a word.

So why not have the quests require an entire collection of letters at once in order to fulfill the quest?
- Players would need to balance the usefulness of the letters in their hand. Should I try to spell the words one letter at a time with commonly-used tiles, or hold on to anything and spell and acronym/complete a quest?
- Players can use quests to dump tiles they otherwise don't want. For example, what if there was a quest for QXQ? Those are rotten letters to have clogging up my hand, but I know that eventually that quest will come up and I'll need those letters to earn those exclusive points.
- Quests become different from the spelling of words in the typical game, which I assume would be built one wizard's letter/contribution at a time instead of all at once.

Again, I'm not sure of the purpose of your Quest Cards, but maybe adding some distinction to them would help. Hope this is useful.

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Sat, 07/01/2017 - 12:39
#3
questccg
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Okay thanks for the suggestions

I have explored some *NEW* ideas and what I have concluded is that ONE (1) Game Tile will trigger the "Quest" reward.

For example: If the quest was "Stolen Booty", and the word that needs to be spelled was "Jewels", the "S" would be the one that scores the "LOOT" reward.

What that means is that once the entire quest word is spelled, only then can the last player take the "Quest" card and FLIP IT OVER to reveal the "LOOT" that they have earned.

Keeps people from not being engaged in the game when there is an Encounter going on with the other Wizards: some are busy battling, others are busy trying to earn the extra LOOT.

I will need to playtest this... Waiting for the NEW "Game Tiles" to arrive from "The Game Crafter" (TGC).

Thanks for the input -- I hope this clarifies how I have solved my problem...

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Sat, 07/01/2017 - 16:05
#4
questccg
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Let me explain some more...

let-off studios wrote:
What's the reason for the Quest Card to be in the game in the first place? I'm not sure why they're there, based on your description above. What do you hope to gain by including them in your design?

Quests are the ONLY way you can earn a "LOOT" card. Loot is either a treasure, item or equipment your Wizard can use. Each Wizard has up to three (3) items that they can carry (they're wizards). Some Wizard can only carry two (2) items, or the use of certain weapons reduces the amount of items that can be carried.

There is NO OTHER WAY to earn "items". "Game Tiles" are used to gain XP for "Lore" AND "Quest" Cards.

let-off studios wrote:
Beyond that, I'd propose quests be for acronyms using uncommon letters. I know that nearly every time I play Scrabble I end up with a bunch of consonants that I consider leftovers: they cannot be combined usefully with other tiles I currently have to make a word.

The quests are words much like "Lore" Cards with the exception that "Lore" Cards contain multiple words (like Crosswords) and "Quest" Cards only have one (1) word.

Unlike Scrabble there are less "Game Tiles" and are color coded per Wizard (or Player). XP is computed at the end of each level, because blank "Game Tiles" (inverted) can get replaced during the level. And one Wizard has the ability to SWAP any "Game Tile" by using some of his Mana (Co-opetition).

let-off studios wrote:
So why not have the quests require an entire collection of letters at once in order to fulfill the quest?
- Players would need to balance the usefulness of the letters in their hand. Should I try to spell the words one letter at a time with commonly-used tiles, or hold on to anything and spell and acronym/complete a quest?

Again due to the "non-blocking" mechanic of the "Game Tiles", you don't have to try to collect ALL the "Game Tiles" for a word. You play the tiles in sequence whenever it is possible. Same goes for "Quests".

let-off studios wrote:
- Players can use quests to dump tiles they otherwise don't want. For example, what if there was a quest for QXQ? Those are rotten letters to have clogging up my hand, but I know that eventually that quest will come up and I'll need those letters to earn those exclusive points.

Each player has a "discard" area. Each word has one (1) "Game Tile" which goes into a player's discard. Game Tiles in the discard area can be played on your turn by using the "Recall" ability.

let-off studios wrote:
- Quests become different from the spelling of words in the typical game, which I assume would be built one wizard's letter/contribution at a time instead of all at once.

I think, again, based on playtesting, the NON-BLOCKING mechanic of having multiple Wizards solving the same word using different "Game Tiles" (each Wizard has a unique pouch of 60 tiles -- and they are all color coded too).

let-off studios wrote:
Again, I'm not sure of the purpose of your Quest Cards, but maybe adding some distinction to them would help. Hope this is useful.

As I explained, "Quests" are the only way to earn LOOT cards. One LOOT per quest. And LOOT can be treasure, item or equipment that may be used by a Wizard (up to 3 items at a time -- less given other restrictions).

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Sat, 07/01/2017 - 16:20
#5
questccg
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Scrabble vs. SpellMasters

You mentioned having "left-over" letters in Scrabble.

In SpellMasters, this might be the case -- however each Wizard has the ability to "Refresh" FOUR (4) "Game Tiles" per turn. "Refresh" costs 0 Mana and can be upgraded to "2x" and "3x" per turn and up to EIGHT (8) "Game Tiles" per casting. Which means you can go through your Tile Pouch more frequently and get "Game Tiles" that you WANT.

There is also the "Wildcard" ability that each Wizard has. You can play 1 (2, 3) "Game Tiles" upside down to score 0 points once per turn. These upside down tiles allow Wizards to "progress" without necessarily impeding upon the other Wizards. 2, 3 are also "upgrades" you can do by saving and spending XP to improve the ability.

There are still other abilities too that allow moving or swapping of "Game Tiles" too... I didn't want to get too "technical".

I just wanted to SHOW you that it's nothing like Scrabble and it doesn't have a LOT of "flaws" that Scrabble has. And believe me, I didn't start off with all these abilities... It took some playtesting and SEEING with my own eyes -- HOW to speed up the game, make it MORE immersive and how to make sure everyone is busy and that there is LITTLE to no "downtime".

Cheers!

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Sat, 07/01/2017 - 16:35
#6
questccg
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Another side-effect of Quests

The other point is that once all players have agreed to which Wizards are going to take on the "Encounter" (think minion) for that level, the "Quest" Cards allow the OTHER players to be busy while the battle is fought.

So this means "parallel actions" for very different goals.

Your Wizards battling the minion are busy discussing how/who to attack and how to prepare for an attack -- spells vs. "basic" attacks, etc.

The other remaining Wizards are busy trying to "complete" the quest. They will earn more XP by playing "Game Tiles" and can potentially GAIN one additional "Loot" Card.

At the same time, all Wizards in battle will earn more XP once they defeat the minion. But they get "no items" only XP (but higher than simply playing "Game Tiles").

It's also a CO-OP game too... So giving weaker players the chance to do battle or earn more XP is sometimes required -- to make sure everyone is in on the game (and progressing in experience).

Players LOSE if ONE (1) Wizard is killed during Combat. So you've got to be prepared, assemble the right team, share mana and work together to ensure that you defeat each minion you encounter.

Cheers.

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Sat, 07/01/2017 - 18:26
#7
questccg
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It's also...

A "Dungeon Delve" ... so playing "Game Tiles" starts with a specific tile per level. And then players continue to ADD "Game Tiles" to the play area as if they were "exploring" a "dungeon".

So if I have "ORC" and someone plays the "R", the next word gets unlocked which is "RAGE" and once completed it unlocks the level's "Quest". Now there are two (2) possible words to spell "GREED" or the "Quest" word.

That's a bit how it plays -- from one "Game Tile" to another.

It's co-opetition because of course you want to have a lot more XP. But at the same time, you don't want to leave your fellow Players too far behind. I think it's going to be a wonderful game to play.

And it's more of a "FAMILY" game... So we'll see what people think about it soon. Got some more cards to design and iron out the spells too.

Still got some work before it is presentable.

I just wanted to TEST the "core" mechanic ("Game Tiles") and see if it was as FUN as I had thought it up. Was laying the "Game Tiles" and competing against your fellow Wizards fun too... It is, now that there are four (4) abilities per Wizard...

Keep you all updated on the "SpellMasters Blog entry".

Later.

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