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Help optimize a game

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Redcap
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I have a board game that is pretty much done; however, there are two many pieces all over the place, and it adds to confusion and the price of the game because the price of the pieces. So I need to optimize the game so it still has the same amount of information but not as much confusion, and would appreciate your input.

First thing to keep trace of is a player's fame in 6 different cities. So throughout the game, a player gains fame through doing different actions and needs to keep track of their current fame. The problem is there are 6 players max, and each needs to record their running fame count in 6 different cities.

Second, a player's health. The health ranges from 5-15 health max.

Third the amount of gold a player currently has. Ranges from 0-60 Generally it is about 15 gold.

Fourth, some quests require you to do something for x amount of turns, and I need a good way to keep track of this.

Fifth, keep tract of modifiers to stats.

I have a few ideas of how to do this, but I am curious for all of your well informed oppinions. I always get great ideas from the community, and this has just been a bottle neck in this game's designing process. Thanks.

InvisibleJon
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One tracker sheet per player?

Given all the data you want to track, I think that one data tracking sheet per player could work well. Perhaps something that looks like the image at http://www.bgdf.com/node/2884 ?

Each tracker would need 10 tokens to act as tracking pawns (plus whatever you need to track stat modifiers. you could consolidate the city fame on one board that the players share. That frees up room on each player's tracker for statistic tracking, character art, cheat sheets, etc..

Another option: Imagine a piece of paper with all the things you want to track labeled around the edge. Imagine cards (or strips of paper - whatever) with number lines printed on them (1, 2, 3... ...18, 19, 20). You can slide the number lines under the paper and the number that's revealed that's closest to the edge of the paper is the current value of that statistic. This gets rid of pawns, reducing the cost of production.

Redcap
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That answers all of my

That answers all of my questions! I am going to make two different tracking sheets. One will be a community tracting sheet with all of the cities so that you can see your fame standing compared to others at all times, then I will make another tracking sheet for the individual heroes with gold, and health, and stats. I will show you my mockup in a bit, thankyou!

InvisibleJon
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Glad to help. =)

Uh... wow. I'm glad I could help. I look forward to seeing your mockup.

Pastor_Mora
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Main Board Counters

Use as an alternative to individual player track sheets. Check recent image. Filed under misc.

KT!

Redcap
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Here is my mockup

So here is my mockup of the countersheet http://www.bgdf.com/node/2898 , okay maybe it isn't a mockup but rather a full blown asset, but whatever.

I will most likely use this for my own home use and put the actual counters into the board itself as Pastor_Mora suggested; which is sad because I think a seperate counter is color looking and doesn't put clutter all over the board, but for manufacturing purposes I can see where it will be easier to just print it on the board. Thanks for all of your help guys. I will keep the community posted in a blog as my game progresses.

InvisibleJon
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Nifty!

I like the stained glass aesthetic. Very nice! I'm having fun imagining a game with that style of art throughout it.

hoywolf
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More Table Trackers

That looks pretty good, is the image for the community tracker? What are you going to use for the rest of the stuff like health, gold, and quest time tracker? I guess you could just use a similar style to your community track right? You could use something like Arkham Horrors stat trackers (the oval shaped magnet-colored markers) to show the number that it is on versus a solid marker that will cover the number.

I'm very interested in seeing your game, your brief explanation on your OP shows that it has a fun theme of fame and fortune with a medieval theme!

Redcap
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Thanks for your comments. I

Thanks for your comments. I thought it turned out beautifully, and you would never guess the theme in a million years. So I will keep it as a type of teaser, that and I don't have time right now to give it justice.. As the game gets more developed I will show you more and more, freely.

This will track every players fame and medals at the same time. So one component for all, but conercning health and individual stats, it will just be counted with cut out tokens that the player collects and discards. Same with gold. It isn't as cheap as other methods, but acutally collecting things that look like coins and hearts and having a pile in front of a player is fun, and I think it is worth the extra money for the game. So that will actually be part of the "game mechanic" is having tokens. It is more than just having gold in the game, it is also having something to touch and see that looks like gold.

Redcap
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Okay, so I have designed the

Okay, so I have designed the board so it now includes a counter for the different cities' fame, a way to keep track of medals earned, a disaster counter, and even a health counter. I think it turned out beautifully, but I would love to get your feedback. I intend to print and make the board tomorrow along with enough assets to play with four. Hopefully it is done in time that I can take it to a playtesting meeting I have this Tuesday! That would be fun.

Critism and feedback welcome!

Zoomed out version of the board before assembly. http://www.bgdf.com/node/2914

What the board looks like at 100% http://www.bgdf.com/node/2915

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