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Star Alliance: A game about Outerworld Trade

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Mon, 09/03/2018 - 20:14
questccg
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Having gone through a month worth of "blind" playtesting, player elimination has been one of the issues with "TradeWorlds". It's not like we can remove this option if players choose to "battle it out", since there is an order of elimination until a winner is decided.

But I was thinking, "What if the eliminated players could play something 'thematic' in the genre of Space Trade???"

Basically there are two (2) sides:

1> The Blockade built up of three (3) Destroyers. (Black)

2> The Supply Fleet built up of three (3) Frigates. (Red)

The goals are pretty much simple. The "Blockade" needs to prevent "Frigates" from delivering supplies to the colonists on the planet. The "Supply Fleet" is tasked with trying to circumvent the "Blockade" and deliver supplies to the much needed colonists on the planet.

Aside from each of those two (2) sides starships, each side has a "Trump" Starship which allows them to accomplish each sides goals more easily:

A> The Blockade has the "Privateer" which is tasked to capture "Frigates".

B> The Supply Fleet has the "Blockade Runner" which is tasked to bypass the "Destroyers".

Now this is very much a "Work-In-Progress" and I have the "basics" only...

It's ONLY a two (2) player game and focuses on getting points when trying to accomplish each sides "objectives".

I finished penning this down today... (Even thought I had most of the large concepts fleshed out yesterday).

The game is played in five (5) consecutive rounds... And the winner is the player with the MOST points after said rounds.

This sets up an interesting dichotomy where both players have choices and strategies they may employ... For example the Supply Fleet might "delay" the delivery of supplies... However at some point they will be "forced" to deliver the supplies.

Similarly the "Blockade" may use up all it's fighter starships to prevent the Supply Fleet from reaching their destination. However once that fleet of fighters is destroyed or conquered, the Supply Fleet will have easy access to the planet and the colonists.

If you've noticed, the game can be played with a SINGLE deck of 52 playing cards (No jokers). Ideally two (2) decks of contrasting colors may be used (Like Blue and Red)... Such that you can easily distinguish which cards belong to which player.

I'm going to build a deck and give this game a "whirl"... It needs to be playtested to determine if the game is FUN and a cohesive unit too.

Cheers!

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Mon, 09/03/2018 - 21:12
#1
questccg
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First Playtest

Okay so there needs to be some "ironing" out that needs to be done.

The Supply Fleet scored 43 points.

The Blockade scored 21 points.

After 5 rounds, the "Supply Fleet" ended with 2 cards in their deck... And the "Blockade" landed up with quite a bit more cards than planned for (11 cards).

While the "Supply Fleet" played ALL THREE (3) of their "Blockade Runners", the "Blockade" never got around to playing any of their "Privateers"...

I've got some thinking to do... To see how I can "perfect" and balance the game a little bit... Like "maybe" the "Blockade Runners" and "Privateers" are more like "Take-That" cards you can play to STEAL away points at any given moment...

Still more thought needs to be done... But Yay! First playtest was not too bad. The "Supply Fleet" plays like I would like it to. But the "Blockade" still need some fine-tuning.

Cheers!

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Mon, 09/03/2018 - 21:49
#2
questccg
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More playtests are required

I've been doing some more playtests ... and it's a bit "swingy". Still more playtests are required... Because I'm doing "tweaks" and it seems like they need to be re-tested with a previous version of the rules...

Definitely "FUN"... But I'd like there to be more "decision-making" and a more solid "scoring mechanic"... Which is not yet 100%...

The game takes 5 rounds to play... Which was what I had predicted (Good). But still not sure about when the "Blockade" scores and when a "Blockade Runner" punches through... Does he score that "Blockade"'s points?!?

Again more playtests and we shall see! Cheers...

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Mon, 09/03/2018 - 22:39
#3
questccg
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"Blockade" won by 10 points

So it's getting there... Five (5) Rounds of play ... And that's enough usually to determine a winner.

I'm just figuring out "what to do" about TIES in "Destroyers vs. Frigates". Right now I have it that BOTH cards stay in the Play Area. Perhaps both should be REMOVED from the Play Area... IDK — Yet?!

The scoring is much tighter now... The "Supply Ships" almost go through their ENTIRE "Deck" of 23 cards (which is Good — as designed).

The "Blockade" is going through more cards now that when a "Frigate" PUNCHES through their defenses, those cards gets discarded too... But the "Blockade"'s deck is a bit larger at the end (7 vs. 4 — closer!)...

Again MORE playtesting is required... But I'm getting there. The game offers "strategic choices" where players can DELAY their supplies and wait for the opponent to reveal his/her cards... Making it possible to pierce through the Blockade using a "Runner".

Only ONE (1) suit is used for "scoring". Which is as "designed" even if I went through some playtests with other cards that "could" score.

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Mon, 09/03/2018 - 23:52
#4
questccg
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By golly — I think we have a GAME!

So this last playtest was "interesting". On the fifth round, the "Supply Fleet" played three (3) "fodder" cards (Hearts) and that meant 0 additional points for the "Blockade"'s side which means the "Supply Fleet" WON by a score of 22 to 19!

Very interesting playtest indeed...

What happens next??? Well I got to write the rules in some LOGICAL fashion. The game is balanced even if I tend to think that both sides have distinct advantages...

Expect those rule sometime soon for review!

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Tue, 09/04/2018 - 09:32
#5
Jay103
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So this is a game that

So this is a game that eliminated players would go play nearby, while the others finished the real game?

That seems a little weird to me, even if it is the same theme. They could just go play Uno or something :). If it's good enough to serve this purpose, then you really have a new, separate game..

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Tue, 09/04/2018 - 12:00
#6
let-off studios
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Components From TW:HW

Is there a way you can configure the game to work with components used by the players that are eliminated from the game? Using components from the game itself will encourage players to learn and play it, as well as provide a visual, thematic link.

If I was eliminated from a game and I was required to pick up a deck of playing cards, I would likely play a dozen other classic card games I already know, instead of attempt to learn a game based on a game I just lost.

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Tue, 09/04/2018 - 15:45
#7
questccg
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A game is a game...

let-off studios wrote:
Is there a way you can configure the game to work with components used by the players that are eliminated from the game?

Well the idea being that your could use a "custom" deck specially designed to play the game... That uses the artwork and assets from "TradeWorlds".

let-off studios wrote:
If I was eliminated from a game and I was required to pick up a deck of playing cards, I would likely play a dozen other classic card games I already know, instead of attempt to learn a game based on a game I just lost.

Which is why I'm saying, I'm going to SELL a neat version with cool artwork that pretty much defines the SAME cards used in a standard 52 Deck of cards, however with the personnalisation, the deck can facilitate playing "Star Alliance"...

I'm on the "bubble" if I should allow it to have standard play features. Eg. if customized, should it also allow standard card game play or not?!

Not sure about that one... Like you said: if it's UNO you are playing, well then it's UNO. Maybe I should make it "Star Alliance" only deck (which is quite possible — by editing the face cards J,Q,Ks)...

IDK — I need to think about it some more.

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Tue, 09/04/2018 - 16:12
#8
questccg
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Why not???

Jay103 wrote:
So this is a game that eliminated players would go play nearby, while the others finished the real game?

Sure, why not?!

Jay103 wrote:
That seems a little weird to me, even if it is the same theme. They could just go play Uno or something :). If it's good enough to serve this purpose, then you really have a new, separate game..

Because it's a filler-type game... It can be played in 5 to 10 minutes. I was planning on playing some rounds today and run a timer to see exactly how long a game takes. But I'm pretty sure my "gut estimate" is rather accurate...

And besides this is a website for "Board Game Design"... Where else would I share another way of using a 52 Deck worth of cards in a manner that simulates the dichotomy of two sides locked into a 5 round dance to supply a colonized world?!

It's not a super complex game... but it nevertheless IS a way to use a STANDARD deck of 52 cards in a NEW and novel fashion so as to simulate starships locked in battle.

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Tue, 09/04/2018 - 16:12
#9
questccg
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Timing a game

I timed a game and it took 5:21. So just a bit over 5 minutes... Which was what my GUT was telling me.

The score was close 16 to 12 for the "Supply Fleet". And the points came in the final fifth (5th) round for the "Supply Fleet"...

I must admit the game is pretty "simple" (I hate writing rules)... but cool.

So arguably the next step is to start writing them "rules" down... So everyone can give the game a try. Ughh... This is the part I dislike... So it may take a while to get you all the "rules" for this filler.

Cheers!

Update #1: Timed another playtest = 6:01. The "Supply Fleet" won again ... but it was SO very close 20 to 19! The difference was a one (1) point card...

Update #2: I kept thinking "OMG the Supply Fleet is going to run out of 'fodder' and the 'Blockade' is going to kick their @sses..." But that never happened because even on the fifth (5th) round, the "Supply Fleet" was able to play two (2) "Blockade Runners" and defeat two opposing "Destroyers" packing high heat (8 and 9)!

It's a cool "little" game... And it's "FUN" too. Some of the game depends on the luck of the draw, and other parts of the game requires you to either take risks or plan wisely. For a filler... It's not too bad!

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Tue, 09/04/2018 - 16:24
#10
questccg
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This is just a test!

For some strange reason I've been "double posting"... So I logged out of my account and logged back in to see if it stops "double posting"...

Let's hope!

Update: It works OKAY now! No more double posts... Sorry for the artifacts on a few threads that were left today.

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Tue, 09/04/2018 - 20:00
#11
questccg
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Needs a tiny "fix"

So currently all the playtests seem to be in favor of the "Supply Fleet". This is "bad" for balancing, demonstrating that the "Blockade" ALWAYS loses. It's NOT actually TRUE... But it seems like the "Supply Fleet" is the favorable side to bet on.

I've done a bunch of timed playtests all less than 7:00 minutes which gives you a good feel that it takes just over 5:00 minutes to play a game. For a short filler-type game that's pretty decent.

Okay so getting to what I have been thinking... The "Blockade" can get BLOCKED with cards that the player does NOT want. Perhaps one too many 'fodder' cards or lower power attack cells, like Ace, 2 or 3... So my idea is to give the "Blockade" A SPECIAL POWER: they can discard cards at the end of that player's turn. This can be from 1 to 5 cards ... and will ADVANCE the "Blockade" Agenda a little more, to allow them to cycle through their deck a bit more... Perhaps making the game more "balanced" between both side.

I'm going to playtest this and see where it leads me. Cheers!

Update: The "Blockade" WON by 1 point. The score was 18 to 17 in favor of the "Blockade". Definitely improved odds of circulating through your deck in a more FAVORABLE fashion. A small "fix" makes a big difference in that the "Blockade" is NOT forced to hold a hand filled with 'fodder'.

Note: This small "fix" adds much more "flexibility" to the "Blockade"'s hand management. Since the "Supply Fleet" is ALWAYS expending three (3) PLUS (+) cards per turn, they cycle through their deck with a few cards remaining at the end of the game.

But the "Blockade" can HOLD onto cards in play and therefore get "stuck" with bad cards in their HAND. Allowing the player to DISCARD any cards he feels are not necessary... Can A> Improve the odds for a better hand B> Allows the "Blockade" to cycle (partially) their deck.

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