Hello,
Thank you all for providing quality input for version #1 of this game ("Card game project - input appreciated" posted on Mar 1).
I reviewed your feedback and made changes to the game. Please provide feedback if you find the updated game idea interesting and share your thoughts on how to improve it.
CARD GAME “HELL-OF-AN-EXPERIENCE TRAVEL AGENCY”
INTRODUCTION
Hell-Of-An-Experience Travel Agency (HTA) can send you on a tourist tour to any real or fantasy world. For that HTA needs to transfer your consciousness into a body of a creature from this world. For example, into a dwarf if you want to visit Middle-earth. The only problem is that HTA technology is unreliable, as often as not your consciousness (as well as the new body carrying it) ends up in a wrong world – so, don’t be surprised if instead of an extra-terrestrial spaceship you find yourself in medieval Venice…in a body of intelligent octopus or plant. Some tourists love this, others - hate. But all HTA clients agree – these tours offer one hell of an experience.
TARGET AUDIENCE: 18 yo + ; 3-5 players
APPROXIMATE PLAY TIME: Players can decide on winning conditions, which for example may be collecting a certain number of rewards. This determines game duration
GAME - OVERVIEW
Cards used in the game:
- Deck of Identity, Location, Scenario Cards (ILS). These are two-sided cards. ILS contains information on player’s identity chosen for a specific tour, the world where he ends up, and performance or trivia assignment that must be completed to return back (and even get a reward). HTA tours may take players to different worlds and locations including fantasy world, sci-fi world, and remarkable moments in human past such as encounters with historical figures. ILS also contains options – these are modifiers such as “get an extra FMC,” “miss next turn” of “write a complaint to HTA, asking for a compensation” that player selects by rolling the dice. Each ILS has different options. SEE ATTACHED “ILS Card LAYOUT” FOR DETAILS
- Deck of Fridge Magnet Cards (FMC). These are identical one-sided cards that look like fridge magnets that people bring from tourist tours. FMC is a reward that players receive for completing ILS. The number of FMCs for a successfully completed assignment is provided on each ILS.
GAMEPLAY
Each player represents a tourist that goes on an HTA tour. Players take turns, moving clockwise:
1) The active player draws one ILS, reads out the identity, text, performance/trivia assignment, and attempts to complete it. To successfully complete a trivia assignment, player must correctly answer one or several trivia questions. To successfully complete a performance assignment, player must perform a task specified on the ILS, such as dancing or drawing. Player must complete both performance and trivia assignments “impersonating” the identity listed on the drawn ILS. For example, he must sing a song, talk and/or move like a Gollum. SEE ATTACHED ILS CARD EXAMPLES FOR DETAILS
2) Other players vote on how well the active player performed his task. If >= 50% of voters like the performance, the active player gets an award listed on the ILS. If <50% of voters like the performance, the task is considered unsuccessful. For trivia, the active player gets separate awards for answering questions correctly and for the impersonation (by voting). For unsuccessful assignments active players may get nothing or loose FMCs – exact outcomes are described on the ILS
3) The active player may alter the performance/trivia results by rolling the dice to select one of the alternative options. These options may include but not limited to “your FMC reward doubles,” “get 100% positive votes,” “steal one FMC from a player with the highest number of rewards,” etc. These options add unpredictability and more fun to the gameplay
4) Turn goes to the next player
5) The player who first collects a certain number of FMCs or collects the highest number of FMCs in a given time – wins (players can decide on exact winning conditions)
Please share your thoughts.
Leon
First, yes the voting system can be problematic, it could make you game stall indefinitely. Similar games I played are "Elixir" where they simply force you to do something or you must say certain things every time some social event happen, failing to say that thing makes you lose points or anything else you want. In that case, there is no voting, you do it or not. There is also "The Big Idea" where everybody vote for everybody simultaneously. So players cannot simply boycott each other, somebody will get the votes.
The second issue I have is combining performance and trivia together. Choose one of them and stick with it. If you want a party game, stick to performance. I would suggest not using trivia since it demands a lot of research.
Finally, as for the theme/mechanics relation, I find it pretty thin. The theme is funky and I can live with it and it can be interesting. I am seeking of another way to approach the problem. The whole idea of the theme is to have a weird adventure, so why not handle it like a quest that needs to be accomplished. Maybe you need to accumulate cards, perform certains actions, reach certain locations, but your character gives you some mechanical or Social restrictions making it harder to achieve. (If you want to keep the party aspect of it)
For example, a player might need card of type X to accomplish his goal, but he ends up as a cave men and can only use the 10 words specified on his character cards when talking making trading with other players more difficult. Another example, for you teapot character, the player cannot use their hand.
This will put the player more precisely in the shoes of the characters by having social restrictions that indirectly promote acting and gameplay. While the rest of the game could simply be trading, drafting, set collection or anything else like found any other card game.
This is just an idea that could fit better with your theme. I might have other ideas next morning.
Hi,
Thank you for the comments. Please clarify what you meant by "pretty thin theme/mechanics relation" You mean that the game mechanics don't fit the theme?
You wrote "the whole idea of the theme is to have a weird adventure, so why not handle it like a quest that needs to be accomplished." You mean a quest that will span several turns and/or adventure cards that the player will draw?
Thanks,
Leon