Tymor - Thanks and Feedback

While I did not participate or vote in the contest, I read the rules and wanted to give some feedback!

I really liked the different dice for the different seasons! That was a nice, original touch! Could you provide an example of how such a die would look like?

The general tone and feel of the game is tightly integrated with the mechanics, which is something I really enjoy. I could almost feel the passing of the seasons and the struggles of frontier life while reading the rules. Good job on that!

The season tracking seemed a little convoluted to me. Can the seasons actually cycle backwards? Also, how can you anticipate the coming season if the progess is just determined by a roll of the dice? I think this could be done somewhat more elegant, to the same effect. Cards? Rondel? Oracle bones? Something that would actually let you divine the future would be awesome!

Moving on, the hidden orders mechanic suggests to me that diplomacy and negotiation should be a big part of the game, but I'm not entirely sure if this is actually the case. If some decisions are just strategically superior (due to the season or whatever), why bother with diplomacy at all? And if there's little diplomacy, why are we hiding our orders? If there were multiple paths to victory (e.g. controlling more than n settlements, having the largest army, etc.), I think more diplomacy would be possible.

As a caveat, I'd somewhat caution against this. Too much secret allying and backstabbing doesn't really resonate well with the theme, in my opinion. People tend to stick together when natural hazards are common occurences. Perhaps provide some stronger incentives for alliances? Since there's only one commodity, there's no reason to trade anything either. Perhaps there should be more resources, like food, wood and gold?

I'd love to share thoughts with you in the future!