Category: La Famiglia

La Famiglia gets a second life

2023-07-18 / / 0 Comments
La Famiglia, $-Player on Screentop.gg
La Famiglia – Version 9 4 player team game on screentop.gg

How it All Began

I’ve dusted off the cobwebs and given La Famiglia a second chance. I’m even planning on entering it into a contest. This game has a long and tangled history and it is finally going to see the light of day.

It all began in late 2019. I was tired of playing euchre the traditional way and started to make up my own variations. Some of them worked quite well, especially a two player variant I called Domination. It was a mash-up of one of the “Rook” games and euchre. This is still my favorite way to play two handed Euchre. I soon started with variants of the standard 4 player Euchre. Some worked and some didn’t, but they were the beginning of something new and interesting.

Late in 2020, after researching many trick-taking games, I decided to come up with one of my own, which incorporated my favorite mechanics from existing trick-taking games and added a few of my own. The Mafia Theme seemed to fit nicely, so I named it La Famiglia. (The Family). I had worked out most of the bugs by version 4d (2021-03-29) and made up a prototype deck as well as a digital prototype on Tabletop Simulator. It seemed to work OK in a few playtests but didn’t really appeal to hobby gamers. I shelved the game because I didn’t think it would be marketable and considered it a good learning exercise.

Not too long after, there were quite a few new trick-taking games which were very unique and inventive. The Crew was one of the more notable games to come out. It had a deck of cards which gave the players a number of different variations to play. Even though The Crew was a cooperative game, it had some similar features to my game. I decided to abandon my game and leave it on the shelf for good.

It’s Back

I decided to give the game one more go. After all, my family enjoyed playing the first prototype and people who have played traditional trick-taking games seem to enjoy the digital prototype as well. It probably won’t ever be in the BGG top rated games because it is too much like a traditional game like Hearts or 500, but it’s mine and I like the game. I also would like to make this game a reality, even if I only sell a handful of games. It will be dedicated to my Mom who recently passed. We wore out more than a few decks of cards playing euchre. You can even say that I learnt how to count playing Euchre. (My Kindergarten teacher had to teach me that One comes before two…not Ace..and Jack Queen King aren’t really numbers.) Here’s to you Mom.

The New Deal

La Famiglia – Version 9 2 player set-up on screentop.gg

It’s July 2023 and La Famillia v9 is rolling out with the following changes:

  • The Main deck is modified.
  • The Situation Deck is completely revised and reduced to just 13 Scenarios.
  • All the art is changed so that it can be made available to the public. (The art is still cheesy clipart, but it is all legal now.)
  • The Ruling Family (Trump) tracking card has been added.
  • The new digital prototype is ready for Prime Time on screentop.gg
  • The Rules have been simplified and will soon be written down in official form.
  • I am currently working on a Print and Play version. (As soon as I figure out how to do it.)

There will be three modes of play:

  • 4 Player Team based, with two players on each team.
  • 2 Player mode for head to head play
  • Solo mode

The game will be composed of a single deck of 54 cards which will fit in your pocket. The instructions will be available as a PDF, which you can access by scanning one of the “Counter” cards. You can carry this game with you wherever you go.

Stuck in the Middle with “La Famiglia”

2021-03-27 / / 0 Comments
Latest version 5a of La Famiglia

The play-testing last version of “La Famiglia” went well, but something interesting came up. We were trying to decide exactly which market I was trying to appeal to, and it turned out to be nobody. It’s like that song “Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am…..Stuck in the middle with you….”.

It was much too complicated to appeal to the mass market crowd that plays games like Euchre and Uno, but it didn’t have enough depth for a Hobby Gamer to sink their teeth into. It is very likely to languish in that No-Sale limbo that designers and retailers dread. My choices were to simplify it to the point where it might appeal to the mass market, or ramp up the complexity and player decisions enough to appeal to hobby gamer. I’m afraid I can’t have my cake and eat it too……Or can I ?

I decided to do both. I added more interesting decisions by giving some of the cards special abilities. I also tweaked the “Situation” deck a bit to make it more interesting. This might be enough for the hobby gamer to enjoy.

As far as the mass market gamer goes, the game will be introduced in stages. The base rules will not include the special card abilities. It might be interesting enough for a casual gameer. If the players wish, they can incorporate the special abilities of the cards. If they want to push it to the limit, they can use the situation deck. I’m hoping this multi-layer approach will work. Only time and more play-testing will tell.