The game is coming along quite nicely. The first playtest didn’t go, down in flames as usual. The worst that happened was that one player got a bit bored, and the mechanics and components were much too fiddley. This is all fixable, especially with the great feedback I received.
I started by reducing the board size to encourage more engagement (less boredom) amongst the players. The action selection system evolved into a mechanism much like the one used in Concordia. I added the ability to play two cards if they interact with each other so it wouldn’t be a total rip off of the Concordia card mechanism.
Drawing the food tiles out of a bag turned into a neat push-your-luck mechanism. I originally planned on using a die, but threw the tiles into a bag because I didn’t know how many faces I would need. It turns out to be a pretty nifty push-your-luck mechanism if you draw them all out one at a time, then refill the bag when it’s empty. I added the “Wiggle” tile to simulate the potential bug escapes as well as the Swarm and Storm tiles which have drastic effects on game play. If the storm comes out early, it’s a free-for-all as players built their webs as fast as they can before the bag is replenished and the storm risk increases again with each tile pulled. This bag has also simplified all the awkwardness of the earlier implementation of all four of these mechanisms, random food selection, escaping bugs, periodic swarms of bugs, and the occasional storms that come along and damage your frail webs.
I’ve switched to simultaneous play with a turn marker which is just used to resolve conflicts. This will speed up the game quite a bit and provide a simple programming aspect to the game. (One of my favorite mechanisms.) I’ve also modified the game set-up and beefed up the child spider capabilities to encourage more asymmetrical play. The first couple of turns are similar but the play diverges quite quickly.
I’ve streamlined the play as much as I can and tried to incorporate all the complexity into the cards. This, I hope, will make make the game flow better, and be simpler to follow.
The next test will determine whether I have succeeded in working out the initial bugs. Even though I’ve run through it quite a few times myself, It’s hard to see all the potential problems that might arise with other players. Fingers crossed.
My next step will be to fine tune the player interaction once the webs start running up against each other. The basic gameplay needs to be fine tuned first, before we get into the nitty gritty.
If you want a peek, you can check out the Tabletop Simulator Mod Here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2552783520
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