After working through several playtests and toying with digital platforms, I’ve updated Nine Muses with new rules and it’s now available on playingcards.io!
• Rules
• PNP Files
• Playincards.io room
Category: Game Design
Version 1.0 of Nine Muses is here!
I’ve only been able to playtest this against myself, so I’m looking for feedback from others on the general gameplay, tension, and fun in this.
I have some sample art. This is WIP as well as I’m still experimenting with an art style, so it’s subject to change!
One open mechanics question: How do I make muses being called to you—specifically the Knowledge “locking” mechanic—more dynamic while maintaining balance?
Right now, you drop Knowledge (resources) on a muse to “purchase” them. This gives you an advantage in the action economy AND a stable action—you don’t have to draft that muse anymore and worry about it being taken. A part of this process is that you place Knowledge on the Muse Card and it stays there, locked. This allows you to keep resources safe for a higher end game score. The issue I’m seeing, though, is your Muse is worth the same amount regardless: the VP on the card + resources “locked” on the card. I’ve got to think through this a bit more…
I’ve been designing Nine Muses for a couple of weeks and have found a general flow and tension in the gameplay. Right now, I’m working through some design problems:
• How many victory points should muses be worth?
• I’m trying to figure out how “owned” knowledge vs “unowned” knowledge works. In a 4-player game, there is no shared bank as every player gets a piece of all of the knowledge. This equates to 1 ethics (green meeple), 2 science (blue cube), 3 craft (gold coins) per player. It works out really well. HOWEVER, in 2- and 3-player games, I don’t know what to do with the excess. The game relies on forcing knowledge exchanges with other players but in those games I’m thinking of forcing the knowledge exchanges with a shared bank. I’m just worried it won’t be as fun.
Categories
Updates on One Last Job
Back in September/November, I finished development in a game called One Last Job. I entered it into a 1-card design challenge on Board Game Geek. With it, I won 2nd place as best new designer. (Yay!) Now that I look at this game, I think there’s a lot of intrigue with the cyberpunk theme and 2-tone artwork that I made, but I think the gameplay could be much more fun.
That’s why I’m turning One Last Job into a different type of game. The goal of One Last Job has always been to recruit outlaws who can help you get through three phases of the “job to end all jobs,” with that big score to retire on. Originally, it was to collect energy cubes to get off a planet with no prospects. Now, it’s something different.
I’m still in development so I’ve got little to show, but One Last Job is going to turn into more of a stat-based game, where outlaws have different attributes and abilities that can counter opponent’s cards, but need to be played at the correct time, possibly adjacent to the right cards, to get full effect.
I’m going to somewhat take after strategy card games such as Magic: The Gathering, Hearthstone, Key Forge, and other trading card and deck-building games. One Last Job will nix the dice element and become an 18-card game with the possibility of future 18-card expansions.
My goal is to create a game that offers the feeling of fun strategy, but is quicker to play than the average deck builder/trading card game AND comes in a more travel-sized package.
More to come on this in the future. Stay tuned…
Categories
Introducing Lingua Franca
Hello Otherworldly Beings!
I’d like to announce a fun project I’ve been working on for the past month. Lingua Franca is a 54-card co-op game with 2-4 players. You play two different alien species sent on a diplomatic science mission but there’s one catch, you barely speak one another’s languages! Can you create a Lingua Franca to succeed together in your missions?
This game has been entered in a 54-card game design contest. Check out the Board Game Geek thread with design log details, as well as info on how to play Lingua Franca. (PnP files and a digital version are available!)