To model governance, each nation had space for a leader card with unique abilities. It was excessive and too much info for testers. In subsequent plays, I axed these leaders and created events for a handful of figures. Governance became a token on the board which aligned w/ iconography elsewhere. - ThreadSky

danbullock.bsky.social • 59 days ago

To model governance, each nation had space for a leader card with unique abilities. It was excessive and too much info for testers. In subsequent plays, I axed these leaders and created events for a handful of figures. Governance became a token on the board which aligned w/ iconography elsewhere.

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danbullock.bsky.social•59 days ago

Now, I could substitute writing out Authoritarian and Democratic on the event cards and action menu with the icon, so players could discern at a glance both the game state and utility of a given card.

danbullock.bsky.social•59 days ago

After more testing with notable figures as events, players were still struggling through the draft. For some demos, I skipped it to save time. However, the draft was necessary for the design - affording players agency over the #/type of actions taken & events on the fringes of the model.

danbullock.bsky.social•59 days ago

To make it work, the game needed 1) a less cluttered game state and 2) a core loop that was easier grok. For cards, it meant making most events less specific. A card about a labor event in Colombia, would now be playable in any nation, but the flavor text would highlight the historic event.

danbullock.bsky.social•59 days ago

Every iteration lowered the barrier to entry at the cost of chrome rather than depth. Tension in play should arise from the uncertainty of your opponent's motivations, not struggling with a complex game state. Players can't observe their opponents with their noses buried in action menus or rules.

rollplusfun.bsky.social•59 days ago

This is great stuff Dan. Fascinating to see how FRUIT has come together this year. This is definitely something I struggle with so good to see how you’ve tackled the challenges here.

fgradaille.bsky.social•58 days ago

I saw something similar in some of my designs. When you increase the cognitive load for the players you're creating an experience of player vs the game, where they need to focus a lot on their own actions. When you decrease it, the player vs player bit grows.

fgradaille.bsky.social•58 days ago

In Habemus Papam I started with very few visual clues (I didn't need them) and players didn't negotiate at all. Just by helping players identify who favoured which candidate in the game using colour tokens we had an enormous positive effect on player interaction.

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