Ok, not that kind of virgin. Virgin as in "we've never done this before", virgin.
Maybe a little background info about Rainmaker is in order. It's a hex tile based-game where you start with a big hex frame (in which the tiles can be laid) and each tribe starts in a corner. On your turn, scout a new tile, place it, and take any of your other available actions. Thus the map generates as the game is played and one tribe's territory might eventually connect to anothers. What happens if two opposing territories connect? Good question. Hadn't thought of that. Note to self: Self, figure out what happens when two territories connect.
I'd like to say the first playtesting session went amazingly well, but it'd be more honest to say it went amazingly slow. There were 4 of us, and we only made it through 3-4 turns each. In an hour. Yeah, that slow.
It wasn't too bad though. We spent a LOT of time going over what can be done in a turn, and examining things in great detail. Which is good. We refined the rules a bit and all became generally more familiar with the basic play.
We did decide that the next session would just involve two players (with the others spectating and analyzing), so that we could get further into the game. It's so hard to tell how well it's going to play when you don't make it past turn 3.
1 comment:
Just as a general tip, if you want to write an interesting blog about game design, talk about game design.
DO NOTS:
-Don't tell me about the theme. Puerto Rico is "about" colonizing the Carribbean, but no one cares about that. What makes it grgeat is it's mechanics.
- Don't tell me that you sat down with some friends and they thought it was a cool idea.
-Don't tell me that you hammered out a design doc in two days. Good for you, but it's not interesting. What's in the doc IS interesting.
DOs:
-Do tell me about your thought process on the rules. Were you comtemplating between two different rules and chose one over the other? Why?
-Talk about balancing issues. Are you worried that there might be some super-units/abilities in your game? How do you calculate the value of various events to determine cost?
-Talk about gimmicks that you introduced. You are mentioned super-god-powers. How do you intend to introduce the player to these? Are they occasional events or common?
Listen, yes you need to reveal game mechanics in order to talk about these things, but stop being paranoid. Take Thrilling Tales of Adventure as your guide:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1348720#1348720
This guys discusses mechanics in some level of depth, posted pics of cards and abilities, and therefore has a large interested crowd. Because if you don't talk about mechanics, then all your blog says is "Yay! I did some things today, but I can't tell you what they are!!! Good for me!!!"
Sorry if this is a bit harsh, but it's the truth. Get some design questions up on your blog, talk about balancing issues, mechanics and "fun" things, and then re-post your blog to the forums. you'll probably get a lot more response.
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