Changes to Espionage [Prototype C]

Spies

I wanted to share some new revisions to Espionage [Prototype C] that developed after testing with a completely new game design group last week. I've tested this about fifteen times with different groups so far. The game is much faster and might fix one of the less fun elements of Liar's Dice. Read on!


Additions:

Each player should have a "Safehouse" card, with a day side and a night side. (In playtests, we just used magic cards.) All Safehouses begin each round at the day side.

In the center of the play area, there should be nine "Report" cards, each with one attribute a spy may have. (So, a card with NYC, a card with HACKER, and so on.)



Revised Goal:

Your goal is to put all of your contacts into your Safehouse. In doing so, you get less information the closer you are to winning, so there is a nice elegant catch-up mechanic baked right into the goal. There is no longer a point-based victory condition, it's just a race to shed your hand.


New Rules:

In a 6 or 5 player game, each player begins with 3 cards.

In a 4 player game, each player begins with 4 cards.

In a 3 player game, each player begins with 5 cards.

Your goal is to get that many cards into your Safehouse first.

When you make a bid, take the corresponding card from the center of the play area. Thereafter, players must bid on the remaining attributes. Players may not bid on an attribute already chosen by another player.

When you make a bid, you *must* raise. You cannot go lower and you cannot make the same bid.

After you make a bid, flip your Safehouse card over to the night side and choose the next player to take their turn. You may not choose a player who has already had a turn this day/night.

If you win a Challenge (that's what we're calling it around here lately), then you take all the cards from players hands, choose one to put in your Safehouse, shuffle the remainder, and place them in the bottom of the deck. Then you're the dealer for the next round, dealing from the top of the deck. You then choose who will be the first player next turn, but it cannot be you.

If you win a Confirm (or "Spot," as it has been called in previous prototypes), then you put *two* cards in the Safehouse.

For each card you have in your Safehouse, your hand limit is reduced by one. Thus, the closer you get to victory, the less information you have available. THIS is probably my favorite part of the revised rules.


Optional Variable Player Powers:

Each Safehouse Card may list a special ability only that player possesses. A few ideas tossed out so far, but still need to be tested.

  •  The Collaborator: If someone else confirms your report, the loser can put one card in their Safehouse regardless of the outcome.
  • The Eye in the Sky: Before the round begins, you may look at another player's hand.
  • The Accuser: You may choose a player to take the next turn even if they've already had a turn this day or night.
  • The Broker: You may bid on an attribute another player already bid this round.
  • The Fence: You are dealt two more cards than the other players, then you must discard two cards to the bottom of the deck.
  • The Recruiter: You get one additional Contact, but your victory condition remains the same as all other players.
  • The Thief: If you win a Challenge, you may take a contact from the loser's Safehouse instead.
  • The Spymaster: Your victory condition is one less.
  • The Judge: After each challenge, you may secretly choose one card to remove from the game entirely.

Notes:

All of these changes really ramp up the tension and make it very distinct from standard Liar's Dice. Because you choose which cards go into your Safehouse, you change the probabilities in ways the other players don't know.

This also resolves the problem that Liar's Dice has, in which a player who is closest to being eliminated is also the most information-poor. Now it's totally reversed, so being closest to victory makes you very information-weak.

This also speeds up the game significantly, since you're not waiting around to see who will be left standing. The first person out wins, and that's it. No potential ties either.

And as an added bonus for my own interests, this removes any thematic element of "elimination," which always just felt like a fig leaf to cover an otherwise standard violent combat theme. Now your interest is in keeping your contacts safe, not necessarily eliminating everyone else's. That makes me feel much better.

Alrighty, I hope you get a chance to test out these revisions before our call, because I really do think they make the game so much better.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Graphic Design and Typography Tips for your Card Game

Image
Chris Farrell of Illuminating Games just wrote a thorough critique of card games setting their body text to be so small that they cannot be read at arm's length, let alone across the table. Here's an excerpt, but the whole thing is worth a read for any would-be card game designers out there. (Myself included.) Break out your copy of the base set of Dominion, and look at the Chapel. This has a text box roughly 3.5cm by 4.5cm. It's got a single line of text. That line of text is 1 (one) millimeter high. 1mm! For me, it's only clearly readable at half an arm's length even in the bright light of day. (...) Compare this to a more sane game like Glory to Rome, where the font size is 2-3 times as large (text is 2mm high, keywords 3mm and usually highlighted). I can generally read Glory to Rome cards across the table, and can certainly see the important keywords. To heap insult upon injury, not only does Glory to Rome have far more legible text than Dominion it also has
Read more

Low-High Dice Game

Image
A dice game inspired by the stock market (and playing lots of Martian Dice). Roll a bunch of dice and choose which sets to keep. Choose your strategy wisely! Stuff You Need Two-to-Six PLAYERS A PENCIL and PAPER to keep score Thirteen standard six-sided DICE How to Play The shortest player takes the first turn. On your turn, first roll all thirteen dice. Several dice will have matching results. These are called SETS. (A single die result is a set, too.) You must choose a set to keep. For example, your first roll results are 111124445555 . The sets are four 1 s, one 2 , three 4 s, and four 5 s. After keeping a set of dice, lock them up in a row. This is called the GOOD TRACK. For example,  you could keep the set of four 1 s, one 2 , three 4 s, or four 5 s . You decide to keep the four 1 s and line them up in your good track. After keeping a set, you may end your turn or re-roll the remaining unlocked dice. When you re-roll, immediately set aside any results that ar
Read more

The Thousand-Year Game Design Challenge

Image
UPDATE: The submission period has closed and here are the entries. If you're an entrant, continue sending pics or vids of people playing your game. The first step to a game lasting a thousand years is for people to play it today. UPDATE 2: And here's the winner! To support games designed for longevity – that can be learned, played and shared for hundreds of years – we offer this challenge to any game designers, artists and imaginative people who also share this desire. Challenge Create a game. The game can be of any theme or genre you desire, but there is one restriction: You're creating a "new classic," like Chess, Tag or card games. So, create a game to be enjoyed by generations of players for a thousand years. Prize $1,000 to the winning entrant, to be announced and awarded January 1, 2012. Entry Deadline Entries must be submitted before midnight July August 31st, 2011. ( Update ) Entry Guidelines Enter by posting a comment below with a link
Read more