Testing 2- and 3-player Trickster


As a part of general development for Trickster, I'm taking a hard look at the 3-player and 2-player modes. The basic game has a nice sweet spot with 4-6 players, but to make the game viable at retail, we need to legitimately have a "2" on the box. So here's what I've got in the lab right now. For those of you who have at least two Trickster sets, here's what you need to do.

--~--

Set Up Changes
Your deck will need one more hero than normal. So, eight heroes in seven different colors, for a deck of 56 cards. (For my home tests, I liked adding the Miner from Symbiosis to the Fantasy set. She's a nice complement to the Rogue and keeps the overall effects pretty easy to remember.)

Deal eleven cards to each player’s hand.

For Three Players: Clear an additional section of the play area called the Timeline. Set it to the opposite side of the Trash from the Deck. Deal a row of twelve cards to the Timeline face-down.  Turn the card at the front of the line face-up.

Play Changes
For Two Players: Each player will take at most two turns per trick instead of just one. In essence, you're playing a four-player Pot with just two players. So, the maximum size of the Pot is four cards. (Example: A is the leader and plays a card. B is the Trickster and plays the second card, thereby establishing the pattern. A plays the third card. B plays the fourth and final card.)

The oldest player takes the first turn as Leader in the first trick. The second player is the Trickster.  Thereafter, each player alternates Leader and Trickster roles regardless of who busted the prior Pot.  

For Three Players: No player takes on the role of the Leader. Instead, at the start of each Trick, the card at the front of the Timeline is added to the Pot as the first card. Immediately reveal the next card in the line.

The oldest player takes the first turn as Trickster. Each player takes turns being Trickster clockwise around the table, regardless of who busted the prior Pot.

Endgame Changes

For Three Players: In addition to the normal endgame trigger, the game ends if there are no more cards remaining in the Timeline to add to the pot.

--~--

I'm trying to avoid a "phantom player" mechanism, but so far the Timeline mechanic in the three-player mode has proven to be a nice compromise. It doesn't force anyone to play a dummy player, but still allows a new type of strategy as you plan ahead for what you'll play on your upcoming turn as trickster.

If you get a chance to test these rules, please leave a comment! Thanks very much!

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