Playtest Notes

List down all notes, observations, etc. made during your own playtests of the CCG. This may include gameplay aspects of the CCG we may have discussed in meetings, but haven't really confirmed anything yet.

Notes/Observations

  • The 20 health for the factory is too low, because the monsters are overpowered
      • Alex said he was going to look into lowering all monsters stats (Ex, SA Rat went from 5/3/1 to 3/2/1. Cows, Tigers, and Dragons had their total stats added together, then divided by two. This will be the new guideline for determining stats)
      • Indeed - the idea is to make the highest stat of the dragon less than 10 [Which can be found from halfing the total stats they have, then to re-assemble them simmilar to our original Cows]; as a note however, we rounded up on odd divisions. [27/2 = 13.5 becomes 14, for example.], and the rats got a boost of one extra point to allow diversity between them. This should be viable then. If this doesn't work, then we may have to look at the overheat function mentioned below.
      • Using the revised vanilla deck Alex made, the balance between the monsters is better. However, the lack of resource cards (see below for details) still presents a problem, since some games ended within a few turns.
  • There are not enough resource cards. If they are still to be part of the deck, it seems at least half the deck must be resource cards in order for players to actually play anything (the other half would be monsters, inventions, and factory components - though ratios will vary from playstyle to playstyle)
      • Adding an extra set of resource cards for each deck (i.e., now each deck has twice as many resource and double resource cards as before) seems to solve the lack of resources problem. Most of the time, monsters could be played, even on the first turn. In addition, with resource cards to spare, adding attachments to the monsters is becoming more commonplace in playtests.
      • However, 20 health may still be too low, considering that direct attacks can take off a lot of health (9 for the attack-focused dragons, and 3 amongst low-level monsters like rats and cows). 40 health seems to work, as matches last for a reasonable amount of time (not too short or long), and aren't so one-sided (i.e., one side keeps attacking, while the other side isn't able to mount a counterattack in time, even with extra resources)
  • The refinery mechanic (where the Resource cards go when Constructs, Inventions, and Factory Expansions are sent from the field to the junkyard) seems to solve the above two problems. If a player can take one Resource card from the Refinery to their hand once per turn (say during their Upkeep phase), then extra Resource cards are not needed, and 20 health is plenty for a match. The only downside is that the match may start out slow, with not much happening, especially if both players do not draw enough Resource cards to play cards.

Unconfirmed

  • Is there a limit to the number of invention attachments one monster may have?
  • Max hand size -> maybe at the start, both players pick up 5 and draw 1 on their turn, even on their first turn. Max hand size would then be 6, and any extra cards in a player's hand must be discarded at the end of their turn (if we are using the Refinery method described above, then these discarded cards cannot be extra Resources, otherwise they'll just end up in the player's hand again at the start of their next turn)

Suggestions

  • Overheat function: to prevent a high-level monster from attacking multiple times in a row (could also be controlled by lowering monsters' stats/introducing more resource cards to the deck
  • Leftover scraps: during a battle between two monsters, when at least one monster is destroyed, that monster card is sent to the junkyard. Its resource cards still remain on the field for a short while (eg, one turn). Those resource cards can be used by either player to play cards, and to avoid mixing players' cards, these resources could be played sideways
  • Perhaps Resource Creatures [Resource Rats, Resource Cows, etc.] could help recover resources one faster for each on the field under the player's control? After all, they are weaker versions of the creatures, originally intended as sort of a stockpile for resources; perhaps this could give them an edge? In exchange for the lowest of the stats their creature type has?
      • Yes, maybe each of the resource creatures allows the controller to either recover a resource card from the junkyard, or search their scrapyard for a resource card once per turn during their upkeep phases. This ability is balanced by the monsters' stats, which are low for their level, allowing even rats to take them on and win
  • If we are to have two rows of Constructs in battle, then the Attachable Invention cards (i.e., the ones that boost stat values) should share the same space as the Construct card (so as to avoid confusion on who is equipped to what)
  • Faction Traits/Abilities:
      • Military: Focus on attack/defense stats, explosion mechanic (affect target construct and all adjacent constructs), slow, long range (can target opponent's front or back row)
      • Clockwork: Precision (require an exact amount of resources to be played) and high speed, able to slip through other enemies, direct attacks, spying mechanic (able to select one card in opponent's hand or top of deck and see what it is)
      • Magician: Focus on special effects/'ailments' (e.g.: when an opponent attacks, roll a die; if even, their attack misses), redirect opponent's attack targets at a cost, high defense, piercing mechanic (can affect one entire column of opponent's constructs)
      • Mad Scientist: Wide range mechanic (can affect one entire row of opponent's constructs), temporary control of opponent's constructs at a cost, lightning-based attacks that could slow down the opponent (reduction in speed/die roll values, skip next turn, etc.)
      • Vehicle: Fuel/maintenance mechanic (once every now and then, or when certain conditions are fulfilled, must replace a resource card so it doesn't wear out), focus on speed and either attack or defense
          • Just a small side note, the Pilots acting as Resources seem a little out of place, considering how all the other factions use raw materials as Resources. Maybe we could use something else instead of Pilots?
      • Scavenger: Low stats, low health, able to recover/find resources faster, maybe even steal opponent's resources that are either attached to a construct or in their discard pile
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