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Witch’s Brew Game Review

  1. Much of the game is centered around chance, making it hard to form offensive or defensive strategies. Players would hoard their cards for a while until they had enough of a stockpile to play offensively or defensively.
  2. I like the idea of Tarot cards being “wild-cards” in essence. They can aid in strategies, speed up gameplay, or completely shift the momentum. However, I feel that they should be treated as special cards drawn from a special pile or earned for performing actions.
  3. There were plenty of opportunities in the game. The mechanics blend nicely, and the gameplay is smooth.
  4. I would add more spells for extra complexity and make the ingredients more universal (meaning they can work for multiple spells). If this were to change, the points to win may need a change. I would also expand on or emphasize some of the conditions that come with cards.
  5. I liked the layered gameplay of collecting cards and using them against others in a greater way. I liked the punishments for being cursed and the idea of using spells to counteract their effects. I made a strategy to play offensively if I could defend against attacks as well.

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The Trial of Taming Spires

  1. The game leaves the entire world building, adversities, and situations up to the game master. Despite this making the game much more open than more linear DND style games, it also makes the game’s fun entirely contingent on the game master’s creativity. I was automatically decided to be the game master (which is an honor), but I felt overwhelmed because I had no framework or idea from where to build off of. I would consider adding more context or foundations for game masters who may not be as improvisational.
  2. I had a lot of fun challenging myself to create an improvised story that featured character arcs, branching paths, and a world that I know little about. I was just as reliant on the enthusiasm of the players as I was on good storytelling.
  3. I wanted a greater idea of what I was guiding my players towards. Though the game master sheet provides a brief explanation of the overall themes and enemies that are not to be revealed until the end, it does little to help develop a story; it only provides a setting. Contrast this to the Honey Heist, where locations, adversities, and main antagonists were determined on a dice roll.
  4. I would add more relevance to the beasts that each character possesses, whether it be a deeper battle system or a way of distinguishing beasts from one another. Also, it is difficult to keep track of the traits each character has on top of the traits each creature has.
  5. I enjoy story-driven games that are up to the imagination of a player. While the mechanics and rules cold be refined, I believe that the game is a fun DND-style experience.
  6. Yes, I would play The Trial of Taming Spires again, though I’d like to make a character and not always be chosen to be game master.

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Headlampers Game Review

  1. Near the end of the game , the low amount of available tiles on the board meant that players spent more time rolling the dice to get the number on the tile. Furthermore, if you miss the tile number, your turn is skipped. This made the game much longer, as much of the end game was spent rolling the dice to get a specific number repeatedly. I would recommend adding a re-roll mechanic that allows players to get more out of their turn during the end game.
  2. I loved the theming and competitive factor between players in the game. I believe that the concept is simple, yet solid.
  3. There were many moments of inaction in the game because none of the players could roll the number needed to pick up a tile. I would change this mechanic, either through new rules, cards, etc to eliminate that downtime.
  4. The amount of wildcards was plentiful, but the cards themselves were often repetitive. I believe that adding more diverse cards could enhance the game play more.
  5. I did not mind the dice rolling being the primary action in the game. The dice make the game naturally fair, and the wild cards enhance the game by giving players reasons to challenge each other.
  6. Yes. I think the game is fun to play casually with friends. With some added mechanics, or tweaked features, I believe some of the aspects of the game could be ironed out to make the game better. However, I believe that the simplicity works in Headlampers’ favor, because it gives all players the likely chance to win at the cost of skill expression.
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Week 8 Questions

Question Set 1

  1. Game developers usually don’t design the game; they enhance a designer’s game.
  2. Developers will try to push the boundaries of the game’s mechanics to see if they break.
  3. The number of components that need to be balanced, incorporating “costing”, and being okay with imperfect balance are challenges of balancing games.
  4. You can avoid stealing players’ fun by making sure they believe that there is a reasonable chance they can win until the very end.
  5. Use no intermediary terminology, use real words, make no more work than necessary, add flavor (but not too much flavor), make your text no smarter than your reader, discard rules that can’t be written, take a breath, go easy on the eyes, get your final version playtested, and fix it in the FAQ are 10 maxims you should follow when writing rules

Question Set 2

  1. Play-testing changed my games by making it easier to tweak rules based on the experience of the testers.
  2. I am open to anyone testing my next game or another version of one of my existing ones, but I would like Harmony to test my newest version of Headlampers.
  3. The audience for my game (Headlampers) is ages 6 and up.
  4. I think my roommates here at RMU and my friends from work should test my game outside of class.
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The Jammers! rules

The Jammers!

Madison Hurst

Objective

Make the most valuable jam recipes by combining various fruits and spices before the deck runs out!

Materials Needed

  1. Strawberry cards
  2. Blueberry cards
  3. Peach cards
  4. Vanilla spice cards
  5. Mint cards
  6. Basil cards
  7. Ginger cards
  8. Special action cards 
  9. Paper and pencil (to keep track of points)

Setup

  1. Shuffle all the deck of cards 
  2. Deal 5 cards to each player
  3. Place the remaining deck in the center of the table (this will be the draw pile) 
  4. Right next to the draw pile will be the discard pile
  5. The person who was last to eat a piece of fruit recently will go first! (if you can remember the tallest will go)
  6. The turns will go clockwise 

Play overview

  1. A players turn will consist of three phases (draw phase, action phase, and cleanup phase

Turn Order

Draw Phase:

  • Draw 1 card from the draw pile

 Action Phase:

  • Choose one of the following actions:
  1. Combine 1–3 Fruit Cards plus 1 Spice Card to create a Jam Recipe
  • Place the recipe face-up in front of you
  • Score it immediately (you can make only two recipes per turn)
  1. Trade ingredients
  • Trade up to 2 cards with another player
  • Both players must agree to the trade (cannot trade a full ingredient)
  1. Action card
  • Play an action card then discard it 
  1. Complete recipe
  • If you have a Recipe Card and the required combo in hand (e.g., “Blueberry bliss” needs blueberry  + vanilla), you may play it for bonus points.
  • Recipe Cards stay in front of you for final scoring.

Cleanup phase:

  • Discard down to 7 cards if over.
  • End your turn.
  • Play passes clockwise.

Outside your turn:

  • Counter Trade: Offer a trade before another player finalizes theirs (only once per round)
  • Jam Bonus: When someone makes a jam with your favorite fruit, you may reveal the same fruit card from your hand to gain +1 point

End of game or round:

  • A Round ends when all players have taken one turn.
  • The Game ends immediately when the Draw Deck runs out and every player has had the same number of turns.

Then, each player adds up their points from completed recipes and any bonuses.

Recipe Key:

  • Strawberry jam (strawberry + cinnamon) 3 points
  • Blueberry bliss (blueberry +vanilla) 3 points
  • Peach sunrise (peach + ginger) 4 points
  • Mixed berry (strawberry + blueberry + mint) 6 points
  • Perry jam (strawberry + peach + basil) 6 points
  • Tri preserve (strawberry + peach + blueberry + any spice) 10 points 
  • Berry sweet (two fruits + cinnamon) 5 points 
  • Earthy herb (any fruit + basil) 4 points 

Action Cards:

  • Bunny attack: choose a player and they have to discard one fruit
  • Farmers market: draw two cards next turn instead of 1 
  • Fruit poacher: steal 1 random card from another players hand
  • Another man’s trash, is another man’s treasure: swap one fruit from your hand with one from the discard pile
  • Jam Packed: make two recipes this turn if you have the cards for it

Win/Lose

The player with the most total points wins and becomes the Master Preserver.

Tiebreakers:

  1. Most completed recipes
  2. Most spices used overall
  3. If still tied, both share the victory as co JAMMERS!!

How to get bonus points

  • Add one point to your recipe if it includes blueberry in it!
  • Strawberry counts as +2 more points  if you add cinnamon with it

*AI was used to help organize the instructions