Category: Game Reviews

what was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? 

not being able to plant out of season and not being able to harvest out of season. 

what was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? 

buff tokens are a smart touch. it helps you plant out of season. 

was there anything you wanted to do that you could not? 

no i thought the game was very well designed.

if you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? 

something with the bundle system. i found it too complex to the point to where i didnt want to pick any bundle cards up. 

What should be improved for the next version? 

the bundle system. 

Describe the game in 3 words.

Fun, Creative, Colorful 

Overall, I really enjoyed this game and I think it is my favorite of your playtests yet.

• What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Running out of money to buy some fashion items and there being no minimum price when you sell one of your pieces. 
• What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I really enjoyed how the values aren’t attached to the cards so each game will be a bit different and it’s more replayable. 
• Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I wanted to have more control over the personal auctions when I place something up for sale. 
• If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I would change the experience of the personal auctions to both be able to impose restrictions on the minimum price but also keeping the secretiveness of what the true value of the card is. 
• What should be improved with the next version? Maybe clarify that the auctions go around in a circle; I was a tiny bit confused at first. I would also explore some different alternatives to the way that the private auctions work. Additionally, I would explore how people can get restocked on money throughout the game board. 
• Describe the game in 3 words. Strategic, suspenseful, intuitive

I loved this game and all of your little trinkets! I think it has really good potential!!!

• What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Not having super clearly defined rules about the actions you can and can’t take on your turn. Also the fact that having players offer to trade with you meant that you might have to give up a random trinket that you want to keep. 
• What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I loved all of the different trinkets in the game. It was super fun pulling them out the bag and seeing what I got. 
• Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? It would be nice to have a feature where you could trinkets without it being entirely luck-based. It was a little frustrating that it was almost just based on what you pulled out of the bag, although I still like that. Maybe having a little marketplace could help, but you don’t want to make it too easy to obtain trinkets at the same time. 
• If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Make it so that players could totally randomly grab items from the bag or items to trade. I think pretty often people will try to cheat by feeling what item or memorizing the location of it in their trinket box so they don’t have to give up what they want. 
• What should be improved with the next version? Overall I really loved this game, but some suggestions I have are to clarify what actions you can take on each turn, clarify the rules about trading in trinket cards and getting new trinkets, clarify swapping and trading rules (can players pick what they get to trade when another player wants to trade). You could also explore the idea of some different actions like forcing two players to swap trinket boxes. You could also have a marketplace where players can buy select items from there. 

Describe the game in 3 words. Fun I Spy-like Collecting

What were the player interactions?

Trading, Negotiating, Blocking

Was it fun?

Yes

How long did it take to learn?

15-20 min

Would you play it again?

Yes

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.

1. Setup and build initial settlements.
2. Conflict starts to arise from resources and trading.
3. The final starts when strategies start to unfold and someone wins the game

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?

Trading resources and building / scoring

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?

Metaphor for resource management and community building. The trading and building stand out to me.

anansi’s web of tricks

1. the rules not being on the cards and having to look in the rules over and over again.
2. it was like uno
3. no
4. no
5. more cards, suits
6. cultural, fun, trickster

word relay

1. nothing was very frustrating.
2. the fast pace.
3. no
4. more ways to get points to make it more even points wise.
5. more points
6. fast, fun, intuitive

dillon’s game

1. knowing how to start and how the damage parts work
2. i don’t think i had a favorite moment , maybe going into the negatives of stats for fun.
3. no
4. have more points possible for skills and have more health.
5. how the damage system works.
6. challenging, dnd, interesting

Overall, I really enjoyed this game! I hope you continue to work on this idea! This is a game that I would definitely consider purchasing if I saw it somewhere! 

• What was the most frustrating part or aspect of what you just played? The most frustrating part was trying to come up with captions with no time limit. (I think the timer definitely helped!)
• What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I love that this game isn’t just writing prompts or attaching premade prompts to a card. It’s a combination of both and I think that really makes this game unique. 
• Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I wanted to be able to more easily discern a winner when there was a tie. 
• If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I think I would make it so that there was a little bit more strategy to how you go about playing the game? Overall, I really like this game so I’m not entirely sure. 
• What should be improved with the next version? I think just adding more trends, clarifying what happens during a tie, and maybe a scoreboard/scale to keep track of points so that players are shooting for a goal. 
• Describe the game in 3 words. Creative party game

Overall, I really enjoyed this game and I think it has a lot of potential! 

• What was the most frustrating part or aspect of what you just played? The resources running out. Some countries would have a lot more resources than others and some resources weren’t available at all, like flour. 
• What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I really like the randomization of the ingredients across the countries. 
• Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I had a difficult time cooking certain dishes so I wish there were more basic ingredients like flour and eggs. I also wish that I could go any direction that I wanted. 
• If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I would make it so that the ingredients distribution was more balanced and that it was a little bit easier to complete dishes but still a little difficult. 
• What should be improved with the next version? I think that the beginning of the game could be specified and cleared up a bit more so that it is more intuitive for the players just by reading the directions. I think the total distribution of ingredients after a certain around would help so that certain countries don’t end up with less or more ingredients. The problem with ingredients running out could also be potentially fixed by limiting the amount of ingredients a player can hold at any given time. Some fun stuff ideas: personal boards, cute little pot for the ingredients, etc. 
• Describe the game in 3 words. Luck-based, unique, fun! 

• Was it fun? Yes, this game was fun. I have never played a role-playing game before so it was exciting. 
• What were the player interactions? Players had to deliberate amongst each other to make decisions that would alter the outcome of the game. 
• How long did it take to learn? Pretty quickly, because it was just like telling a story. 
• Would you play it again? Yes, I would. 
• Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.The first act of the game was when we were first learning the rules of the games and assigning roles and characters. We were introduced to the goal – to secure the honey. The second act of the game was when we started to really strategize about how we were going to get this honey and who could do what job based on their abilities. The third act would have been when we got close to the cabin with the honey and it was evident that we were more than likely going to succeed in securing the honey. 
• What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? This game is very collaborative. Everyone has their own special abilities and jobs that makes them uniquely contribute to the team. As a team, we were supposed to work together to get the honey and we had to make decisions as a group. 

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The metaphor is a group of bears who are going to steal honey from a convention and will do whatever it takes to get it. The standout mechanics of this game was that pretty much everything was determined by the roll of a die—what kind of bear you were, your abilities, if you succeeded in doing a task, etc.

1. the advantages ? other than that the first time i played tested they had literally every question about how to start because i forgot to add integral parts in the rules.
2. for how the first group played like 30 minutes for how they ended up playing, for the second group like 15 minutes maybe, and the third time like 15 as well.
3. they tried to trade and also found loop holes that were really stupid. they also liked to attack a lot especially in the first group.
4. how to start with the first group and their weren’t many confusions with the rest of the groups.
5. grouping up on people.
6. loop holes, and forming alliances, building up aries.
7. blurry cards, and how to start.

1. he barley had any rules and for some reason it was in a poem format.
2. winning was my favorite part
3. have more things happen with my cards
4. i wouldn’t change any thing.
5. more cards, and a more competitive aspect like random action cards that can be used.
6. fish, card, cool

Looking back on the notes I took last Tuesday this may be a bit harsh so I’m sorry in advance if any of this critique went a bit to far.