. What questions did your players have?
- How do we handle climate events? Players were unsure how much preparation they needed for the random climate events and whether they could do anything to prevent them.
- How do the Victory Points work? Some players had trouble understanding how different actions (like waste management or renewable energy) contributed to the Victory Points system.
- How can we balance resources better? Many players were asking about the best strategies for managing limited resources, especially early on when it feels like there’s so much to juggle.
2. How quickly did they learn to play?
- Players picked up the basic rules relatively quickly, taking about 10-15 minutes to understand the gameplay flow and how to build their city.
- The most complex part was learning how to manage the resource tracker and understanding the Climate & Challenge Phase, but after a few rounds, they got the hang of it.
3. What kinds of interactions did the players have?
- Players mostly interacted during the trading of resources (like money or energy) to help each other build their cities.
- There was occasional collaboration on strategies (e.g., one player focusing on renewable energy while another focuses on waste management), but the game is primarily competitive.
- Some players enjoyed informal alliances, discussing strategies to tackle environmental issues together, even if the rules didn’t require collaboration.
4. What confused players?
- Challenge Tokens and how they were triggered often caused confusion, especially with the dice rolls and specific resource thresholds. Players weren’t always sure when they would face a challenge.
- Victory Points: The different ways to earn Victory Points (like for renewable energy or waste management) weren’t fully clear to some players, especially early in the game.
- The Climate Event Cards sometimes felt too unpredictable and were difficult to plan for.
5. What did your players enjoy doing?
- Players really enjoyed building green spaces and renewable energy sources because it felt like they were doing something positive for the environment while earning points.
- The transportation system and seeing the benefits of their public transit investment (less traffic, fewer emissions) was also a highlight.
- Strategic planning and managing the city’s growth over multiple rounds gave them a satisfying sense of control.
6. Did any aspect of the game frustrate players?
- Players found the random Climate Event Cards and Challenge Tokens frustrating, especially when these events disrupted their carefully laid plans.
- There was frustration around resource shortages, particularly with managing waste and energy. Some players felt overwhelmed by the amount of things they had to keep track of.
7. What is your plan to address player questions, confusion, and frustration?
- I’ll create a quick reference guide for the Challenge Tokens and Climate Event Cards, showing exactly when and how they can affect gameplay.
- I’ll also make the Victory Points system clearer, with more visible markers on the board showing how different actions contribute to points.
- To alleviate frustration from resource shortages, I might introduce early game bonuses or a tutorial phase that helps players understand how to balance resources from the start.
8. If your players didn’t get your intended message, what will you change?
- If players didn’t fully grasp the message of balancing sustainability, I’ll clarify this through clearer objectives for each city element (like energy, waste, transportation, etc.) and perhaps give bonus points for achieving balance early.
- I might also add a goal-tracking system on the player boards, with milestones for achieving specific eco-friendly goals like reducing carbon footprint, so players can see how they’re progressing toward sustainability.