Deadline – Play test (Version 1)

One frustrating aspect of the game was the lack of control over what cards were taken.
I enjoyed collecting cards from others and getting a lucky break during a round. The high-risk, high-reward style of game play made the game easy to learn but difficult to master.
I wished for more ways to affect my play. Discarding jokers is near impossible, almost always locking you into a situation where you lose points.
I would tweak, or at least, reevaluate the way that points are calculated. Players are almost always trying for high cards (Jacks, Queens, Kings, etc.). Though this inherently makes getting runs/sets of high cards more dangerous, it does not balance out against the low value of the lowest cards. Three 2s will almost always be the worst hand to hold on to. I would balance some of the lower cards to keep up with higher sets/runs.
I thought that mechanics were well designed. Rounds flowed into each other and the game play sped up as we understood the game more.
I would really like to play Deadline again. As a person who enjoys card games, I think it blends a simple concept, a nice theme, and a high skill ceiling very well.