Today I ran another playtest of Clash of Empires.

Notes

• There was a $2 cost card that allowed a player to discard and draw up to five cards, which was broken.
• Players often ended up with $2.  For the second playtest, I took away the $2 card,  which annoyed players when they couldn’t buy anything.
• One player had a strategy of trashing cards, and then having cards that gave extra actions and cards. This player was clearly winning from the middle of the game.
• Players spent a lot of time trashing ruins.
• There were long periods within the game where players were not doing anything on the board.

Comments

• I love the idea, but it needs balance
• There is an issue with the “rich getting richer”.
• Allow players to upgrade low-value money cards more easily.
• Make it easier to buy gold.
• Encourage players to do stuff on the board.
• It feels like the board element is tacked on.
• I feel like I’m playing Dominion and not doing anything on the board.
• I like the way ruins are used in the game.

Balance suggestions

• Give players victory points for winning battle
• Don’t give players points for controlling territories until the end of the game.
• Make it more desirable for players to buy “Upgrade” cards to improve their deck.
• The board needs to be more integrated with the deckbuilding part of the game.
• Allow players to gain territory without attacking people.
• Encourage players to attack.
• Consider giving bonus actions to a player that controls a region.
• Have quick setup rules with set starting positions for each player instead of random territories.

Other

• Rules need to be more clear for new players.
• Make it clear that there are unlimited buys.

Things to Change

• Add neutral territories with a unit in each of them: This will encourage players to attack to get extra points and troops. Netural territories are a better option than attacking other players because the neutrals will be weaker, and will not counterattack.
• Come up with a balanced $2 card: The current $2 card I had was imbalanced, but the game needs a $2 card.
• Various modifications to the costs of cards: Some of the cards were broken because they were too cheap, and there were some expensive cards such as gold that nobody bought.
• Make it more difficult for players to avoid the negative effects of gaining ruin cards.
• Balance ruin cards to encourage attacking: Players were too passive. However, I need to be careful to make sure the changes don’t make it easier for someone to snowball.
• Consider switching to a theme about colonization: A colonization theme fits in well with the balance changes I plan to make, and is a theme that more people are familiar with.
• Modify end condition: A fixed game length of 20 turns has been a problem because it was forced, and did not accurately represent when a game was supposed to be over. I need to have end conditions that trigger when a player is pulling too far ahead, or based on some organic condition such as several piles of cards running out.
• Make sure board is more integrated with the deckbuilding: A couple of players felt that they were playing a deckbuilding game with a tacked on board.
• Make the rules more clear: The players were confused about several of the rules at the beginning, and there were instances where a player was surprised by an important rule in the middle of the game.
• Minor changes
  • Make it clear that players cannot buy ruins.
  • Make it clear that players have unlimited buys.