We managed to playtest this game many, many
times during the 48 hours. (We estimate, including partial breakthroughs
early on the development, probably over 100). We kept the game short
specifically for this purpose. It takes around 20 minutes for new
players (not including reading the rules), and we were getting the play
down to around 8 minutes at our fastest.
Different ways of playing can produce quite different results, and we often fell into ruts of playing the same way, which coloured our evaluation of the balance. Swapping which side we played regularly helped deal with that fairly well.
The Canker was the hardest to nail down for powers. Originally we had 5 sides, and the Canker and the fifth race occupied a very similar mechanical space (the fifth race gained tokens in defence after placing). In the end we dropped it, and made the Canker "more normal" (originally it started all on the board and grew.)
Once the powers seemed balanced, we had issues with the victory conditions. The map had a big effect on who won. The open map without the barrier favours the Swarm and the Ampulex, while a tighter map favours the Shredder and the Cancer. The single barrier works well, but Max, one of the artists, who drove the graphical tone was never happy with it as a pattern.
The last thing to change mechanically was the victory points for the Swarm. We had them to the point where they could get second, but not win. The current version gives them the victory when they manage to break out and cover a lot of the map.
The game seems to generate a bit of a metagame, where various powers seem overpowered in turn to the players.
The name Saprobiont comes from the ame for a species that lives or feeds on dead matter.
The graphic design is based on Art Nouveau, as it was heavily influenced by discoveries in biology. It fits in with the theme of transformation and rebirth.
The flavour text is meant to be reminiscent of either biologists journals, or nature documentaries. Would would an external observer say if he was observing the species of the game.
They are also meant to be a subtle strategy guide to playing the creature, as is the additional name above the species name on the player mat.
This is a direct link for the pdf: http://globalgamejam.org/sites/default/files/uploads/2012/18885/Saprobiont.pdf
Different ways of playing can produce quite different results, and we often fell into ruts of playing the same way, which coloured our evaluation of the balance. Swapping which side we played regularly helped deal with that fairly well.
The Canker was the hardest to nail down for powers. Originally we had 5 sides, and the Canker and the fifth race occupied a very similar mechanical space (the fifth race gained tokens in defence after placing). In the end we dropped it, and made the Canker "more normal" (originally it started all on the board and grew.)
Once the powers seemed balanced, we had issues with the victory conditions. The map had a big effect on who won. The open map without the barrier favours the Swarm and the Ampulex, while a tighter map favours the Shredder and the Cancer. The single barrier works well, but Max, one of the artists, who drove the graphical tone was never happy with it as a pattern.
The last thing to change mechanically was the victory points for the Swarm. We had them to the point where they could get second, but not win. The current version gives them the victory when they manage to break out and cover a lot of the map.
The game seems to generate a bit of a metagame, where various powers seem overpowered in turn to the players.
The name Saprobiont comes from the ame for a species that lives or feeds on dead matter.
The graphic design is based on Art Nouveau, as it was heavily influenced by discoveries in biology. It fits in with the theme of transformation and rebirth.
The flavour text is meant to be reminiscent of either biologists journals, or nature documentaries. Would would an external observer say if he was observing the species of the game.
They are also meant to be a subtle strategy guide to playing the creature, as is the additional name above the species name on the player mat.
This is a direct link for the pdf: http://globalgamejam.org/sites/default/files/uploads/2012/18885/Saprobiont.pdf
