Tag Archives: Playtest

Zoospionage: Matterhorn Playtest Nov 7

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Playtest

Saturday evening was perhaps one of the last in-house playtests of the drafting game Zoospionage: Matterhorn before we expand play-testing. Zoospionage is a 30-45 minute family game in which you draft animal robot spies to break into an evil mega-corp. Each player gets two approach cards to navigate and then all share the centre compound cards.

Working

  • The balance of money and power, the two resources, was really good. The player who was out in front (and ended up winning the game) chose to wait one round before entering the centre to gain enough resources. And yet no one player was completely stymied by lack of resources. This was one of the biggest issues in our last playtest.
  • There were some great puns throughout the night, even though groans predictably accompanied them: when a player's Intelligence agent was take out- "that's ruff" (Intelligence is a dog); when a player chose the least expensive agent possible- "it's cheep" (Surveillance is a bird)
  • It seems almost ready!

Needs Work

  • The game took just a little bit longer than I expected with most players having played at least one earlier version. I want to keep it to a 30-45 minute game.
  • There is one aspect of the rules that is a little unintuitive. Not sure yet whether there is a way to make it more intuitive with the icons, but once you know (or read the rules) it's a pretty simple matter.
  • We decided that one of the agents- the Infiltrator- ought to have a special ability to add in one more element of interaction between players. Now working on what that should be. The current interactive aspects are the card drafting each round ("NO!! I needed that one"), the fact that the Saboteur hurts players to the left and right, and choosing one of the four locations in the centre once players are there.
  • Next steps towards publishing include the rulebook and some graphic adjustments to the cards

Playtesters Wanted for Zoospionage

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Playtest

We are looking for playtesters for a 30-45 minute drafting game called Zoospionage: Matterhorn. If you are interested, send us an email at paul (at) tamedbeastgames.com and tell us why you would be a good playtester for this game.

Shipbuilding Playtest 1

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Playtest

Friday we had a couple people over and rolled out our new shipbuilding game, very tentatively called Timber & Tackle. In the game you control a shipyard in one of seven major European cities in the 17th Century. The gameplay surrounds a couple unique mechanics:

  • A victory point-monopoly awarded every round across four ship-tonnage categories. This award is half-blind, as you add the constantly upgraded port developments to per-round ship builds. So there is an element of surprise every round in what each player has chosen to build.
  • Actions take place based on turn cards with one major and choice between two minor actions. You can add turn cards (and perhaps lose them too) throughout the game to add turn choice and be able to plan your turns accordingly.
  • The player boards take you through a rough approximation of the historical development of the port in that city with benefits and

The game is designed to be mid-weight and we are once again aiming for a large player count, with at least 7 players, so this requires economy of action and time each round so the game doesn't get unwieldy.

Working

  • The right people were playing and have offered great feedback. Not afraid to work through some play-test issues.
  • The game was enjoyed!
  • Although there were some issues with the main game mechanic (monopoly-award), there was at least one moment that captured the goal of the mechanic: "What!? You built whaling boats too! No way. Ughhh." Nice to see.
  • The theme seemed enjoyable. Obviously, we've done a wee bit of work with the design/art already to convey a bit of the shipbuilding theme, and MUCH more remains to be done, but it was a good start.
  • M&M's, BBQ chips, Ginger Ale, and (as it happened) a boy's night. No- this has nothing to do with the game itself. Still positive. LOL

Needs Work

  • Not sure drafting of agents adds much to the game. Need to think it through.
  • Guild and crown cards need to be differentiated
  • Decided to make income based on the every-round port development tonnage, rather than the tonnage built out of your hand.