Week 5: New Playtesters and Corrections

This week in class, we had classmates play test our game. There were two play test sessions that provided great feedback on our rules and cards. 

In the first play test session, we identified some crucial errors in the game. First, it turned out that we needed a token to identify the round starter. Instead of adding another piece to the game, we decided the round starter would simply place the deck of event cards in front of him or her. Another problem that we noted was that some territory cards were too "godly", in that they offered both a bonus for selling a specific drug and higher defensive points. To correct this issue, any card that offered a drug-selling bonus was taken down a notch on the defensive scale. We realized weapons were a huge problem in the game because of the easiness to build an armory at a cheap cost. This was solved by weakening the weapons and adding a rule that limited a player to only buy one weapon per turn.

The second play test session went over smoother than the first after weakening the weapons. The weapons were no longer a cheap alternative to actually buying territories. Some of the problems that came up during the second play test was that the incentive to hold on to drugs for a bonus was very weak. Players stated that the event bonus about selling a drug, should apply soon as the event is triggered. This means that players cannot draw a drug on their turn and sell it for a bonus; it only applies on drugs that were being held previously. Another topic discussed was a way to have a cheap defensive weapon to help with the catch up mechanic on someone who gets too powerful weapon wise. We chose to create a weapon card that gave out more defense points and less attack.