Herman Scribble Design Log


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Design Log

8/19/23

The first compiled version of the rules and print and play cards (v0.1) is released! I like the mechanics here, but I’m not sure how complete it’ll feel. I’ll do some playtesting over the next couple of days to see if it is actually fun.

The location line (or “Plot Line” as I called it in the rules) is similar to the way locations worked in Decipher’s Star Trek CCG. The challenges underneath also mimic that game’s Dilemma mechanic. The challenges (and resources) are placed randomly rather than being seeded by the players.

I don’t think I’ve seen a card game that mixes the narrative and mechanical card manipulation like this. On paper I like it, but we’ll see how it works in practice. I am concerned that I may be leaning on the narration too much – there aren’t real consequences for failing other than losing time. I’ll need to test to see how that works in practice.

Right now, the “boss fight” looks on paper to be anti-climactic. It is all focused on the narrative that the group puts together. The other parts are mostly a checkboxes – have you completed enough challenges, etc. It’ll be interesting to see how that part plays.

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