Had the first playtest this week and it had a lot of fun elements. The game in its current state is all about control. Windows and doors are used to denote ownership and control is determined by the patterns of framing on the façade:
Points are scored when the a roof is placed to “finish” a building. Additional points are earned by having balconies or gardens. Windows and doors don’t count towards points but are used for ownership.
Playtest Results:
In the playtest image above we can see that orange player controlled 3 tiles in the house on the right and 3 tiles for the house on the left. But they also were given +2 for having a balcony on a tile they controlled (8 points total). Blue player controlled 3 points for the house on the right and 5 points for the house on the left (8 points total). Final result = tie game!
Pros:
- It works!
- Cards line up with eachother as intended
- Reasonably balanced. We ended up with a tie score despite going with two very different strategies.
Cons:
- How do you resolve a tie game? No consideration given.
- Cards feel too big… taking up too much table space. The emerging beauty of a tile placing game comes from having more tiles get placed over the course of play.
- Area control mechanics feel antithesis to the relaxing vibe of a home building game.
- Not a lot of fun choices.
Things to try next:
- Try using this prototype but with individual tableaus rather than competing over the same limited space.
- Create a new prototype with smaller cards or tiles and designed with a more individual experience from the beginning.