A first look at the SatW card game
We've been working with a game designer to bring you a Scandinavia and the World card game.
After creating and testing a dozen versions of the game, we've arrived at a core game that we like and are now getting stuck into the finer aspects of design and development.
We could use some feedback to guide this part of the process.
In the game a treasure hoard of tea, lava, porn, drugs, fireworks, robots and heaven knows what else has been discovered. The countries are arguing about how to divide the loot and it's your job to sort everything out. Each turn you'll get some loot, bid against other players to earn a new supporter, deal with whatever 'help' this new country decides to offer before finally giving your supporters items that'll make them happy. The first player to gain three happy supporters wins!
You can find a quick set of the rules here:
3dtotalgames.com/satw/gimme-rules/
And the current playtest cards are here:
3dtotalgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/SatWItems.pdf (placeholder art)
A more printer friendly playtest file and an updated tabletop simulator version should be available next week.
If you've got any feedback, please post here or email the designer at greg@3dtotal.com. At the moment the emphasis is still very much on the gameplay, so we're not getting into graphic design or art just yet (but don't worry - the cards will have new art drawn just for the game). Feedback on the choice of items, suggestions for more characterful abilities and general comments on gameplay are particularly welcome.
Edit
Rules:
3dtotalgames.com/satw/gimme-rules
More printer friendly download:
3dtotalgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/LootPnP160321-1.pdf
Steam workshop mod for Tabletop Simulator:
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=613696382
Comments:
8 years ago #9467886
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@Lobke Good catch, I'll fix it in the next build
@yvonnebello I never really got into pokemon cards. I was at the "Give all of my money to wizards of the coast" stage of my gaming when it came out ;)
@ryttyr I just had to go and find the strip, but you're right! New Zealand will be a woman from the next build. I forgot about that reference and didn't want to make an assumption without knowing. I also notice I've been inconsistent in gendering North Korea, is their gender ever explicitly stated?
@yvonnebello I never really got into pokemon cards. I was at the "Give all of my money to wizards of the coast" stage of my gaming when it came out ;)
@ryttyr I just had to go and find the strip, but you're right! New Zealand will be a woman from the next build. I forgot about that reference and didn't want to make an assumption without knowing. I also notice I've been inconsistent in gendering North Korea, is their gender ever explicitly stated?
8 years ago #9467593
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Why doesn't New Zealand have a female symbol after her name? She is a female after all, Australia said so himself when he introduced her.
8 years ago #9467403
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I'm really excited for this.
It reminds me of Pokémon for some odd reason. Maybe because it's cards?
Whatever, it looks like it will be fun to play.
It reminds me of Pokémon for some odd reason. Maybe because it's cards?
Whatever, it looks like it will be fun to play.
8 years ago #9467155
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hi, it looks awesome! I have just something little to mention. At the card with the boxinggloves (Dutch female) the explanation mentions Anouck, this should be spelled Anouk
8 years ago #9466165
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Hi Ylvise,
Don't worry, we know this isn't the final art and have no intention of the finished game looking anything like this. One of the things I've learned as a game designer is that if I ask graphic designers and artists to work on something and then change my mind about the rules such that they need to include / remove an element they start looking at me like they want to stab me in the neck. So I do a lot of gameplay work before I worry too much about what it looks like.
What you're looking at is my "what's the minimum I can do to make it possible to test the mechanics of play" version of the game. I have no graphic training or ability, am colourblind and make the cards using Open Office rather than any real graphical tool. I know that the art and design are terrible - they're just not the focus of the design work at the moment.
For a point of reference here's what a horror game that I worked on looked like at this stage of that project:
http://www.3dtotalgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/mutilation.png
And here's what it ended up looking like:
http://www.3dtotalgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Cards.jpg
I think we can do quite a lot better than that with this game as well, because the Escape the Nightmare project involved a collaboration of dozens of artists providing images drawn to different ratios. In this case we'll be working with a much tighter group drawing images of the sizes that are specifically required.
Don't worry, we know this isn't the final art and have no intention of the finished game looking anything like this. One of the things I've learned as a game designer is that if I ask graphic designers and artists to work on something and then change my mind about the rules such that they need to include / remove an element they start looking at me like they want to stab me in the neck. So I do a lot of gameplay work before I worry too much about what it looks like.
What you're looking at is my "what's the minimum I can do to make it possible to test the mechanics of play" version of the game. I have no graphic training or ability, am colourblind and make the cards using Open Office rather than any real graphical tool. I know that the art and design are terrible - they're just not the focus of the design work at the moment.
For a point of reference here's what a horror game that I worked on looked like at this stage of that project:
http://www.3dtotalgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/mutilation.png
And here's what it ended up looking like:
http://www.3dtotalgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Cards.jpg
I think we can do quite a lot better than that with this game as well, because the Escape the Nightmare project involved a collaboration of dozens of artists providing images drawn to different ratios. In this case we'll be working with a much tighter group drawing images of the sizes that are specifically required.
8 years ago #9466146
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I have to say the second I saw this was going to be a card game I was more excited than I can say xD
It does look really amazing and so much fun to play, and I can't wait for it to be finished! However, you did ask for feedback, so here it is:
As a former media student, there are just a few things bothering me a little with the design so far. The bottom text part is way too "squished" and too far down at the bottom. You need to leave some space around the edges and above the text.
It also looks a little unbalanced; the flags and items/item descriptions all to one side like that.
But mostly I would recommend changing the art on Iceland and sister Sweden. Their card art is so different from the rest, In a set like this it would be better and easier on the eyes if all of them had the same style.
And speaking of that, the random half-cut-away characters are very distracting. I would recommend masking only the character that is supposed to be in the image, so you get rid of those ugly borders. The same goes for the items, really.
That's it, but I am sure you are going to figure that out in the design process! I really can't wait to see these finished
It does look really amazing and so much fun to play, and I can't wait for it to be finished! However, you did ask for feedback, so here it is:
As a former media student, there are just a few things bothering me a little with the design so far. The bottom text part is way too "squished" and too far down at the bottom. You need to leave some space around the edges and above the text.
It also looks a little unbalanced; the flags and items/item descriptions all to one side like that.
But mostly I would recommend changing the art on Iceland and sister Sweden. Their card art is so different from the rest, In a set like this it would be better and easier on the eyes if all of them had the same style.
And speaking of that, the random half-cut-away characters are very distracting. I would recommend masking only the character that is supposed to be in the image, so you get rid of those ugly borders. The same goes for the items, really.
That's it, but I am sure you are going to figure that out in the design process! I really can't wait to see these finished
8 years ago #9466138
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It's not strictly codified in the rules either way, though in all of the playtests so far players have naturally dealt the cards face down onto the table - so everyone can see the backs of them.
The dealer does indeed choose who gets which cards. They can decide however they like or just deal them at random - but it's probably most common to see them used to settle scores
"You get a one for using Greenland to remove Denmark last turn."
"I'm giving you a three 'cause you picked one of my characters for Australia's royal wedding."
Stuff like that.
The dealer does indeed choose who gets which cards. They can decide however they like or just deal them at random - but it's probably most common to see them used to settle scores
"You get a one for using Greenland to remove Denmark last turn."
"I'm giving you a three 'cause you picked one of my characters for Australia's royal wedding."
Stuff like that.
8 years ago #9465908
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"At the start of your turn deal an object to each player, you may look at the backs of the cards and see how much each object is worth before doing so." Does the dealer choose the cards? Do the other players also see how much the object is worth, or only the dealer and the person receiving it?
Looks a great game!!
Looks a great game!!
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