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1

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #187: The Law Falls Silent

« on: May 14, 2023, 11:14:45 am »

Port Embezzler - $5
Action - Duration
Either now or at the start of your next turn, +2 cards and +1 Buy.

Until your next turn, each other player must exchange the first card they gain on their turn for a cheaper card. If they can't, exchange it for a Curse.

Half a Wharf that messes with the cards other people gain. I limited it to effecting non-Victory cards to prevent it from blocking Provinces, but I may have nerfed it too much with that. Feedback is appreciated.

Edit: Changed it to effect the first card gained regardless of type. The exchange for Curse caveat is for when there is no cheaper card to exchange for. At that point, if the Curse pile is empty, the originally gained card is kept. This means just buying a Province won't work, but as long as you have an extra buy you can grab a Copper (which is exchanged for a Curse) and still get that Province. This allows it to still have an impact late game. Provides +Buys on itself, so they will always be in the game. It may become a tad centralizing if it is the only source of Buys, but that can't be helped.

Old Version

Port Embezzler - $5
Action - Duration
Either now or at the start of your next turn, +2 cards and +1 Buy.

Until your next turn, the first time each other player gains a non-Victory card costing $1 or more on their turn, they must exchange it for a cheaper card.

2

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: May 03, 2023, 10:44:07 pm »

Some more ideas


(forgot to add "command" to this card. but a sort of mint throne room.



VP card using delay. Probably wildly unbalanced idk

Scribe is really cool. I think its on buy effect and how it interacts with it is really cool. It may have a "feels bad" reputation if the cards you want to Throne Room all fall out of Delay, but that is a characteristic of plenty of cards.

I think Storage is an awesome concept. I may be too good as a treasure in its current state, but changing it to an Action/Victory looks far more reasonable. I like that the VP value is basically capped at 2 unless you get multiples, and even then you need variety to score a bunch.

Good design choices. The wording could use cleaning up as Ethan points out, but the core ideas are real cool.

3

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: May 02, 2023, 12:19:34 pm »

fun competition! good judging

was there any particular reason why portage didnt rand higher? my impression is that its because it was good but basic, and the other entries were simply more interesting/unique: ie, they  did things you could only do with {delay}

I think Portage is an excellent submission. I did not put it on the runners up list just because I try to limit myself, otherwise it would have been there because it is very close in quality to most every other submission. I choose the winner and runners up based on what I feel was most compelling, interesting, and solidly designed. That can be very subjective and change depending on which day I look at it. I don't think anything is really wrong with Portage. If I were to incorporate Delay into my game groups Dominion games Portage would definitely make the cut.

Sorry if I did not go into too much detail on your entry, or if this explanation is not satisfying. I find judging to be quite a bit harder than designing entries, but I really like how everyone addresses the challenge with their designs. You should be proud of your entry, it is very good, I just had to select a limited number of entries to put on the runners-up and winner list.

4

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: May 01, 2023, 06:51:15 pm »

Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification
Thank you to those who entered this challenge! I’ll move right along to the entries.
Results

Imported Goods by czzzz Imported Goods - $5 Treasure +$2 +1 Buy Delay the next card you gain this turn by 2 or 4.

Judgement A solid Silver+ for $5. The options are nice as delaying a VP from going into the deck for 4 turns is quite strong late game, and the delayed quasi +1 Card (+1 Action if it delays an Action) that Delay adds makes this really appealing. As you said, the option to buy a Copper with the built in +Buy works in a pinch if you don't want a new card to miss a shuffle, but I doubt that will be used very often unless there are some serious trashing in the Kingdom, like Mercenary. Great design!

Slow Trade by BryGuy Slow Trade - $5 Action +2 Cards, You may select a card from your Hand or already Delayed choosing one: Delay -1 and +$4; or Delay +1 and +$2; or Delay +3. If the delayed card is a Victory card or costs $0, -$1.

Judgement Ok, so I am going to assume that the Delay -1 simply cannot be used on a card in your hand. I do think the wording is still a bit inaccurate, but I understand what you are going for. I like that is plays around with cards that are alreday Delayed. Depending on what you Delay this can be used to perpetually Delay VP with little penalty (-$1 when you have $0 simply zeroes out). I think the +$4 and -1 Delay will be busted, especially when the Delayed card is a non-terminal Action that gets played by going to 0 Delay. I never really thought out how that would work, going to 0 Delay tokens in the middle of a turn, but I think the safest thing would be to immediately play it (or place it in teh discard if it could not be played from your hand). So, I would say that is most definitely too generous a reward, even if it is some work getting an appropriate card Delayed and then getting another Slow Trade. Even Delaying a card by 1 for $2 is pretty generous, especially if you Delay a terminal Draw that you just drew with Slow Trade. I'd have to play with this to fully grasp how powerful just those two options are, but my guess would be "very strong". Very interesting use of the mechanic.

Summoner by NoMoreFun Summoner - $3 Action Gain an Action. For every $2 it costs (rounded up), delay it by 1.

Judgement An uncapped Action gainer! The restriction to only gaining Action cards ensure the full benefit of Delay is applied, with the penalty that the more expensive the card is the longer you'll be waiting. I think the price is reasonable, maybe a bit underpriced with it being able to grab $5 Actions pretty early. Not much to say as it is nice and simple.

Portage by fika monster Portage - $4 Action Gain a card costing up to $4. If it's an action or Treasure, delay it by 2.

Judgement Another gainer, this one being a more traditional universal gainer with a $4 cost cap. I like that it only Delays Actions and Treasures. Delaying the cards by 2 seems like the right call to have it fall in line with other Workshops+. Nice, straight forward design.

Safehouse by emtzalex Safehouse - $4 Action - Night - Command If it's your Night phase, Delay by 3 a card you would discard from play this turn. Otherwise, play one of your non-Command Delayed cards, leaving it there.

Judgement This is a really cool Emulator. I really like that it only copies cards you have in your deck, and only if you first manage to collide them. This makes it a cool hybrid of Throne Room and Band of Misfits that can also hit Treasures. I can see this being a very appealing card to get multiples of so when you get a Gold or strong $5 cost Action you can Delay it and then emulate it a bunch. Excellent deign!

Refurbisher by J410 Refurbisher - $5 Action +2 Cards At the start of Clean-up, you may choose a card costing $1 or more you would discard from play this turn, to Delay it by 1 per $1 it costs.

Judgement Refurbisher plays like a strange Lab that delays the +Action and adds a +Draw to it. The restriction to cards you have in play and with a cost about $0 keeps the mechanic functional and limits abuse. Having a double lab every 5 turns does not sound like the most fun, so your assessment is correct that Delaying itself does not look appealing. I do like the potential it has with Bridge effects and delaying cheap cantrips will probably be the most appealing goal. The cost of $5 is appropriate for the effect in general and the afformentioned incentive to not Delay itself. I really like this design.

Snowfolk by Will(ow|iam) Snowfolk Ally At the start of your turn, you may spend any number of favors to delay by 2 that many cards from your hand.

Judgement An Ally! I really like this effect. With enough Favors you can set youself up for a big Tactician style turn, or just thin your deck out for a short time. I like that it has a set Delay of 2 to not act as a semi-permenant Exile style effect. Noy too much to more to say, I really like this design.

I really appreciate everyone's entries! I am sorry about the delay, and I did rush the judging a bit. Great word all around! I really wanted to have everyone in the Runners Up section! Hope you had fun!
Runners up
Refurbisher by J410
Imported Goods by czzzz

Winner
Safehouse by emtzalex

5

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: April 30, 2023, 09:29:29 am »

dammit I was 2 minutes late (not really, the 24-hour warning ended sooner than that)

Don't worry. I'll add yours into the line-up. I will be working to get the results up today.

EDIT: I am a bit more busy today than I expected. The results may not be up today.

6

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: April 29, 2023, 11:35:53 pm »

Contest Closed

7

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: April 28, 2023, 07:46:26 pm »

24 HOUR WARNING!

8

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #185: It Takes A Village

« on: April 27, 2023, 05:27:18 pm »

Watchful Village - $3
Night - Duration
Now and at the start of your next turn, look at the top 3 cards of your deck. Trash one of them. Discard one of them. Put the last one back onto your deck.
Until then, each player starts their next turn with 2 Actions.

A double Lookout that acts as a Village for each player on their next turn. The village effect is delayed and does not compound with itself, so multiple Watchful Villages in play will only ever start players with 2 Actions on their next turn. I am not sure if I have the wording for the second half correct. Additionally, I am not sure if providing other players with a Village effect counterbalances the double Lookout. Feedback is welcome.

9

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Low confidence and self esteem around making cards

« on: April 25, 2023, 12:40:35 pm »

So ive like to make Fan cards and submit them to the Weekly design competition in the past, but ive struggled with feeling that my cards art bad, and that people dont like them being submitted(which im 99% sure is false, as people at most simply dont like the design and just ignore it. but my mind isnt fully rational).

I have no problems with low scores and not winning, but its been a negative loop when i come up with an idea, but feel like it will be bad anyway, and thus dont put more effort into it, and its worse than it could be.

Does anyone have encouraging words or tips?

I think the most important thing is to design fan cards for your own enjoyment. Not necessarily enjoyment of the end design, but enjoyment of the design process. I find the best thing about this forum is the criticism and feedback I get on my designs. Refining something after feedback can be very cathartic if the criticism and feedback is taken at face value as additional information to help in that refining. I, for one, welcome even harsh criticism, as if it is unreasonable it can easily be ignored, but can still help inform design decisions. Not everyone has the same opinions on how Dominion should be played or how it should be designed, and as we are in the custom content part of the forums that is fine in my opinion.

The other thing I would suggest is to not force something that does not satisfy your standards of design. It can be very difficult to find inspiration or motivation to design something sometimes, so I simply don't and just let the challenge parameters just percolate in the back of my mind. I post to this forum for my own enjoyment, and will stop if I stop enjoying it. I think more people participating will only help everyone, as even poor designs are helpful and informative whether they are your own or someone elses.

I am sorry if that wasn't as helpful as you may want, but I do hope you continue to participate in the forum. The more the merrier, and bettering yourself is more enjoyable with other people around. Take care of yourself first of all.

10

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: April 24, 2023, 03:47:55 pm »

If a positive delay adds a delay counter, i envision a negative delay removes a delay counter. Now if there are no counters to remove then nothing occurs.

Slow Trade
$5 Action
+2 Cards,
You may Delay a card from your Hand choosing one: Delay -1 and $4; or Delay 1 and +$2; or Delay 3. If the delayed card is a Victory card or costs $0, -$1.

This would allow some versatility, but has a small penalty for certain choices.

Delay values in the negative don't really make sense with how Delay is designed. Could you clarify what the intended function of a negative Delay value is?

Ok, I get it. The structure of your card would need to still set a value for the card being Delayed from your hand and then also add a counter to each Delayed card you control. To keep the mechanic coherent I would suggest something like "Delay 1, add remove a Delay token to from each other Delayed card you control, and +$4". Feel free to change it to your preference.

11

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: April 24, 2023, 12:20:27 pm »

Slow Trade
$5 Action
+2 Cards,
You may Delay a card from your Hand choosing one: Delay -1 and $4; or Delay 1 and +$2; or Delay 3. If the delayed card is a Victory card or costs $0, -$1.

This would allow some versatility, but has a small penalty for certain choices.

Delay values in the negative don't really make sense with how Delay is designed. Could you clarify what the intended function of a negative Delay value is?

12

Variants and Fan Cards / Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: April 22, 2023, 11:26:52 pm »

For the week 64 challenge you will be designing a card shaped thing that uses a mechanic similar to the Freezing mechanic with its Ice Tokens; Delay.

Delay is a keyword mechanic that takes cards from somewhere and sets them aside with delay tokens on them. At the start of your turn you remove a delay token from each card you own that has at least one. If a delayed card no longer has any delay tokens on it, it is played for free as if it is in your hand (if possible). Cards that cannot be played from your hand like Estates are placed in your discard pile instead, this is not considered discarding. Only cards owned by a player can be Delayed, so Delaying cards from the supply doesn’t mean anything unless someone gained ownership of it first. The point of delay is to allow any card to act as quasi-Durations, for better or worse. The exact syntax is not concrete, so if you prefer to use the term in certain ways, feel free to experiment or ask questions. Examples are below.




The challenge; design a card shaped thing that uses Delay. All official mechanics and fan mechanics are fair game. I will be judging based on my own preferences, but I will try to be as fair as I can. Factors I try to look at are simplicity of design, thought provoking design/mechanics, flavorful name/concept, and balance/playability.

I will be giving a 24 hour warning a week from yesterday and then close it the following day.

This mechanic is similar to Freezing, but I hope the differences are enough to make it interesting and fun to use in designs. I look forward to seeing what you all come up with! Have fun!

13

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 63: Sweet Dreams

« on: April 22, 2023, 10:10:57 am »

Thanks for judging czzzz! This was fun! I will try and have something up later in the day.

14

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 63: Sweet Dreams

« on: April 20, 2023, 02:49:02 pm »

The Secret Histories tell us that trashing a version of Hovel was the correct choice even with 4 Coppers. So here there exists the danger of a simple „buy no stuff, trash 2 Estates“ opening.

True. 
I'll think of an edit to make it less automatic. Thanks.

15

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 63: Sweet Dreams

« on: April 20, 2023, 01:00:03 pm »

Bewitching Village - $5
Action - Attack
+1 Card
+2 Actions
If you have no duplicates in play, +1 Card and each other player gains a Curse.
Dream: Nightly Prayer

Nightly Prayer
Dream
If you have no duplicates in play, trash up to 2 cards costing $0 from your hand.

Edit: Added pictures, changed Nightly prayer to be more generous, but can't trash starting junk. Now it really is just an effective way to get rid of Coppers and curses.

16

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 62: Be a Lady Tonight

« on: April 11, 2023, 07:30:21 pm »

Thank you emtzalex for running and judging this challenge! I have been quite busy lately so if czzzz would be willing to run the next contest in my place, it would be greatly appreciated.

17

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 62: Be a Lady Tonight

« on: April 06, 2023, 07:28:51 pm »

Shrine Attendant - $3
Action
+1 Action
Reveal a card in your hand, then the top card of your deck. If they match, gain 2 Luck. Either way, you may discard the top card of your deck, then +1 Card.
Heritage: Local Shrine

Local Shrine - $2
Action - Victory - Heritage
+1 Action
Look at the top 2 cards of your deck. Discard any number of them and return the rest in any order.
----
1VP

Uses the Heritage mechanic from Week 24. What's better than sifters? Sifters that optimize sifting and gain more sifters!

18

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #183: I'll Have The Vanilla Please

« on: April 05, 2023, 11:22:50 pm »

Expanding Market - $5
Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
+$1
You may discard a card costing $5 or more for +1 Card, +1 Buy, and +$1.

A Peddler that lets you turn a card costing $5 or more into a Market (through discarding it). Originally was going to require the discarded card to cost $6 or more. May warrant a cost of $6 as is.

19

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 61: Copycat Cephalopods

« on: March 31, 2023, 08:33:54 pm »

Innsmouth
Ally
After playing a Liaison, you may choose one: Put the Ritual token on a non-Liaison Kingdom pile costing up to $5; or spend 4 Favors to play the card with the Ritual token on it (if possible), leaving it there.

I had trouble coming up with something different/interesting. I went with an Ally that allows you to play another card after playing a Liason. There is only one Ritual token, and it does not start on any pile. This hopefully prevents super fast/degenerate play. It also allows you to move the token to an undesirable Kingdom pile if you don't have much influence.

20

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #182: I Choose Nothing

« on: March 26, 2023, 09:25:50 am »

War Hounds - $2
Action - Reaction
+2 Cards
You may discard 2 cards to choose one: +1 Card; or +1 Coffers; or +1 Villager.
----
When another player plays an Attack, you may first play this from your hand.

Guard Dog variant. Unlike Guard Dog, War Hounds does not have the raw drawing potential, but it does have flexibility with its; optional discard for effect. Made the discard ability fairly weak to justify the cost and to make it something you don't always want to use. It may be a bit strong at $2. Feedback appreciated.

21

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #181: Building a Better Harem

« on: March 20, 2023, 08:07:08 pm »

WDC #181: Building a Better Harem
Thank you for your patience while I judged the entries! I’ll waste no more time and move right along to the entries.
Results

Mansion by JW Mansion - $7 Treasure - Victory $2 +1 Buy --- Worth 2VP for each set you have of Gold-Duchy-Mansion.

Judgement Mansion looks to be a $5 Silver with a +Buy that enhances Duchies. As you mentioned, it is similar to Duke, but does not water down the deck like all other green cards. This is a solid and intuitive design. Similar to the Palace Landmark it rewards developing your money base and keeping track of what is in your deck. I think the VP reward justifies the price tag because of the compounding effect of having more sets of Gold-Duchy-Mansion. As long as you can at least get three sets before the end of the game each one is a Province. Finalist

Beachside by Augie279 Beachside - $5 Treasure - Victory $2 +1 Buy You may Exile this for +1 Card --- Worth 1VP if in Exile.

Judgement A solid Silver with +Buy for $5. The bonus feature of optionally Exiling itself to be worth 1VP is interesting and simple. I imagine the extra VP will mainly be something to do if opportunity presents itself near the end of the game. This is a good solution to the treasure/victory issue of having a single card be too good and have to be exorbitantly priced. I can see this in an official release. A good, basic design.

Nitro+ by majiponi Nitro+ - cost $7 Treasure - Loot - Victory Choose one: +$3, +1 Buy; or Exile this. --- If this is in Exile, worth 3VP when scoring.

Judgement The second of three entries that want to be in Exile to be worth VP. This is a Loot, so the price is perfunctory and the play value is close to standard. This really reminds me of my submission from the last contest, but with a different spin on it. I think the +Buy is definitely the weakest of the play options, and cutting it or adding it to the +$3 option wouldn’t really have much effect on the balance. Like Beachside, Exiling it for point is probably something to do when convenient, though being worth 3VP does make it far more appealing to get it in Exile before the game ends. In regards to the name, I wanna see the face of the pirate that gets the Nitro when he tries to use it for something. Great Loot, would be happy to play with it.

Portrait by NoMoreFun Portrait - $5 Treasure - Victory $2 +1 Villager --- Worth 2VP if you have 4 or more Villagers.

Judgement A $5 Silver that makes Villagers. This is quite similar to Patron in all ways except it can be worth VP if you are willing to accumulate enough Villagers and not use them. This seems to be a perfectly reasonable design. If there are other sources to get Villagers I can see if far easier to reach the 4 Villager requirement, but the VP is still contingent on not using them, so this is fine and not unbalanced. Great design!

Gilded Gardens by Builder-Roberts Gilded Gardens - $4 Treasure - Victory +$1 for each Victory card you have in play. --- Worth 1VP per 2 Victory cards you have with two or more types (round down).

Judgement Gilded Gardens is the first entry that has a scaling treasure value and scaling VP value. The +$ is based on the number of Victory cards you have in play. There are a few other cards that could increase the value, but the primary way to increase it would be to have more Gilded Gardens. The VP value also scales off of Gilded Gardens and a few other cards that could be in the Kingdom. This makes Gilded Gardens pretty centralizing. As soon as someone grabs a Gilded Gardens, other players have the choice to go Gilded Gardens as well to prevent them from taking off or try and race them with another strategy. The big issue with treasure/victory cards is that they have the potential to just reinforce themselves naturally. Gilded Gardens seems to do this more so, even with the limitations in place. Either the top or bottom part could be solid enough to exist alone, but both together makes it too easy to just constantly buy more of them until they produce Province money. Good ideas, but better on separate cards in my opinion.

Park/Fences by faust Park - $3 Treasure - Victory - Gathering $1 +1 Buy Add 1 VP to the Park/Fences supply pile. --- Worth 1VP per 3 VP on the Park/Fences pile (round down). Fences - $4 Action - Gathering Trash this. If you did, take up to 4 VP from the Park/Fences supply pile.

Judgement Park is a great Copper with a +Buy that slowly builds up a VP value. This VP value is for all copies of Park so it benefits everyone that buys one. The big reason not to just constantly buy more Parks is the second card in this split pile. Fences are a one shot Action that steals VP value off of Park. Fences also grants a bigger payout than Park, so even for the players that invested their buy and time on building up the VP value with Park may want to dig down for a Fences or two before the game ends. This is a great design that creates a push your luck mini game that is not too centralizing. I imagine if Swap of a similar card that could gain Fences to hand will have a big impact on how players approach this. Also, great flavor. I don’t usually like split piles, but this is an excellent design that makes me interested in trying it out. Finalist

River Isle by BryGuy River Isle - $5 Treasure - Duration - Victory Now and at the start of your next turn +1 Buy and +$1 --- 2VP

Judgement A $5 Astrolabe+ worth 2VP. This is a good source of buys if you need them and likely would be a better purchase than a Duchy in most situations. I think the price is reasonable if a tad underpriced. Not too much to go over, I can see this showing up in a future expansion. Good work.

Palanquin by czzzz Palanquin - $5 Treasure - Victory $2 You may discard or trash a card from your hand for +1 Buy. --- Worth 2VP if you have more Action cards than Treasures.

Judgement A Silver for $5 that has a really cool VP requirement. Palanquin can be worth 2VP if you have more action cards than treasures. To help this along it also has on optional discard or trash effect that give +1 Buy. That this is an optional additional effect to a Silver seems really strong. I like the ability to trash cards to meet the VP requirements, but the effect may be too flexible. Without testing I can’t say for certain, but my gut is telling me that, similar to Junk Dealer and Hideout, you could make it an optional trash only (no discard option), or a required trash or discard (I like this less), and it would still be really good. That is the only thing that adversely effected my view on this card, and even that may just be down to taste. Good flavor to the name as well. Overall I really like the VP goal for the card and how it helps with that goal. Finalist

Contribute by 4est Contribute - $4 Treasure - Victory $2 Put this in the discard pile of the player to your left. If you did, +1 Buy and +$3. --- 2VP

Judgement I like the name. This is a great take on a one shot cheap Gold with a drawback. This drawback is pretty hefty later in the game, but if people are buying Contribute early game, it will be for the money acceleration. I know in the group I play in there is one person that will never buy this (until late game) and never pass it to their left unless they can get a Province. Cards that depend on players playing a certain way to make the mechanic of that card “work” is always a potential problem, but that is not the fault of this cards design, just the only negative thing that came to mind when evaluating this. Solid “interact with others” mechanic that makes players keep track of the state of the game and treat it differently based on that evaluation. Great design! Finalist

Silk Routes by Ethan Silk Routes - $5 Treasure - Victory This turn, Victory cards costing up to $6 with only 1 type are also Treasures worth $1. --- Worth 1VP for every 4 Victory cards you have (round down).

Judgement Silk Roads for $5 that allows you to play single type Victory cards costing $6 or less for $1. Ok, so this is interesting. This price limit does seem necessary to prevent gaining a Province off a Treasure gainer. The obvious go to would be buying Duchies, making this behave similar to Duke, but it benefits VP-wise from all VP cards. I think the best thing this does is make your starting Estates act as Coppers, so if trashing is not easily obtained this can help with that. After that, picking up other cheap VP cards could be appealing if you have enough Silk Routes that getting one into play is reliable enough. I think the price is fine when compared to Silk Roads, but Silk Roads was never the best alt VP card in my experience, so the $5 price tag may not really be needed. Interesting take on Silk Roads. I actually prefer this over the original. Good work.

Bounty by AJL828 Bounty - $5 Treasure - Victory Gain an Action card to your hand costing up to $1 per different card type you have in play. You may play an Action from your hand. --- Worth 1VP per 3 different card types you have (round down).

Judgement Bounty is a different take on a scaling treasure/victory card. The factor it scales off is different card types. The VP scaling looks reasonable, averaging 2VP unless the Kingdom is particularly wild. The treasure part is actually an Action card gain to hand effect that then allows you to play an Action from hand. This is a really cool effect that requires work, but can grab $5 and $6 cost actions if you put in the effort. I think the power level will greatly depend on the rest of the Kingdom, which is perfectly reasonable. I also really like cards that play Actions during the Buy phase as that can do some really fun things. Great entry! Finalist

Spring by silverspawn Spring - $5 Treasure - Victory Remove a Coin token from the Spring pile (it starts with 12), then +$1 per 3 Coin tokens still there (round down). --- 2VP

Judgement This is an interesting way to balance the innate problems of a Treasure/Victory card. The value of the treasure portion depletes, but starts very powerful, so it is very appealing earlier in the game. I know the wording is awkward as the setup would normally be a third row, but the resulting effect is really great that it is pretty easy to overlook. This may be something that could be solved with a mat with the setup instructions on the mat, but that would add a different kind of complexity. Great design and concept!

Pleasure of Dionysos by sumrex Pleasure of Dionysos - 4P Treasure - Victory When you play this from your hand, reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal another Pleasure of Dionysos, then play that card. +1$ for every Pleasure of Dionysos you have in play. --- Worth 2 per 5 Victory cards you have, except Pleasure of Dionysos.

Judgement The only Potion entry. The victory portion is a faster scaling Silk Roads that does not count itself. With a Potion in the cost, most gainers would not be able to get more of these, but it being a treasure as well could pose a way to circumvent the Potion cost. The Treasure portion is also a scaling value,  but it acts in an unusual manner. Each Pleasure of Dionysos played from hand can fetch and play another and then is worth however many are in play. So with one in your deck, it is a Copper. With two, a single play is essentially worth $4 as it fetches a second into play and each are worth $2. This is a pretty strong card to have two of, and a third will just help ensure a play will pull another for the $4. I think if it was just a Silver that fetches a copy of itself it would still be plenty strong and less likely to balloon in power with more copies. It is very difficult for me to comprehensively judge a Potion card, especially one with this large of a price tag. It may be balanced, but the treasure effect feels a bit clunky. Creative design never the less.

Creative Destruction by fika monster Creative Destruction - $3 Treasure - Victory Trash this and up to 3 differently named cards from your hand. If you did, gain +1 Coffers and +1 VP for each differently named Victory card in the trash.

Judgement The most unusual entry in my opinion, Creative Destruction is not actually worth any VP. It plays as a single use trasher that gains Coffers and VP based on different Victory cards in the trash. I did post previously that I thought the Victory card type is unwarranted, but I am going to withdraw that statement. It cares about different Victory cards in the trash, and it being a Victory card effects that. With that in mind, this is a perfectly well designed card, if a bit unusual. I personally would have liked if it had an optional effect that does trash it, but a Victory card taking up space does make sense. I would be very surprised if this, or something like it, showed up in an official release as a Victory card with no inherent VP value (conditional or otherwise) printed on the card has not been made. On average I see this being worth 2VP per play, which is pretty good, and it does not take up space in your deck afterwards. The price may be a bit low, but the requirement to actually play it for the VP kinda balances it. Really cool design!

Shroud by xyz123 Shroud - $5 Treasure - Victory $1 Trash a card from your hand. --- Worth 1VP per differently named Victory card in the trash

Judgement Shroud feels like a Junk dealer that trades its’ card draw for VP value. The VP value being conditional on different Victory cards in the trash. I can see how this could be worth more than a Duchy, but that would require some work. I like that the trashing is required and the lack of +Buy on it makes it dependent on other sources if you want to have a constant supply of trashing fodder. Would want to play with. Really simple and solid design. Finalist

Pyramid/Burial Chamber by RovingBear Pyramid - $4 Action - Victory Trash 2 cards, + 1 VP --- 1VP --- When you gain this, you may trash 2 treasures in play. Burial Chamber - $7 Treasure - Victory Worth $1 for every 3 treasures in the trash (round down), at most worth $8. --- Worth 1VP for every 3 treasures in the trash (round down), at most worth 8 VP.

Judgement The only other split pile submitted. First off, I really do like the flavor of it. Unfortunately, starting with  Pyramids,  I really don’t like the two dividing lines on it. I completely understand it is necessary if you want all those effects, but it is aesthetically unpleasant to me. That aside, it needs to specify what cards are being trashed from where on the top part like you did in the bottom part. It seems like a solid trasher and source of VP tokens, assuming you trash from hand on play. Moving onto Burial Chamber, I am glad this is on the bottom of the pile as this will likely be a far more appealing purchase than a Province when it becomes available. Its power will balloon far more quickly the more players in the game. I appreciate the cap at 8 VP and money value, but I still think this will be extremely powerful if it becomes available. I may be off on this assessment as it is the bottom card in a split pile, but even limiting it to be worth 4 VP and money would still be very good. Really creative design, and again I really like the flavor.

Atlas by SignError Atlas - $4 Treasure - Victory Reveal your hand for +$1 per differently named Victory card you have there or in play. --- Worth 1VP per 2 differently named Treasures you have (round down).

Judgement Atlas does scaling VP and money value in a very restrained way. It will always be worth at least a $1, and having Victory cards in hand is usually a detriment to your buy phase, so I really like the way the Treasure half works. The Victory half is also well retrained as it will usually be worth 2 VP. For $4 this can be much stronger than Harem, but the conditional nature of it is appealing as it rewards keeping Green in your deck.  Great design! Finalist

Hammam by Udzu Hammam - $4 Treasure - Victory Choose one: +$2; or +1 Buy and Exile this. --- Worth 2VP if in Exile at the end of the game (otherwise worth 0VP).

Judgement A Silver+ for $4! I like that Gondola has made this not so taboo. This is the last of the “worth VP if Exiled” entries. Like the others the trick will be Exiling it at the right time during the game. This is the cheapest of the entries with this feature and is worth 2 VP, but you forgo the money the turn you Exile it, so that seems reasonable. Later in the game it will likely not be an appealing purchase as it would still have to run through your deck like Distant Lands to be worth VP. Good design.

Opera House by emtzalex Opera House - $5 Treasure - Victory From your hand: discard a card, put one onto your deck, trash one, and put one onto your Opera mat. --- Worth 1VP per differently named card on your Opera mat.

Judgement A treasure that does not gain cards or make money. This is really interesting as I can see situations where you would not want to play an Opera House. It being a treasure with this effect is a great idea as you can still play all the treasure you want before playing it. The VP value requiring you to actively set up a hand with enough card to use all the effects is a brilliant design. I can see this ballooning in value, but it not making money actually avoids the usual issue of Treasure/Victory cards enobling you to get more copies of themselves. Great design! Finalist

Seraglio by arowdok Seraglio - $7(debt)7 Treasure - Victory $4 --- 4VP

Judgement A super Harem! This is a dead simple design, and I do really appreciate that. This being a treasure can allow some gainers to bypass the Debt drawback. I have to be honest that I don’t really play with Debt cards so this is a bit difficult for me to comprehensively evaluate, however to my eyes Seraglio will pay for itself pretty quickly. So whenever you first get $7 I don’t really see the drawback to getting it. As long as it is not too far into the game you may even be able to play the purchased Seraglio to pay off its own Debt. I would have to playtest this to be sure, but I can see this allowing someone to snowball if they get an early $7 far more than just grabbing a Gold. Could just be me. The extremely large price does warrant a very strong effect, and it fits the bill, I am just not sure I would want to play with it. Really good design though.

Caves by Snorka Caves - $5 Treasure - Victory Discard any number of Victory cards from your hand for $2 each. --- 2VP

Judgement This is the Duchy Storeroom mashup I never knew I wanted! I think choosing this over a strong $5 Action or a Duchy when greening is a valid enough choice to make this compelling. There is only 1 VP difference between Duchy and this, but that can be quite significant. That it limits the cards you discard to Victory cards is a smart one that prevents it from being too powerful I don’t have much more to say than great design! I would want to play with it! Finalist

I really appreciate everyone that participated! I had a real hard time choosing the winner. I was not prepared for 21 submissions. All entries, even the ones I may have been more critical of, had great design ideas. Good job everyone! Hope you all had fun!

Runners Up
Mansion by JW
Opera House by emtzalex
Caves by Snorka

Winner
Park/Fences by faust

22

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #181: Building a Better Harem

« on: March 19, 2023, 01:54:48 pm »

I am over half way through the judging. Sorry about the delay. Will try to complete it by the end of tomorrow.

23

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #181: Building a Better Harem

« on: March 16, 2023, 05:26:18 pm »

Closed

Final List of Entries

Mansion by JW
Beachside by Augie279
Nitro+ by majiponi
Portrait by NoMoreFun
Gilded Gardens by Builder-Roberts
Park/Fences by faust
River Isle by BryGuy
Palanquin by czzzz
Contribute by 4est
Silk Routes by Ethan
Bounty by AJL828
Spring by silverspawn
Pleasure of Dionysos by sumrex
Creative Destruction by fika monster
(Note: I’ll judge this, but fair warning that I don’t think this will qualify to win as the Victory card type seems unwarranted.)
Shroud by xyz123
Pyramid/Burial Chamber by RovingBear
Atlas by SignError
Hammam by Udzu
Opera House by emtzalex
Seraglio by arowdok
Caves by Snorka

That totals 21 entries. I am going to try and work on judging these today, but my weekend is a bit packed, so if I cannot get the results out today,  I am unsure if I will get them out by the end of it. Thank you for participating and your patience for the results.

24

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #181: Building a Better Harem

« on: March 15, 2023, 06:45:04 pm »

24 Hour Warning

Entries

Mansion by JW
Beachside by Augie279
Nitro+ by majiponi
Portrait by NoMoreFun
Gilded Gardens by Builder-Roberts
Park/Fences by faust
River Isle by BryGuy
Palanquin by czzzz
Contribute by 4est
Silk Routes by Ethan
Bounty by AJL828
Spring by silverspawn
Pleasure of Dionysos by sumrex
Creative Destruction by fika monster
(Note: I’ll judge this, but fair warning that I don’t think this will qualify to win as the Victory card type seems unwarranted.)
Shroud by xyz123
Pyramid/Burial Chamber by RovingBear
Atlas by SignError
Hammam by Udzu
Opera House by emtzalex

Please let me know if I missed anything. If you make any adjustments to your current entry, please make a new post stating as much. Thank you.

25

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #181: Building a Better Harem

« on: March 13, 2023, 10:40:49 am »

Pleasure of Dionysos
4P
Treasure/ Victory

When you play this from your hand, reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal another Pleasure of Dionysos, then play that card.
+1$ for every Pleasure of Dionysos you have in play.
-----------------------
Worth 2 per 5 Victory cards you have, except Pleasure of Dionysos.

The cost is so you cannot just spam them. And this absolutely encourages to get more than one potion, but how can you then make the cost work? Also you cannot buy other things with potion probably...

Just to confirm how you want this to play, do you want the "+1$ for every Pleasure of Dionysos you have in play" to trigger after both are in play, so each will be worth $2 if you have two in play?