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[Co0kieL0rd]

So here's the idea:

Season cards involve a Journey token-like cycling mechanism that affects all players. There are 4 Seasons (named 1, 2, 3 and 4) which can be represented by a correspondent number of tokens of any kind. The game always starts in Season 1 and it is always the same Season for all players. Advancing a Season means from 1 to 2, from 2 to 3, 3 to 4, and from 4 back to 1.

Here are two cards which utilise that mechanism:

Datcha, $4, Action/ Victory/ Season
+1 Card. +1 Action. Advance a Season (the game starts in Season 1). | Worth VP equal to the current Season.

Plantation, $4, Action/ Season
+$ equal to the current Season. If the current Season is 1 or 2, +2 Actions. If the current Season is 3 or 4, +2 Buys. Advance a Season (the game starts in Season 1).

I have thought long and hard about their costs. They both might be too cheap at $4 but the jump to $5 is so big and they might be too expensive, then. The reason I think so is that other players have as much control over the advancement of the Seasons as you do. Theoretically, those cards benefit the players more in the opposite playing order (which I consider a good thing, as there are more cards giving the first player an advantage).

[enfynet]

This would cycle back on itself right? 1-2-3-4-1?

[Co0kieL0rd]

This would cycle back on itself right? 1-2-3-4-1?

Yes, totally forgot to mention that. It's in the introduction now.

[eHalcyon]

The concept may work, but I'm not sure about these two specific ones.

Datcha is almost strictly better than Great Hall (costs $1 more but will often be 2-4 times more VP).  But it seems like it would be swingy... maybe I only have one and you have the rest.  We're in season 4 near the end of the game and this is giving you a big lead.  I can end the game on my turn and, before I do, I play my one copy of Datcha and advance to season 1.  You just lost 21VP.  That's a huge swing!

Plantation is swingy because it is particularly sensitive to timing, which means that shuffle luck matters a lot more.  Say we're in season 1 and Plantation is the only village.  I happen to have a Plantation in hand, which allows me to play off my modest engine.  By the end I've played my third Plantation, leaving us in season 4.  On your turn, you also have a Plantation, but because of timing luck you only get the +Buys.  Or you don't play it, but then you're throwing away +$4.

If this doesn't sound problematic, imagine the simplified version of this -- what if there was only a single Journey token for all players?  How does it change your view of Giant, Ranger and Pilgrimage?

[LibraryAdventurer]

I like the concept, but eHalcyon makes good points about swingyness. For Datcha, it might be better if there were only three seasons (and more interesting if the action wasn't just a cantrip). Plantation probably couldn't work anyway. You don't want a card that's sometimes a village and sometimes terminal (then again we have Tribute, but it's generally considered weak because it's very unreliable and it wouldn't be smart to depend on it as a village. With Nobles it's okay because you can choose).

In fact, it might even work to combine them...

Datcha Plantation, $5, Action/ Victory/ Season
+1 Action. +1 Buy. +$ equal to the current Season. Advance a Season* (the game starts in Season 1). | Worth VP equal to the current Season*.

(*Still, I would use 3 seasons instead of 4) This could give you $3 on your last turn, but then it'd only be worth 1VP.

PS: what does 'datcha' mean?

[AJD]

PS: what does 'datcha' mean?

A Russian summer home.

[Co0kieL0rd]

Thanks for the feedback! So far, I'm merely collecting ideas so any input is helpful and these initial cards are probably gonna get altered.

I obviously chose to have 4 Seasons because that's how many there are in non-tropical climate zones. But I realise that balancing should precede naming and 3 Seasons is probably more reasonable. On the other hand, as eHalcyon pointed out, having all players be in the same Season might be nigh impossible to balance as it will always be swingy. My initial idea was to have a Season token for each player, so like a Journey token with 3 or 4 sides, but I had this idea already before Adventures was previewed. I changed it to affect all players so it's not redundant.

Let's assume both cards, Datcha and Plantation, keep their effects but cost $1 more, and each player has their own Season that other players can't interfere with. How would that be?

[Asper]

I liked the idea of all players having the same season. I really don't think it should give VP for seasons.

How about seasons changing automatically after each round of turns? First each player has a turn in spring, then a turn in summer, autumn, winter last. Actually, that's what i expected when i read the topic. There would be cute possibilities for cards that are better in certain seasons, or cards that store cards for next season (putting them on your deck), or a Barbarian Ships that can only attack when the shore is ice-free, "Autumn sale" cards that cost less in Fall or Winter (after your opening turns)...

I think you can make it possible to advance the season, but that shouldn't be the standard situation. Maybe an expensive Event or something like that.

Edit: Oh, or even a supply pile with four different cards in there (not too different, a bit like Knights), where you can only buy each during (or outside) a specific season?

Edit 2: Or maybe have seasons take several turns, so they reflect phases in the game. Each phase could take four rounds, starting either in the first or third round of Spring (so cards better in Summer will start being better after your second shuffle and not be good opening buys usually)... Then you'd need a Mat/Board to track the progress, though.

[GeeJo]

Let's assume both cards, Datcha and Plantation, keep their effects but cost $1 more, and each player has their own Season that other players can't interfere with. How would that be?

One thing I'd say is that you should start testing with a stronger version than people here advise. It's easy to recognise when a card is overpowered during play and adjust down, but it's harder to recognise that a card could be made stronger without breaking it. And maybe it'll turn out that the stronger version is just fine, and you end up with a more fun card as a result.

[WalrusMcFishSr]

Yo I just learned a new word today which seemed relevant: "The rasputitsa (Russian: распу́тица; IPA: [rɐsˈputʲɪtsə]) refers to the semiannual mud seasons when unpaved roads become difficult to traverse in most of Eastern Europe."

[Co0kieL0rd]

I liked the idea of all players having the same season. I really don't think it should give VP for seasons.

How about seasons changing automatically after each round of turns? First each player has a turn in spring, then a turn in summer, autumn, winter last. Actually, that's what i expected when i read the topic. There would be cute possibilities for cards that are better in certain seasons, or cards that store cards for next season (putting them on your deck), or a Barbarian Ships that can only attack when the shore is ice-free, "Autumn sale" cards that cost less in Fall or Winter (after your opening turns)...

I think you can make it possible to advance the season, but that shouldn't be the standard situation. Maybe an expensive Event or something like that.

Edit: Oh, or even a supply pile with four different cards in there (not too different, a bit like Knights), where you can only buy each during (or outside) a specific season?

Edit 2: Or maybe have seasons take several turns, so they reflect phases in the game. Each phase could take four rounds, starting either in the first or third round of Spring (so cards better in Summer will start being better after your second shuffle and not be good opening buys usually)... Then you'd need a Mat/Board to track the progress, though.

Thanks for your thoughts and ideas! I think changing the season at a fix point in time after a certain number of rounds would be much more balanced than everyone deliberately changing season all the time. Also it would be very different from the Jouney token. I've already come up with a simple mat design with which players could keep track of seasons. I should draw it and post a picture here later.

I don't like the idea of another Knight-like pile BUT there being Season cards you can only buy during certain seasons would be cool. Or the price changes according to season.

Yo I just learned a new word today which seemed relevant: "The rasputitsa (Russian: распу́тица; IPA: [rɐsˈputʲɪtsə]) refers to the semiannual mud seasons when unpaved roads become difficult to traverse in most of Eastern Europe."

This is... actually inspiring