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Author Topic: Floodgate  (Read 1666 times)

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LastFootnote

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Floodgate
« on: November 17, 2012, 05:20:14 pm »
+3

I originally posted this card in the Power Grid Promo thread. Today I decided to playtest it in a few games against myself and see how it worked. I was pleasantly surprised. Here's the card (slightly altered after playtesting):

Quote
Floodgate
Types: Victory
Cost: $4
Worth 2 VP.
--------------------------------------------
When you gain this, you may set aside all of the cards from your hand face down. At the start of your next turn, return them to your hand.

When I designed the card, the idea was a sort of one-shot Tactician effect. I figured that you'd buy them near the endgame in order to save your unplayed Treasures for next turn, or in the mid-game to put together a combo (like Treasure Map or Tournament/Province). And you can do those things.

But it turns out the real power of the card is to keep your unplayable cards (pure Victory cards, Curses, etc.) from being shuffled back into your deck. As long as you manage to buy a Floodgate every turn, you can perpetually keep these undesirable cards out of your draw pile. It's sort of like a mega-Island. However, if you ever fail to buy a Floodgate (or the pile runs out), bam! Your deck is immediately flooded with crap. The idea is to time it so that you end the game before that happens.

It's a real game-changer of a card. It's interactive in that you can mess with your opponents' timing by depleting the pile. It's unique in that it's a pure Victory card that you'd buy to help your engine.

I think it'll need more playtesting in order to determine whether it needs a cost tweak or a limit as to how many cards are set aside. I like the concept, though. Let me know how you feel about it and if it creates any game-breaking combos I haven't yet thought of. Thanks!

EDIT: Second iteration:

Floodgate
Types: Victory
Cost: $4
Worth 2 VP.
--------------------------------------------
When you gain this, set aside up to 5 cards from your hand. At the start of your next turn, return them to your hand.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2012, 10:54:38 am by LastFootnote »
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khanh93

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Re: Floodgate
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2012, 09:17:53 pm »
+1

As written, can't I buy four in a row and end up with my whole deck in my hand?
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golden_cow2

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Re: Floodgate
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2012, 02:59:08 am »
+1

As written, can't I buy four in a row and end up with my whole deck in my hand?

Minus at least 4 monies worth of action and treasure cards, yes.
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Davio

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Re: Floodgate
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2012, 05:45:06 am »
+2

I think the wording would be clearer if you make this a Victory-Duration and set it aside as well.
Otherwise you have a bunch of cards laying face down and no other card to tell you to pick them back up.

Make it like Haven and it's ok, I think.
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LastFootnote

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Re: Floodgate
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2012, 10:53:46 am »
0

As written, can't I buy four in a row and end up with my whole deck in my hand?

Minus at least 4 monies worth of action and treasure cards, yes.

Plus the Floodgate you just bought and whatever else you bought that turn.

I think the wording would be clearer if you make this a Victory-Duration and set it aside as well.
Otherwise you have a bunch of cards laying face down and no other card to tell you to pick them back up.

Make it like Haven and it's ok, I think.

After doing some more playtesting, I agree that it's an issue. However, the issue seems to be resolved simply by setting the cards aside normally (face up) rather than face down. Once I started doing that, I never forgot to pick them up.

As for an actual separate in-play reminder that you need to pick up the cards on your next turn, Horse Traders doesn't have that, so there's some precedent for it.

My playtesting so far has revealed that I should set a limit on how many cards can be set aside (right now, the limit is 5 cards). This solves the issue of being able to set aside most of your deck (which gets a bit silly), and also of having to set aside a huge number of cards face up (now that I've changed that wording). Here's the current version:

Floodgate
Types: Victory
Cost: $4
Worth 2 VP.
--------------------------------------------
When you gain this, set aside up to 5 cards from your hand. At the start of your next turn, return them to your hand.
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