You visit the Tack Shop to get equipment that makes your Horses better. Or you gain a horse to use this equipment on. (this is still a work in progress*, but I wanted to get some feedback early on, especially since there are a few artifacts):
* also, card images will be added to this post
Tack Shop - Action - $5
+1 Action
+1 Card
Choose one: Exile this to take the Saddle, Reins, or Stirrups; or gain a Horse to your deck.
Saddle - Artifact
The first time you would return a horse to its pile this turn, leave it in play instead.
Stirrups - Artifact
The first time you play a horse this turn, +1 Card.
Reins - Artifact
During your turns, Horses are also Reserve cards that read: +1 Card, +1 Action, put this on your Tavern mat. You may call this for +1 Card, return this to its pile.
Notes / Questions:
I'm a little worried about the cantrip horse gainer, so that part may have to change. Maybe you always exile it?
Each piece of Tack makes your horses stronger: Saddle lets you "tame" one horse and keep it around; Stirrups let you speed up a horse and get an extra card; and Reins let you control your horses, making them more like +1 Card tokens.
I'm not sure I love that two of them are for the first horse, while Reins is all horses. But making Reins only for one horse seemed week, and making the others for all horses too strong
Saddle is worded as is (on return instead of on play) so that it can work with Reins
Horses on your Tavern mat can only be called on your turns, because when it's not, they don't have the "you can call" text!
Do you think 3 different types of Tack is good? I can imagine I can think of others, but it seems like too many to "compete" over.
I'd change Reins to give a (non-competitive) state for the remainder of the game something like
Reins Artifact
During your turns, Horses are also Reserve cards that read: "+1 Card, +1 Action, Put this on your Tavern Mat." If you don't have "Tame", take "Tame"
Tame State
Horses on your tavern mat can be called on your turn for +1 Card and return it to its pile
That way you don't have orphaned horses when someone steals the reins away from you, reducing the amount of feelsbadness when this is in play. Tame would have 6 copies, one per player (like Deluded or whatever).
Also three types of tack might be a bit much - if I'd cut one, it's either Reins (for the complexity) or Stirrups (since it's the least likely to cause contention)
Thanks for the feedback! I completely missed that you could orphan horses if someone stole the reins. Which since the current design involves exiling tack shop seems especially bad (i.e. permanent).
I'm actually thinking that maybe instead of artifacts, all 3 should be states (I'll need some new names*). So you empower your horses for the rest of the game, and so can other players. If so, I'll have to weaken Tack Shop for sure. Maybe removing the on deck gaining** and also maybe / maybe not the +1 Card?
* Saddled instead of Saddle lets you keep the Horse, Corralled instead of Reins lets you reserve the horse, and Trained instead of Reins, lets you ride the horse further (i.e. +1 Card). Open to other ideas for naming, please. (I also might rename Tack Shop them to Stablehand or Equerry since now the states wouldn't all be tack.)
** I was likely going to do this anyone, as 2 Tack Shops together, are at least as good as 2 labs.
I would like to keep at 3 (maybe even add a 4th?) as this way its more interesting to decision to exile. i.e if you strengthen your horses more, you risk losing these forever which could be your only source of horses.
Anyway lots of details to parse over, but I wanted to see what you and the forum thought about having these be States instead?