So the contest turned out to be even more open ended than I intended.
I was hoping for designs that would get players to choose different paths to win the game (ie pursue different strategies from each other).
Instead there were quite a few entries that encouraged players to pursue a different strategy than usual, but would probably have the same effect on both players. This is ok as it opens up space for players to choose different paths; the goal of "more than one optimal strategy", but something like alt-VP wasn't what I had in mind for the competition.
I will try to account for this ambiguity in my judging but I won't necessarily succeed; don't be too disheartened if you don't end up doing well in this round.
Judgements
Rialto by Conman - Nice and simple and very much the sort of thing I had in mind. I have no idea how to play it strategically as ending up with Curse isn't necessarily that bad (on a board with +buys, it could be a nice late game gain), though I would probably rule it out. With a "crap terminal" it's still likely a better duchy that's interesting. I'd want to playtest.
Harbour by mandioca15 - Brutal, and it is quite likely to give one player too much of an advantage. The "gain" exemption is important and I think there's an idea here that would end up being more workable, but as is it won't lead to very fun games.
Investor by TP Inferno - I think this works - you have to put in a fair bit of effort to get to your unique card. I initially thought the sheer randomness of the Investment card would be a problem, but if you have a bad investment, then you wouldn't want to go for the Investor, and that makes it fair. A nice way of opening space, although I'm not sure about the cost or the alternate effect. Setup would also be quite cumbersome in IRL games (although in 2020 I am not going to penalise anything too much on that basis).
Shire by segura - Nice and simple and I could see this popping up in whatever expansion brings back landmarks. However I don't see this making for games where players diverge any more than usual - there will be a bit more of an emphasis on lower value VP cards (or alt VP if present) but I can still see players largely coming to the same conclusion on how to win the game.
Breakthrough et al. by spineflu - I like the concept and you clearly put in a lot of effort. The double potion cost is not easy to hit (a bit easier than treasure map, but not much easier) but the rewards are good, and the obvious effort you will need to put in to hit Breakthrough will make the other player think about whether they want to go for it or not, so it's hitting the contest objectives on two levels.
Land Grant by Carline - Basically gives players access to a victory card of their own one time. Good call on the debt cost as it's a persistent presence, and I like the cost varying with cubes mechanic, though there may be "open land grant" strategies that are unbeatable on some boards (haven't really gotten my head around the landmarks). Balance is going to be a nightmare and I commend you for the effort you put into creating Landmarks that would be great contest entries on their owm. One thing I can see happening is I think it will ironically encourage players to "steal" the land grant from players pursuing the strategy, but players being super aware of the strategies of their opponents and doing something different is the goal.
Monolith by Aquila - nice and simple and it would create very interesting gameplay in every mental scenario I can imagine with this in the kingdom.
Metalworker by Marpharos - this is a great idea, though the card is a bit weak as you need to line it up with a Treasure. A vanilla bonus (like Kiln) would be fine. Copper Alloy and Silver Charms are great, and Gold Token has a nice premise but I am very much not into hexes - if I was designing it I would do "When you play a Gold, gain a Horse" or "When you play a Gold, +1 Villager". I would be particularly interested in games where Silver Charms is the only buy.
Opera House by Something_Smart - I like the concept but it is way too strong early game. It would be good as a Prize or with buy restrictions that made it a late game card.
Royal Monopoly by grep - A nice Seaway variant if not for the Curse/Ruins patenting option, and on some boards it would also be too strong to patent Silver (i.e. if there are no other good sources of $). Indeed with a card like this I can see the value in the card designs that open up more space, as I can see this being used more to profit from patenting essential cards rather than carving out a niche.
Cordwainer by D782802859 - I don't see how this fits the challenge sorry. It's unlikely that a player would not opt for the free $4 as a way of getting to the(ir) ideal strategy earlier. The on play effect seems to lend itself to Big Money-Cordwainer.
Stamp by LibraryAdventurer - A lot going on here that I like. It's clearly a powerful card but what you do with it is highly variable. What that might mean in practice is that you'd want to "win the Stamp Split" and then pivot as necessary to the best strategy from there, which probably isn't the ideal outcome. Still the individual ideas making up this card have me very captivated.
Animal Market by majiponi - I like this more than tribute, but it has some of the same issues regarding "feeling like being attacked". The tests for different decks are too random for it to really reflect a strategic difference between players. I am also not a fan of putting +buy behind an unpredictable effect - I would prefer it be a Market Square on play that sometimes gave you money.
*name by iompelutien - I did say everything qualifies. This is a neat little idea that I think is well reflected in official cards like Alliance, Hoard and Enclave; sacrifice point gains for maintaining (or even increasing) your deck quality as you green. An interesting choice.
Freemason by Fragasnap - Well this is interesting. You could win the split of these overpowered for their cost cards, but be hurt by that decision if you don't also secure the Grand Lodge. I think however the Grand Lodge variant is strong enough that the first freemason buyer would be tempted to open up the lodge with a Silver (or even Copper) the moment they see another player buy a Freemason, which would then be a risky play for them. My head is spinning thinking about this card but one thing is clear - both players would try to concoct the ideal Freemason related strategy and how the game plays out may come down to things like shuffle luck and first turn advantage more than divergent strategy. Still, a nice card.
Specialize by alion8me - First turn advantage looms large over this card. On many boards there will be a single ideal candidate for the +1 card token (eg a good cantrip) or +1 Action token (eg a terminal draw) and games will be decided by who can get to it first. It's a shame as there would be boards where this is a lot of fun and fit the idea behind the contest.
Reinforcements by pubby - This would be an interesting way of bringing less appreciated cards from the kingdom into the fold. $9 is the right cost as it's hard to spike early. I don't see this being good in a lot of games but I see it being very interesting nonetheless, and it encourages players to think early about what cards they want to have accessible later in the game.
Council Chamber by anordinaryman - I think the best thing about this card is it encourages all players not to overspecialise and use a variety of cards, both among themselves and between each other. It hovers over the board like a threat to any player who would spam a certain card. It seems fun.
Magic Book by grrgrrgr - On an engine board, a player can buy this and their opponent has the option to pivot back to money to overcome the advantage. It's only a sensible buy once the other player has a lot of actions and not many treasures, so late enough for its cheap cost not to matter so much. I could see the book sitting on the shelf in many games. However Lost Arts is a powerful enough engine enabler at any cost to make this interesting. I would only want this to appear in high skill games as a bad buy could be very costly.
Successor line by X-tra - Fits the competition as the very rough start on the traveller line means you will be "going for" this strategy rather than using it to enhance some other strategy, even if it makes sense for both players to "go for" it. Your deck turns to mush as your successors multiply and turn into more terminals and victory cards, but then it all pays off once you get to your Monarch and it turns out you have a big point advantage. I can see it leading to Successor/Estate/Duchy 3 pile endings. What I don't like is just how overwhelming it will be for your deck. There is some variety (eg adding in sifters, how you mix in provinces etc.) but Successor-BM is looking like the best way to make use of a successor deck - a "solo card" strategy where you get to play the benchmark the other player is measuring themselves against. Some nice ideas throughout however.
Results
Winner Land Grant by Carline
This wins the day for me above all for the sheer effort that went in. This card will create a very interactive game.
Runners Up: Monolith and Breakthrough
Monolith is a nice simple way to make the game more interesting while adding variety. Breakthrough was also quite interesting and had a lot of effort, but I think it ended up being more luck based than Land Grant which held it back.
Honourable Mention: Metalworker
Probably my favourite concept of the lot, but I couldn't look past the weakness of the card on play and my distaste for hexes.
Author
Topic: Weekly Design Contests #1 - #100 (Read 1684044 times)