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[LastFootnote]

I was working on my fan expansion, trying to brainstorm a more compelling version of my Gambler card. This idea that I came up with doesn't really fit the expansion, but it seemed interesting enough to post.

Gambler (A)
Types: Action
Cost: $3
+1 Action. Reveal cards from your deck one at a time until you decide to stop or two of the revealed cards share a type. If none of the revealed cards share a type, draw them. Otherwise, discard them.

Too weak? Too powerful for $3? Will it create too much AP? Let me know what you think.


On a side note, here's another idea I'm currently considering. It doesn't have the press-your-luck concept, but fits better with my expansion's one-shot theme.

Gambler (B)
Types: Action
Cost: $3
+1 Card. +1 Action. Reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. If none of them share a type, draw them. Otherwise, discard them. If you revealed 3 Victory cards, trash this and put your deck and discard pile into your hand.

If you're feeling generous, let me know what you think of that idea, too.

[Kahryl]

Gambler A seems very similar to Wishing Well, but swingier.

Assuming you have a perfect distribution of the three types (action, $, VP, no curses), have no deck knowledge, and play rationally, you'll get 1 and 1/3 card on average from Gambler A. Not horrible, but Spy has a similar effect (if it hits a curse or a VP card, Spy is essentially a Lab. Plus it has a weak attack).

Both Wishing Well and Gambler A need a knowledge of at least the top two cards of your deck to become stronger. Cartographer would be badass with either. Wishing Well has the drawback that it doesn't benefit from 3+ card knowledge, Gambler A has the drawback that you can't line up two cards of the same type (e.g. Gold, Gold) and draw them.

Overall balanced and correctly priced but I think a bit too redundant.

What I'd like to see is a terminal version for $5 where you can draw until you decide to stop and it breaks when you draw two cards with the same NAME. This would work great with Cornucopia and is what Harvest should have been.

[LastFootnote]

Hmm, you make some good points. I hadn't really considered the Wishing Well parallel all that much, mostly because I was trying to avoid it being too close to Menagerie. I suspect that it may play sufficiently differently from both to be interesting in its own right, but playtesting is the best way to determine that.

[zahlman]

I think Gambler A might be too strong because it doesn't seem that hard to manipulate - just be happy with 2 cards if you succeed, and know what kind of card dominates your deck. If you pull a Victory card the first time, you can pretty much try for a second card for free - if you pull 2 Victories and thus have to discard them, that's usually as good as if you'd actually drawn them with a Lab - sometimes better (Library), sometimes worse (Crossroads). It'd be less than great in a BM deck since it'd usually pull Treasure (and you wouldn't want to risk trying to draw a Victory card second), but it'd be a little bit of insurance once you start greening, I guess. Engines - who knows, very swingy. But I like the idea of a card that gives you a chance. There'd be some AP, but only in situations where the player is starting to become desperate anyway.

Gambler B seems crazy. Triple-Lab if I get lucky and basically nothing otherwise? Or I could hit the "Jackpot" (I take it you're going for a slot machine theme?!) and draw my deck? That is a whole lot of gamble. (Also amazing for alt-VP, especially Silk Road.)

How about something like...

+1 Action

Reveal the top three cards of your deck. If they are all

- Treasure cards, +$3, +1 Buy.
- Victory cards, set them aside (return them to your deck at the end of the game); and +3 VP.

Put the revealed Action cards into your hand. Return any remaining cards to the top of your deck.

[LastFootnote]

How about something like...

+1 Action

Reveal the top three cards of your deck. If they are all

- Treasure cards, +$3, +1 Buy.
- Victory cards, set them aside (return them to your deck at the end of the game); and +3 VP.

Put the revealed Action cards into your hand. Return any remaining cards to the top of your deck.

I was considering some other rewards for getting three of a kind, as you suggest. The problem is that if you reward revealing three Treasure cards, that's going to incentivize players to buy only a Gambler or two and Treasures. On the other hand, people already love building decks full of Actions. I really don't feel the need to further incentivize that by making a super-lab just for Actions. Scrying Pool already has that covered, for the most part. A reward for three Victory cards seemed the only logical option. I do like your 'set them aside and return them to your deck at the end of the game' bit, though. I'll have to remember that.