New solo playtest. At the end of year 1, all players but Red have 1-2 points. Red has 16. Problem?
Uh, yeah. Here are some rules I used in this playtest that were contributing factors:
- First solo playtest of a four-councilor game. The (untested) rule for distribution of Sympathy cards was to deal them all out at random. If you get your own, deal with it.
- Note that Red got two of their own, so any advantage they get in scoring is multiplied.
- Also note that everyone has 3 Sympathy cards instead of just 2. So Red’s multiplier for their own moral is 4 rather than 3.
- Random selection of starting villagers. Kelly and Lee gave Red 4 pips right out of the gate. Green had 2, Blue and White had none.
There’s no point continuing this playtest. I still want to try random starting villagers, but I’ve changed the four-councilor Sympathy card rule to match what I’ve been using for three councilors: you get one of the unplayed councilors at random, plus the councilor to your left.
Other than that, lots of positive improvements! I like the new village grid. The community support and stress rule already looks good. And the new Building card visual design already looks a lot better.