Update 9 - Fine Tuning Rules
Hello Grove members
I have had quite a few things going on here and specifically with Lapidary Legends.
First, I just want to share about my group’s game night. We played a few games that were new to me. First was “Road to El Dorado” which was so good and I really enjoyed it and the second was “Horseless Carriage”, which was fun but in a different mind-bending way, I am not even sure we played it right, but I definitely want to play again. Have you played these? Or what other games have you played that are very complicated?
Now on to Lapidary Legends news.
I met with my team and we did a bunch of play tests on Lapidary Legends. We have noticed that in a lot of games it is rather easy to get a perfectly cut gem. We really want the game to end with everyone wishing there was one more round to be able to get that perfect gem.
So in pursuit of that goal we made a few changes:
1. I removed some of the 50,000 Grit Polishes (they are the card that lets you put back a layer that you cut) and replaced them with some more Wax, Epoxy and Super Glue. This gave us more options to cut at our gem and more decisions around trying to not cut our gem later in the game.
2. I added that each player starts with a Dop card. This REALLY changed the game in a good way. From the very beginning the decisions on what cards to buy seemed more challenging and really made us think more before buying.
3. Since there were only 3 of us playing we created a persona to play the 4th player. We named her “Doppy” and she is a mild mannered elf who loves Dop cards. She helped create a very interesting playtest where she bought up ever Dop she could leaving very little for the rest of us. She is hilarious and we love Doppy.
4. We did a playtest where all 4 players were very aggressive and used the 100 Grit Lap cards solely to attach other players. This playtest proved very fun and caused us to not have perfect gemstones at the end.
5. Another playtest we did was to force the Large Diameter Dop to be used during Cut Phase if you can. This made it so they could not be horded and never used.
More playtests will be happening to fine tune the balance of the card deck and really dial in the puzzle of the gem so getting a perfect gem really feels like an achievement.
If you have played Lapidary Legends, what other changes do you think I could make to make getting that perfect gem more difficult and therefore a bigger achievement?
I also listened to feedback from you all and am working on some changes to the design and iconography of the cards.
1. I added a red border to the Large Diameter Dop. This will make it so if you have it and a green adhesive card you MUST use the Large Diameter Dop.
2. I am adding an icon to the Wax as well to explain that it, when pared with a Dop, cuts a layer where your Active Facet Marker is. This will create some interesting combos with the Large Diameter Dop because it will make it so you will cut two layers from your active facet and then two other different layers.
3. I am playing around with an idea for an icon to let players know that the regular Dop cards are not single use and stay with you until you trade 3 of them in for a card from the discard pile. What do you think I should use for this icon?
Last but certainly not least we had an amazing time at Don’s Game Gatherings where they featured Lapidary Legends and some amazing people played it!
Their feedback and willingness to help test Lapidary Legends is truly appreciated. Some of you that did are now on our mailing list, THANK YOU so much for testing Lapidary Legends and for being here to support me and my team!
I am so excited to get the finer points of the game tuned and discuss with my team the next steps for ads, pre-launching the Kickstarter and then deciding exactly when to hit the Go button!
Brett
PineAppleTree Games
