1/25/15 Playtest session

Hello my friends!

I'm eager to report about our latest play test session as it was a huge success and tons of fun!

So lets jump right into it.

Testers:
First off, the turn out was amazing! It was the largest group as of yet. Best of all we had 5 new people playing the game. Having fresh eyes on your game is a must in my opinion, so I'm glad I got a good number of new people mixed in with some vets.

With that said there was too many people! I'm thrilled so many showed up, but I unfortunately didn't have enough boards for people to play on. I also was stretched pretty thin as far as answering questions and being on hand to assist people. Luckily I had a few of my friends who knew the game pretty well there to help out. (Shout out to Matt and especially Kyle! you rock!)

So what did we learn? Mostly keep it to small groups, but as often as possible. We obviously need to play test constantly. Every day if possible. However, I need to be there and ready to help any one who needs it. From now on I'll try to keep it to four players a session to ensure I'm always right there and able to help. We may increase that number as more people really learn the ins and outs of the game, but for now We'll keep it small.

Instructions:
I had revamped the instructions to the game so that it covered more information and explained more of the game that I had earlier forgot to mention. constantly updating this document really helped every one understand how the game works and what your turn generally looks like.

 At the end of the play test we was given more feed back on how I should present the instructions as to not overwhelm new players.  In the future I will Introduce Sector mode (the large scale view) and turn order. Only after a battle has occurred will I explain the Combat mode so the information isn't too much.

We were also given Plenty of feed back on wording in cards and how some could be explained better. Thus, for the next session I'll have to print new cards. More on this to follow.

New decks:
After playing with the per-constructed decks for a while we decided that they should be replaced. Instead of having a wide variety of cards that show off what factions can do we will instead use very basic cards. These basic decks will have special abilities, but they will be fairly rare as to not over whelm a new player. This is to get new players better acquainted with how the overall game works before upgrading them to a more complex deck.

 In addition to those basic decks players that have been playing the game for a while may now create their own decks from the database we created. We have planned out 200+ cards and gradually make more. The plan is to have a massive selection of cards to win and choose from in the final product. However, we are starting small for the programmers. We need to ensure the foundation of these cards are solid and easily handled before we overwhelm them with possibilities.

As for the people making cards, they will be given a guideline document that explains what is required for each faction and what is not allowed. Its a general guide line, but we will be checking all of their submissions and making changes as needed so they aren't OP or anything.

Card changes:
While playing two of the testers had come up with a great idea. But first let me explain the issue they are solving.
When in battle you may encounter a Flotilla that has no vessels in it. Thus the player of the empty flotilla will generally choose to warp out immediately. This results in longer games where no damage is dealt and no one feels like they are progressing.
So whats their solution? Simple. They want to add another stat to all cards that represents movement. currently cards have an attack stat and an integrity stat which is basically damage and health. This move stat would be given to all cards, but generally cheap cards costing 1 or 2 will have higher movement speeds. They are weak cards so they can't deal much damage, but they can potentially reach an opponents Flotilla and deal some quick damage before the opponent warps out.
This also helps another issue. Before this stat introduction cheap cards were always just thrown out because people wanted a heavy hitter all the time. Makes sense, why fill up your Flotilla with a pea shooter when you could have a tank.
This stat addition will make weak ships more useful to give that quick shot in, but will be easily crushed by stronger, slower ships.

Conclusion:

It was a great turn out with tons of great feed back. Every one had a blast playing the game, which of course made us feel great. With all the improvements from the last play session I could really see the increase of player retention. The games were also faster resulting in a few actual wins.
A few testers even had come up with a few card ideas already that we really liked and can't wait to see in action.

A side note though, I need more dice. With so many people I had to go back to folded paper to represent Flotilla, Vessels and Traps.

Lastly,  a note for those who are planning their own play test sessions. Get a big area and get some food. People always love food and drink!

I'd personally like to thank all the testers for helping us out on this adventure. I can't wait to see all of your decks and see who is our next winner.

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