Monday, May 18, 2009

Playtesting Open - Feral Instinct

I know you're all out there, quivering with excitement, wishing eagerly for any news about the game spawned by my enormous ego... er, genius. So here's a little news - it's ready for playtesting. And that's where you come in.

I've uploaded a PDF with rules, cards and character sheets. You can download this little gem right here:

http://www.vixentorgames.com/feralinstinct-playtest1.pdf

Once you've downloaded the PDF, you'll want to print it out. Or maybe you won't, but it will be hard to play otherwise. For one thing, it'll be a bitch to shuffle.

Then you'll need to cut out the cards. Don't worry, there are only like 70 or something. So it shouldn't take more than a few hours. If you get a blister, just remember how much I appreciate your willingness to help.

I'm using card sleeves for my playtest deck, and I highly recommend them for yours. But you'll want to use the ones you can't see through, so penny sleeves are going to be pretty much worthless. I found a really cool set of sleeves with beastmen on the back. Perfect, right?

You'll also need a bunch of regular dice (you know, with six sides) and some markers. Not like Crayola markers, I mean like glass beads or pennies or teeth or something (if you're using teeth, please don't tell me). You'll probably want them in several colors, so if you're using pennies, you may need some dimes and nickels, too (that could be especially tricky if you're not in the US. Just know how much I appreciate your dedication in getting your local currency changed out for American coinage).

Now, the rules tell you to make 25 card decks, but I'm not sure if 20 might not be better. So if you would, try it out a few times each way. Go back and forth. See what works for you.

Also, try mixing up the decks. Like give Stoat a Mighty Blow, or Bull some Blinding Powder, or whatever. See what cards are the game breakers. Try out a few things, and see what works and what doesn't.

Finally, if the game isn't fun, stop playing immediately. Don't even bother with answering all the questions in the survey. Just answer the first one, only instead of your name, put, 'your game blows' and I'll get the message. I'm not asking anyone to play a game that sucks. I just want to see if you like it, and what you like about it, and what would make it better.

Then after you've played it a few times, take the survey by clicking the link at the end of this post. Everyone who bothers to fill out the name and email parts of the survey will be credited (assuming the game ever gets to the point where we need credits). And remember that I don't need flattery or fake enthusiasm. I need honest reactions, tough critiques and brutal opinions. Because without them, I can't make a good game. Also, they'll give me someone to hate.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB2297Y3H5EUU

Thanks for reading this repeating cannon of crap review site, and thanks for helping me make a game. And in closing, it is really hard to make a game.

4 comments:

Maxc said...

I had read the rules, not tryied the game, but something doesn't like to me after the first read!
Please take these notes just as my personal point of view, maybe you can just ignore them at all, it's a good idea.

1 - a lot of luck needed: need a dice roll even if I have the right card!
2 - what if i don't have more attack card? can't attack at all? have to wait for deck shuffle?
3 - How to build my deck? we (the players) start each selecting 25 cards over the 70 cards? or we select our deck in the same 70 cards? it's not clear.
4 - even if we get different warrior i can't see real differences (maybe I prefer a separated deck from wich select cards for each warrior). Two players can build substantially the same deck.

but I still doesn't played it!! So don't take care of me!

Thanks for publishing your work!!
bye

Jim said...

Having just printed and read a little bit of the rules, my first thoughts are:

The rules mention cards that say "unlimited." I didn't see any of these.

The rules also indicate that you may only have one of a card that says "Unique," but there are three copies of each of the two unique cards. Is there any reason for the other two copies?

Matt Drake said...

OK, good questions.

1. Yeah, there's a fair amount of luck. But I like luck. And when you're rolling seven dice, the luck tends to even out. A lot of the game is mitigating the luck or rolling with the odds. Bump your DEF at the right time, and those seven dice are only going to do 1 or 2 DMG. Juice your attack, and four dice might cut through your opponent like a hot knife through butter.

2. If you are holding seven cards out of a possible 25, and you don't have any attack cards, you should have put more attack cards in your deck. That, or you just got mana screwed. And yeah, you have to wait to shuffle. Pace yourself - don't play all the attacks in your hand. You can discard one card at the end of a round, so you'll always be able to pull at least four more. Stuff like Equip and Quickdraw can be played to empty your hand even faster, get you more cards and hurry up for the reshuffle.

3. Yeah, just pick 25 cards and put them in your decks. They can be pretty much any card. If you and your opponent both want the same card, print that page twice.

4. Stats are a huge difference. Bull is slower than Christmas, but he hits like a freight train. Stoat almost always goes first, but his attacks are weak and he's more fragile. Stoat can whip out two daggers and carve some hide, while Bull is going to rely on a big weapon and a whole lot of pain.

So far, I've played mostly with the cards from the first half being assigned to Stoat, and the second half go to Bull. With those decks they play very differently. I am interested in finding out how they would play if I switched up the decks a little.

Jim, you're right, there are no unlimited cards yet. And the two copies of the unique? Force of habit. You won't need more than one. My bad. Sorry to waste your ink.

Jim said...

No problem. I was more concerned that there were supposed to be unlimited cards and they had somehow gotten left out.

And you can't waste my ink if I print them out at work... :)