All Change!

So despite at least one friend of mine telling me that Giant Stone Head is needs to be refined - not redone I've just redone most of it.

This is because the last couple of play tests have been ok - but the games a bit fiddly and there seems to be a distinct lack of building Giant Stone Heads which is a significant problem in a game about Giant Stone Heads.  The resource system was also fitting less and less well into the game I was trying to write in my head - quick and dirty, up and down, low stakes but lots of it combat. 

So version 3.00 walks onto the stage - and who knows - maybe it will melt under the burning heat of an actual play test - but currently I like it.


In the last version you had resource - which allowed you to take cards and then trade some of those cards in for men or giant stone heads.  This new version the person with the most reources gets to pick where they want to go in the turn - and then in turn order every player picks a "resource card" which gives a fixed number of men, cards and stone heads.  This hopefully creates a tension between going first for best card and going last which allows you to react to take your move knowing that nobody will nip in after you.....  It also means that the death spiral/stream roller effect should be reigned in a lot - since even if your down to one hex your still going to get a card.....  And finally the "not building any giant stone heads to ensure I keep going last - convert that into physical dominance and spurt at the end" will work less well.  Because yes you might be able to keep going last - but other players will be getting better picks on the resource cards.......

This has involved rewriting how villages works - although "the pool" is still present as a limiter on the number of men you have.  Renown now exists but is now used to boost your value for determining your turn order so there's an uncertainty element there.  Equally the idea of sacrificing cards has gone - cards are now just cards.  Which means I hope that cards other then plus to attack and plus to defence will be used as people will have them in there hands.  Along those lines I've made is so that the Rongorongo can be played if one of two different conditions are met.  So hopefully they will see more use - as players see more opportunity to fulfill them causing more movement on the victory point track.

We now also have empty spaces - so giant stone heads can be built at first without ruining peoples economies - so it easier to be an early builder.

I also dropped the event deck and moved to a known game end condition of the last tree being covered.  And there's been a general slim down of play and correction of terminology so I call things the same consistently.

Even if this works - I'm back to square one regarding balance and values.  How many men should a resource card get - how many cards and how many GSH?  What is the difference between a good card and a bad card - to little and there's no point to choosing first and to much and you've got the same death spiral effect?  Will going last still be good if holding onto resources is bad?  How many spaces should the board actually have to create a game of decent length for 3, 4 and 5 players?