I haven't had nearly as many opportunities to play DHV round 1 as I would have liked, but from the 6-10 times I have played it some suggestions have surfaced. I will write up a full review soon, but for now some of the concerns/suggestions:
Brahmin blue / Santa's little helper: both booze cards, causing your next play (attack or defend depending) to do more damage, one in each deck. These cards seem to be useless in almost every situation. The only time a player would not pass immeadiately after this is played would be when they absolutely need to play a booze to gain health or if they hope to kill the other player that turn with more playing. Even then, it is usually the best decision just to pass and let your opponent waste the card.
Ghandi fire! : excellent card, unique in the first wave as it allows the player to play a card and immediately end the turn, either an unstoppable quick hit or a good way to end a drawn out fight while you have the advantage.
the "donner & blitzen" - 3 damage attack, if their next play is a DEFEND, it is +3. Does not seem balanced with the rest of the cards, i get that it is safest used when you are (mostly) certain your opponent has no defends, but it is really an all-or-none card. If you risk it and your opponent does have a defend, that will block your 3 damage and then do 3 to you, so there is little reason to play it otherwise. Not broken, just not versatile at all.
Crucifix / magic mistletoe : 4 and 3 damage attacks, reduces Claw's next hand size by -1. Not sure what the inspiration was to reduce claw's hand size after playing these cards, it's an interesting mechanic but I'm not quite sure the damage is balanced with the disadvantage. Against mahatma zombie it doesn't matter much as this just equalizes the hands, but if another character has a 6+ hand size these cards might become less usable.
Lap Dance: again, just a nice card. It seems a bit lacking without a block or damage ability, but from what I can tell it is a nice way to disadvantage your opponent.
OVERALL: it seems like turns go by too quickly, and are too fleeting. If i give my opponent -1 hand size, he can simply pass and the disadvantage is gone. A lot of flow is lost when it is clear that the player's best decision is to simply pass and wait for their opponent to do something. Perhaps there is not enough advantage, reward, or encouragement to be offensive.
More to come when I get the time.
Brahmin blue / Santa's little helper: both booze cards, causing your next play (attack or defend depending) to do more damage, one in each deck. These cards seem to be useless in almost every situation. The only time a player would not pass immeadiately after this is played would be when they absolutely need to play a booze to gain health or if they hope to kill the other player that turn with more playing. Even then, it is usually the best decision just to pass and let your opponent waste the card.
Ghandi fire! : excellent card, unique in the first wave as it allows the player to play a card and immediately end the turn, either an unstoppable quick hit or a good way to end a drawn out fight while you have the advantage.
the "donner & blitzen" - 3 damage attack, if their next play is a DEFEND, it is +3. Does not seem balanced with the rest of the cards, i get that it is safest used when you are (mostly) certain your opponent has no defends, but it is really an all-or-none card. If you risk it and your opponent does have a defend, that will block your 3 damage and then do 3 to you, so there is little reason to play it otherwise. Not broken, just not versatile at all.
Crucifix / magic mistletoe : 4 and 3 damage attacks, reduces Claw's next hand size by -1. Not sure what the inspiration was to reduce claw's hand size after playing these cards, it's an interesting mechanic but I'm not quite sure the damage is balanced with the disadvantage. Against mahatma zombie it doesn't matter much as this just equalizes the hands, but if another character has a 6+ hand size these cards might become less usable.
Lap Dance: again, just a nice card. It seems a bit lacking without a block or damage ability, but from what I can tell it is a nice way to disadvantage your opponent.
OVERALL: it seems like turns go by too quickly, and are too fleeting. If i give my opponent -1 hand size, he can simply pass and the disadvantage is gone. A lot of flow is lost when it is clear that the player's best decision is to simply pass and wait for their opponent to do something. Perhaps there is not enough advantage, reward, or encouragement to be offensive.
More to come when I get the time.
Comments: 3 comments
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x 57
THURSDAY, 02/22/2007 AT 5:40 PM
One of the things I've found most interesting about this whole experience (starting a company, releasing games) is how the experience changes from person to person. This is all very good feedback -- and i very much look forward to your take on DHVr2. I think Round 2 has resolved many of the 'why play this card?' issues, by having almost every card in the deck deal damage, or do two things simaltaniously. As for problems in Round 1, I also look forward to your take on the multi-player rules, which should still keep R1 competative with the characters of R2.
Two shoes are better than one
x 0
THURSDAY, 02/22/2007 AT 9:48 AM
What I meant was, if I reduce zombie-gandhi's hand size by 1, then really his best move in his next round is to pass as he is limited to 3 cards. This does allow for you to get two attack/defend turns in a row, but in the end the card just seems like instead of being interesting it's more of a "skip your next turn" card. If it did something else in addition, I might feel differently, but it could also be too powerful then.
Bam-BAM!
x 57
THURSDAY, 02/22/2007 AT 9:05 AM
Thanks for the review Bartoneus :) You have made several good points, which I hope we've addressed in round 2. I had one question, you mentioned hand-size having little impact because the opponent can simply pass. I'm not sure what you mean by that, because the opponent's hand size handy cap comes into effect when they _do_ pass. It only lasts the turn it was played, in the sense that the opponent's hand is larger or smaller for only one replenishment, but this does impact them on the following turn -- either as an attacker or defender with fewer options. This may be what you mean, but i wanted to clarify to make sure
Two shoes are better than one
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