Raising the stakes - board game design update

Recently, we played a new prototype for our board game concept. It was the most complete prototype so far, but we're still a long way from having a game. This is where things start to get interesting.

The prototype had two "boards" (just paper) - the map board representing player territories, and the faction boards representing their camps. Players move around the map collecting resources, then store them on their faction map. They then use the faction map to feed their workers, and upgrade their camp to support more workers. Players also have access to a Nursery to breed more workers.

These are elements we wanted from the very beginning, but this is the first time we've been able to see the parts connect with each other. We were able to play a few rounds like this.

Immediately, we noticed things that needed tweaking or just didn't work. Resources were far too easy to get, especially given the theme itself involves food scarcity. There weren't enough things to upgrade on the player mats, so the upgrade ability felt boring. Player interaction was non-existent. By far though, the biggest problem is that the game felt lifeless. It had no soul.

It's not clear what core piece we're missing. A large thing we're missing is player interaction. One of our primary goals was to create tension by forcing players to choose whether or not to engage other players in combat. In our playtest, we had very little combat with NPCs and zero combat with each other. So, one of the first questions we need to answer is - how do we make combat happen more often? This will be hard to achieve, because this isn't a game of combat, it's a game about balancing combat with more peaceful options.

It can be helpful to look back at our theme for ideas. In many of the best games the mechanics are driven by the theme, and this is our biggest goal for this game. In the Warriors series, the action between clans is often overshadowed by prophecies of looming disaster that affects everyone. Each series has one or more chosen one(s), going off on various quests to save the day. These are things we want to see in our game but have yet to add. But the core of our game is one of collecting resources, managing your clan, and getting into tiffs with your opponents. That part must be fun before we can add anything else. If we can't achieve that, we don't have a game.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this update. Check back soon to see if we work out a solution!