Finding a Balance Between Thematics and Mechanics
There have been a lot of changes to the rules of Rescue since V1. Its core gameplay has remained largely the same; you place dogs into your rescue and score points, but the game has changed quite a bit. Through all of the changes, though, there has been a common thread, no bummers.
I really wanted to represent each dog's uniqueness through its illustrations and abilities. My hope was for players to grow more attached to these pups as the game progressed. As a result of that attachment, I wanted to focus on solving feel-bad moments first, no draw 4 reverse cards here.
Uno Reverse and Draw Cards Credit:Fedja Buz
Many points in the development required creativity in handling simple mechanics, like discarding cards. An aspect of games that’s probably secondary to folks while they’re playing. The moment I started thinking about discarding dogs, I knew it didn’t feel right.
Way back in V1, there was a hand limit of 6 cards, which meant we had to decide how to handle someone drawing a seventh one. The first solution was to introduce a foster mechanic, which served as a catch-all for the extra dogs. Now, instead of discarding a dog, you’d simply place them into your foster, no bummers.
Unfortunately, with the introduction of the fosters came a lot of additional “arbitrary rules,” intended to correct the breakages they caused. Those rules resulted in a lot of confusion during playtesting and made the game feel unnecessarily overcomplicated.
In V2, every player still has a foster, but they have been simplified. Players get one point for placing a dog into the foster, but if they place a specific personality, they’ll earn bonus points. Simplifying the foster rules landed us with a really nice balance of extra scoring without too much cognitive load.
V2 Foster Family Card
This is my favorite example of the “no bummers” approach to designing Rescue. Fosters started as a solution to a bummer, and has evolved into one of my favorite mechanics of the game. Players are actively engaging with their foster and thinking about how to incorporate them into their strategy. Working through these problems with the team has been so fun, finding solutions that solve the mechanical issue in a thematic way.
Giant worms have ripped a hole in spacetime, shattering the universe into six dimensions! You are explorers racing to map this anomaly, understand it, and avoid the ravenous worms. Strategically connect vibrant tri-color hexagons to collect shards, expand your network, and ultimately gain dominance over these shattered dimensions. Will you tame the infinite or get lost in the void?
Comber Cat is a relaxing and cute cat-themed number card game. Perfect as Party Game for 2-5 players aged over 8! Arrange the number of cats in a specific order to score. The player who collects the most cards wins! Use Special Cat Cards (such as bomb/shield/cat king) to surprise and win your opponents! Content includes 100 game cards and 1 manual.