I just recently watched this review of Pixel Lincoln. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd_4rcivaVM
In the review it does mention this game in the end becomes a bit too much like a basic deck building, despite its side scrolling level theme and the boss battles.
I am posting here since most of the rules playtester are running are based on the one from Update #1.
Are there rules that people are looking forward to?
Or wish is different from other deck building games outside?
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I haven't played Ascension or Thunderstone. Only played Dominion a few times so I am aware of how the deck building mechanic works and how you can optimize the cards.
- the part that excites me most about this game is the fact that each person starts with a different deck. (granted that it is a cooperative game)
- the fact of building your ship is a pretty cool aspect I look forward in GSF.
One part I disliked about dominion was the amount of interaction between the players as it seemed more like an individual solitaire game in the end.
I've never played a deck building game ever (wasn't even sure how they worked until I looked it up after GSF was announced). I think that can only be a good thing for me because there's no way GSF can feel like Ascension or Dominion to me if I've never played those.
Here's what I want from the game:
I want each game to feel like a story, the same way a game of SotM does.
I want each ship/pilot to feel different from each other so that playing with one will be a different experience than playing with another (the same way SotM does).
I like the idea of building up my ship, but more, I like the idea of the interaction of the players as they all build up their ships and take on the enemy. I want it to be:
I'm a little worried about the double-sided Station cards. I'm not really looking forward to pretending like I don't know what a card is since I can see its badguy side.
I'm also a little worried that GSF games won't feel as personal because the Opposition isn't as personal as a SotM villain. Will defeating a bunch of enemy ships and maybe a capital ship feel as satisfying as taking down a supervillain whose face you've been looking at the entire game on their card? Don't know.
I'm hoping the Sectors all feel different. It'll be nice to feel like, "ah, I'm home again" when you pull into your favorite Sector. Or, "whew, I'll just hold up here in this asteroid field until I can get my shields repaired." If a Sector were just the place where you find three Sector cards, that would be disappointing.
Mostly, I'm hoping for a game that feels like you're solving a shared, tactical puzzle. You move here and do this while I move there and do that and we'll both be able to do the other to win the game. That sounds like fun to me.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
You are not the only one to comment on this. I will never rifle shuffle anything but a plain deck of cards. Most of the time I shuffle by dealing them into piles a few times. When I play GSF, I decide before hand how I will deal them out. It usually is in 2 piles and then stacking the piles in the folowing order: 2-3-1. It doesn't matter how you do it, the key is that you have a plan beforehand, so that you can't "cheat." Furthremore, since most of the time you deck is quite slim anyways (all Techs get installed on your ship and aren't kept in your deck), it is not a big deal to know how many "bad-guys" cards are in your intial draw or second draw. If you don't get it the first time, you will probably get it the second time, and maybe the third.
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"
Well, the fact that you feel you have to have a system to avoid "cheating" is proof that it's an issue, I think.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
But that was my point. I don't have a system for GSF, I shuffle the cards the same exact way as I do all other cards. I am not saying some people might not have an issue, but (at least to me) as long as you are doing what you always do, there won't be an issue. However, if you do have an issue, I suggested a way to avoid it.
There are 2 separate issues with the double-sided cards: 1) Stacking the deck. 2) Knowing what cards will come up. As long as you do what you always do, #1 may not be an issue. I may not be typical, but I don't pay attention to the cards when I shuffle (I have been doing it for so long). However, in a game like this were there might be an issue, just say to yourself "I will do this motion X times." It doesn't change anything you are doing, just gives you a way to intentionally avoid stacking. If the issue is #2, then there isn't an issue. Usually you deck is so small that all the cards will be drawn in 2 or 3 rounds. This means that you already know what your next hand will be just by knowing the first 4 cards.
Of course, if you feel that it is an issue why don't you just practice. Grab a deck of cards, flip some of them over, and see if it is really that hard not to stack them.
PS I have said "issue" way to many times in this post. Next time I will change it to something else. Any suggestions?
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"
Hmmmm, depending on how annoying it gets to avoid that of cheating... and if I can get my hands on the artwork for the card backs I will try to make proxie cards for the stations and keep the actual station cards hidden somewhere else. Then when I draw the proxie I'll just blindly pull out the station card from the hidden stack.