12/10/11 Playtest -- Overview

Gangs of Manhattan

+ Good choice of setting.
+ Good concept- liked the setup of gangs and context.
+ Building territory, good strategy element. Offence/Defence mechanic.

- Startup was slow- how does the game begin? Rules were very unclear and incomplete. Lots of assumptions had to be made as play went on.
- Lots of number crunching. Focus on money, not enough money to make full amount. Numbers didn't add up, not possible to make 1mil in 30 turns.
- Map and Rules were poorly optimised. Lots of place names were missing, required knowledge of the setting in order to make sense of the map and how one moved.


Hunt
+ Engrossing, engaging and damn good fun. Built good sense of friendly competition.
+ Well-paced.
+ Clear goals to gun for.

- Could have done with a list of animals. Dolphin and shark in forest? Is it a rabbit, squirrel, chameleon or a wolf?
- Trap system was poorly-worded.
- Coordinates were confusing. Why was a d6 used when a d8 or d10 could have been used? One side of the board had all the traps.


Who Let the Dogs Out ... Of Hell?
+ Interesting, original concept.
+ That it can be over in several rolls makes for fast pace.
+ High pressure on the escapee builds an atmosphere of urgency.

- Ridiculously unorganised. Missing game pieces (1d6, arrow die) and rules. Had to make a lot of assumptions and take liberties with rules.
- Turned into a 'cheating game'. Who could out-cheat who, in order to win?
- A board game so unfairly skewed in favour of one character/class is unbalanced and unfair. Why play a game you cannot win? No skill is involved, just random numbers, making playing the escapee highly frustrating.