We're at version 163.1 today, with a number of improvements:
The blue middle of the table is in, as is the new design for the backs of the cards.
You can now switch languages on the fly, via in-session menu (which is scheduled for a facelift, btw):
And then there are 2 big UI improvements, which I personally love with all of my heart – as they make the game easier to understand / help avoid possible confusion.
The first case: with action cards, you can play them for action or assign them as a resource to one of your projects. This is similar to Gremlins, Inc., where you may play a card to move – or play it for action.
Now, a few times I've observed myself looking at the card that said, for example, "add 2 resources to your project", and instead of playing it for action I would add this card as a resource, and then wonder, why the action did not happen?
We now have a way to prevent such confusion: when you're about to assign a card as a resource to a project, its rules are replaced with a large resource icon which will be added to the project:
The second case: a lot of cards have sequential actions, such as "you do X, your opponent does Y, and you get Z". The mechanics follows the sequence described on the card, and thus should be easy to follow.
Yet we always wanted to highlight, which part specifically is being executed right now? And this is what we've just completed as a test run, and will propagate across all the cards:
The rule of ːcardsː "Lucky potion" is made of three parts. And we're highlighting the one that's being executed right now, with bold –
- Open 2 cards from the deck.
- Take 1 card in your hand,
- assign the other to your project.
This allows us to communicate better what's expected of the player: you need to select, which card you will take in your hand – as highlighted on the card itself.
We now need to check, how well this works in other languages, such as Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Russian.
And that's it for today!
Currently in works (but not in the build yet):
Timer.
Extra timer (a reserve of time you may use throughout the session).
Visual log.
And we'e a few sign-ups short of 2.000 playtest requests, which is great news for when we start it, as this promises a pretty well-populated lobby.