As has been the case this Protospiel, I played another Ian Winningham game to start things off. However, this game was scheduled just for me and anyone else who showed up.

Here is Favored by Gray Detrick and Ian Winningham. I've played this at previous Protospiels and really liked it. We were testing out a new series of cards.

It's a deck-builder in the spirit of Dominion, about building favor with 4 gods, and them granting you powers and points to win. My moving on a track and achieving the highest, you get usage of a special power, HOWEVER once you get too high, you are granted a one-time bonus and your track is reset to the bottom. This keeps the special powers moving around, and it's a great balancing mechanism. The game also has "culling the deck" as a free action at the end of a turn, and the culled cards accumulate over time to grant further powers.

This expansion also adds a military and empire track expansion. It works.

This sort of game is normally more complicated than I want to play. My brain can't completely grok all of the complexities, so sometimes I end up missing a step. Not only that, Grey and Ian have invented dozens of god powers to the game. This is one of those games that, once published, you'll be able to explore nearly forever. And even though I feel inadequate at this sort of mental-weight game, I can marvel at all of the metaphorical knobs and dials and levers of the game rules working together so nicely...

After a short lunch break, I played "Lucky Hoppity Bunnies" by Richard Baltzell. Players bounce dice towards the scoring area, trying to get combos and land on high scoring areas. I played a version of this last year, and I shared that the game went in a more complex direction with relation to scoring. There were rules about moving dice based on dice rolls to get big combos. All of that is superfluous to the core-fun of the game, which is bouncing dice towards targets. We advised much more simpler scoring rules. Also, as a side note, I am absolutely terrible at this game, only barely scoring once out of 10 attempts. I guess the bunnies don't like me.

#Indiana #HoosierMast #GameDev #Protospiel #ProtospielIndy

Next, I played Promethean Harvest by Scott Ryland. It's a little hard to explain. It's got action selection for one phase, where players set up electricity collection stations on a map. Then the real fun happens, as dice are launched out of a dice tower onto the map, which can have chaotic effects. Dice charge the stations within their range. Sometimes they collide with pieces on the map, moving them. Sometimes they overcharge some stations, exploding them. Sometimes they knock over tokens, etc. I love the big-brain building part, contrasting with the mayhem of dice flying across the board messing it all up! Very distinctive game.

#Indiana #HoosierMast #GameDev #Protospiel #ProtospielIndy

Next up, I played a series of game by Daniel Slown and his wife. She had made a series of games with adorable art in a single deck. These were encompassing a wide array of age ranges, a noble effort.

First up we played "No! Wasabi!" which is an Old Maid variant. That's OK for playing with very young kids.

However, the real fun came when we played their much more deep game, "Sweet Order". A clue-giver hides a sequence of dessert cards unknown to the other players. They try to guess the sequence, getting clues "Mastermind Style", saying how many were exactly right, and how many were right but wrong position.

We played the latter game twice. I advised possibly playing it collaboratively, which makes it playable for even a large group.

#Indiana #HoosierMast #GameDev #Protospiel #ProtospielIndy

Again I started the day off with a Ian Winningham game. This time, it was a game that he came up with since Friday: One called "Super Stick Fighter". Each player controls a "stick figure" made out of popsicle sticks. Cards control leg and arm actions, to try to hurt the other figure. I managed a groin shot, winning the game. We discussed possibly attaching the joints somehow so that ragdoll physics could be used, and adding wacky powers to the mix.

#Indiana #HoosierMast #GameDev #Protospiel #ProtospielIndy

Hey gamers, have you ever played "Endangered" by Grand Gamers Guild? If not, and you like cooperative games, I'd definitely check it out. Well, next up we played an expansion for that game by Joshua Sprung about saving koalas during the Australian brush fires. Whenever I play Endangered, I end up having a good time, and this was no exception. We squeaked out a victory. Innovative mechanisms to this expansion. We also discussed adding a new playable character - maybe a Greta Thunberg like "student activist". I want this now! 😀​

#Indiana #HoosierMast #GameDev #Protospiel #ProtospielIndy