by Anduin
MrMT wrote:
This and a dozen+ previous posts increasingly make me feel this game could do with more work.
Don't get me wrong - I like it a lot, and wish I could get it to the table. But it's just got too many rules to be attractive and intuitive to the majority of potential players.
I don't have any issue with any of the rules in particular; they all ultimately make sense, and add up to a satisfying whole. But there are just so many of them that the bar of entry is too high for the majority of people - even regular gamers.
Getting a group to play and enjoy this as a game - ie, where everyone understands the rules, knows what's out there, and is using their skill and knowledge to jockey for position - simply takes too long.
This is the game I wish I had when I had hours to spare as a teenager. In adulthood, even as a member of a local and vibrant games club, it's just not getting table time...
The frustration is that it seems this could work more simply; where everything makes sense/falls into place without bible-sized faqs. The revised edition was a chance to do this, and did, indeed, clarify a few things, but I feel it could have gone further.
At the very least, I think newcomers would appreciate a basic version of this game that does not spawn a long complicated list questions every season... which sets up and is explainable in a few minutes, but which also hints at greater complexity for those who want to delve deeper.
Has anyone considered making a 'Rune Wars Basic' set of rules? I'd love to try them if so.
Don't get me wrong - I like it a lot, and wish I could get it to the table. But it's just got too many rules to be attractive and intuitive to the majority of potential players.
I don't have any issue with any of the rules in particular; they all ultimately make sense, and add up to a satisfying whole. But there are just so many of them that the bar of entry is too high for the majority of people - even regular gamers.
Getting a group to play and enjoy this as a game - ie, where everyone understands the rules, knows what's out there, and is using their skill and knowledge to jockey for position - simply takes too long.
This is the game I wish I had when I had hours to spare as a teenager. In adulthood, even as a member of a local and vibrant games club, it's just not getting table time...
The frustration is that it seems this could work more simply; where everything makes sense/falls into place without bible-sized faqs. The revised edition was a chance to do this, and did, indeed, clarify a few things, but I feel it could have gone further.
At the very least, I think newcomers would appreciate a basic version of this game that does not spawn a long complicated list questions every season... which sets up and is explainable in a few minutes, but which also hints at greater complexity for those who want to delve deeper.
Has anyone considered making a 'Rune Wars Basic' set of rules? I'd love to try them if so.
I get your point. But Runewars is definitely not for the casual gamer. And its true that it hits the table rarely (at least for most of the gamers) but this does not mean that Runewars has to change in any way. Because it is that awesome BECAUSE it is like it is. And when it hits the table, I want exactly that.
And as the others already said, Runewars is not that complicated after all. It is easily teachable and the rules make completely sense overall (you already realized that). However, it's nothing to introduce new-gamers to heavy strategy games. (although I'm also very impressed by the mom-story ;) )
Have you ever tried StarCraft: The Board Game ? This is some complicated beast! Just returned from a 2 player match. Took 4 hours and involved heavy ability/unit/resource juggling. Many many rules that everyone has to know by heart because you can make easily big mistakes by just moving one unit to the wrong place...
For Runewars however: There are many other games which please the niche of streamlined light area control games for quicker and easier entrance of new-gamers. But this is not the target audience for Runewars.