First Playlets:

First, we iterated the game from Monopoly - Deal, which has a strong point system of money and the appropriate number of cards. Therefore, to break the strong foundation, we took out all the money and rent system. This iteration required us to create different objectives.

SO...... 

Here are cards we first come up with:

• 12 Planet cards
• 35 Area cards
• 41 Action cards:
• 7x Shield - Protect your area or planet from 1 attack
• 8x Attack - Launch an attack on 1 area/ planet
• 4x Just say no - Cancel an Action card that is played against you
• 4x Area Steal - Steal 1 area from any player. This area cannot be a part of a complete planet
• 5x Area Exchange - Exchange 1 area with another player’s. This area cannot be a part of a complete planet
• 10x Draw 2 cards
• 3x Planet capture - Steal a complete planet set from any player.

To win, the player should collect 3 complete sets of Planets/areas. It has a secret condition to win: one of the sets must be of the Planet from the cards you drew at the start.

We wanted to change the theme, money to space, to move away from Monopoly-style. The outcome was delightful and interesting enough to grab players from the site.

Observations

The first iteration's gameplay was almost 50mins. This was too long for a simple card game, or just not what we intended. It was difficult for players to win because other players are planet capturing the player's almost complete set of areas. This slowed down the game flow of the gameplay.

Also, we unbalanced the distribution of cards. For example, we made too many Draw 2 cards, which some players were complaining that they only get this card.

In the design aspect, we needed to add how many areas on each planet has. Players seemed confused without the indication.

Feedbacks

We had various comments like, "Should add 'Double Attack' cards," "The players should draw the cards at the begging of the play," "Players should bank the complete set" and "Add the point system." these were all valuable feedbacks that our gameplay was too slow. We needed a system that will speed up the gameplay, which can be a point system and banking the sets. Instead of using the secret set as the main winning system, the point system will boost up the speed. Because of banking, we also have to reconsider the rule of the Planet Capture - instead, steal a full set, change to stealing an almost full set.

There were typos errors on the cards and lack of visuals.

Second Playtest:

What we changed:

• Changed to point system, 1 area equals 1 point.
• We added the bank system: the points are counted when the full set is banked.
• To win: Collect 9 points.
• Players recieve a -3 points penalty from their final score when unable to complete their secret set.
• Added a 'Double Attack' card, which equals to 2 Attack cards.
• Added a 'Take a card from one player's hand' card.
• Shield cards are stackable.
• Decreased the number of Draw 2 cards.
• Planet capture - Steal an almost complete set that only needs 1 or 2 area left from any player.
• An area card can be attacked. It will go back into the drawing pile after attacked.

Observations:

• Some players are keeping their cards in their hands more than placing them down. 'Take a card from one player's hand' prevents them from doing so throughout the whole game.
• The cards are see-through.
• Players keep taking 1 card from a particular player, usually the player with more cards, or the player who's the closest to winning.
• Players attack other planet areas for a chance to draw the cards themselves, or to prevent another player from completing a full set.
• A shield indicates that a certain planet is more important to the player.
• 'Just say no' and 'Planet Capture' are very powerful, might have to decrease the amount of these cards.
• Players tried to make a deal with each other, for example one player will put down a planet that the other player wants, in exchange for that other player to put down another planet that the player who offered the deal wanted. This happened in the later stage of the game when players can guess the other player's secret condition card.

Feedback:

• The cards should be thicker. Also, it would be better if the text is a little bit bigger.
• The explanation on the action cards should be clearer. 'Planet Exchange' can be changed into 'Trade' for easier understanding.
• The font fits the theme of the game.
• Players can still feel like they can win even if they are not the player with the most points in the game at the moment, which is usually because they have some kind of action cards (steal, trade, planet capture...) in their hands.

Third Playtest:

What we changed

• Instead of a 3 points penalty, the secret condition cards will give players to 2 points bonus to that particular set
• Took out the 'Double Attack' cards because they were too powerful and can make the game unbalanced.
• Changed some of the cards' names and descriptions for better understanding of what the cards do.
• Decreased the amount of 'Draw 2 cards' and added more cards for taking a card from another player's hand.
• Stated in the rule that players have to draw 2 cards first before playing.
• Stated that moving a shield card counts as a turn.
• Stated that if a planet area with a shield on it becomes a complete set, the shield goes to the center draw pile after the set is banked.

Observations

• The bonus that we implemented seemed to worked better in encouraging the players to collect their secret sets than the penalty did.
• The action cards description were still confusing, and can be understood once explained by the team or when another player used it first.
• The game progressed fairly quickly, with only a few down times at the beginning, because the new players were getting to know the game.

FeedBacks

• The word 'area' indicated something big, so this player didn't expect it to be a part of an even bigger planet.
• The description on the action cards could be clearer, maybe with instructions or even a change of name could help.
• The game is easy to get into.

Last Playtest:

The final version of the game is the rules from the 3rd iteration, combined with the new card designs, complete with illustrations.

Feedbacks

• State in the rules which direction the players shousl take turn playing.
• On the initial planet cards, write down the bonus rule, as well as saying that the card will not be used to play. Most Importantly, make the back of these cards different from the playing cards.
• Flip the visual Hierachy of the cards: Put tha action verb on top, rather than the card type. That way, it is easier for the players to see which cards they have on hand and strategize.
• The simplicity of the cards are an effective aesthetic choice, with the visuals communicating how different planets have different amount of areas, as well as the cartoons on the action cards.
• Decide if the action cards can be traded
• It would be interesting to try changing the number of the turns each player have, since it would change the dynamic of the game.
• Give a backstory to the players on what they're doing or who they are, which would create a more cohesive narrative between the gameplay and the theme.
• 12 planets might be too much. The same for the number of the action cards in the game.
• Some action cards can be combined since they do similar actions.