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Playtest Reports

This page is dedicated to reporting on the different playtests I conduct for enter_universim. I aim to use this as a log for any issues, and to write about experimentation and chaneglogs.

Play Test v1.0

The first play test of the game is solely to lay out a foundation for the game - I have always found it hard to balance and create mechanics, so I am ditching the idea of having every aspect of the game figured out in favour of simply playing with what I have. The goal is that, with each play test, issues are discovered and dealt with before each new test. 

I am also playtesting the simplest form of the game, two player 1v1, as opposed to the more complex three or four player free for all modes.
Version 1 Rules/Guide

  • Each player represented as a brain. 

    • Each brain has 55HP, if brains HP = 0, player is eliminated.

      • If all of a player's active cards hit 0 HP, player is eliminated.​

    • Brains have no possible actions.

  • Turn order determined by die roll, player with highest number goes first.

  • At the centre of the playing surface there is a pool of character cards and trait cards.

    • Each deck is to be shuffled at the beginning of each game.

    • Players pull 8 character cards each from the pool, and play 3 cards of their choice.

      • ​There are 4 of each character in the pool.​

      • ​Remaining 5 cards remain in the players 'hand' and can be swapped in and out with the 3 cards in play, carrying over damage/effects and ending your turn.

    • Players pull 2 trait cards and play them.

      • There are 4 of each trait card in the pool.​

    • Players can put a card back into the pool and pull a new one out, this will end your turn.

    • Trait and character cards have their own unique abilities and attacks.

      • Using any single attack will end your turn.

      • Using any single ability will NOT end your turn.

        • Only one ability may be used per turn.​

  • Characters can attack opposing brains directly or opposing characters at will.

    • When character HP = 0, they are to be placed back into the pool.

    • Player can no longer play a card into that space.

Playtest Notes
  • Brains were entirelly redundant - no damage dealt to either brain.
    • Character's offensive presence was too oppressive to even consider attacking opposing brains.​​
  • Bench was entirelly redundant.​
    • Character's were too oppressive to consider losing a turn to swap to another character, trade was not worth it.
  • Lucidity's anihillation has too little drawback for it's damage output - becomes way too centralising.
  • Penumbra is too passive offensively.
  • Penumbra's and Amalgam's abilities (Blood Moon and Corruption Field) are too centrallising - it is not worth using other abilities if either are on the field.
  • Perseverance may be too strong.
  • 7 turns is incredibly short.
  • Issues with ability and attack readability.
How do I fix these?
  • Removing the brain and bench features would remove redundant information and simplify the game.
  • Lucidity's Annihilation will be nerfed to have a higher drawback.
  • Penumbra's damage output will be increased and will have the proper additional effect.
  • Blood Moon and Corruption Field will (hopefully) be more balanced with HP increases.
  • HP will be increased across the board (and damage will be scaled) to increase longevity.
  • Perseverance will be kept the same for now. 
  • Add text borders for increased readability.
Changelog
  • The Hero:
    • HP increased from 30 -> 150.
    • Dream Blade damage increased to 25.
      • Additional damage increased to 15.​
  • Apocalypse Alpha:
    • HP increase from 25 -> 100.
      • Brute Force damage increased to 50.​
  • Penumbra:
    • HP increased from 30 -> 150.
    • Total Eclipse damage increased to 20.
      • Additional effect changed: 'heal 10 damage from Penumbra'.​
    • Blood Moon additional effect changed: 15 damage increase.
  • Lucidity:
    • HP increased from 30 -> 125.
    • ​Annihilation damage increased to 50.​
      • Additional effect recoil increased to 25.​
  • Amalgam:
    • HP increased from 30 -> 150.
    • Berserk Gene's damage increase to 25.
      • Additional damage increased to 10.​
      • ​Additional effect changed: 10 extra damage if any ally has taken damage in last 3 actions.​
  • All character abilities now have a three turn cooldown.
  • Resilience Trait now reduces incoming damage by 5.
  • Aggression Trait now increases outgoing damage by 20.
    • Incoming damage is still doubled.​
  • Bench feature removed.
  • Brain feature removed, loss condition is now losing all three active cards.
  • Attack and ability text now has a black border for increased readability.

Play Test v2.0

Version 2 Rules/Guide

  • Each player represented as a brain. ​​

  • Turn order determined by die roll, player with highest number goes first.

  • At the centre of the playing surface there is a pool of character cards and trait cards.

    • Each deck is to be shuffled at the beginning of each game.

    • Players pull 8 character cards each from the pool, and play 3 cards of their choice.

      • ​There are 4 of each character in the pool.​

      • ​Remaining 5 cards go back into the character pool.

    • Players pull 2 trait cards and play them.

      • There are 4 of each trait card in the pool.​

    • Players can put a card back into the pool and pull a new one out, this will end your turn.

    • Trait and character cards have their own unique abilities and attacks.

      • Using any single attack will end your turn.

      • Using any single ability will NOT end your turn.

        • Only one ability may be used per turn.​

        • Each character ability has a three turn cooldown.

  • Characters can attack opposing characters at will.

    • When character HP = 0, they are to be placed back into the pool.

    • Player can no longer play a card into that space.

Playtest Notes
  • Lucidity still too strong, needs further nerf.
  • Amalgam is slightly too strong, needs a slight nerf.
  • Spamming trait swaps isn't entirely competitive and doesn't make the game particularly enjoyable.
  • The game lasted much longer than playtest 1, which is good.
    • Unfortunately the game was over much earlier than turn 16, there needs to be some form of variability and additional layer to the game to reduce the certainty of winning.​
      • There is not enough variability to make it difficult to make objectively correct plays - perhaps items or support cards could make this better.​
  • Ability cooldown may be hard to track.
  • Perseverance may need a nerf due to potential game winning advantage based on luck alone.
  • Penumbra is still too passive.
    • Blood Moon seems to be well balanced, however.​
  • The Hero is very hard to kill.
  • Character pool needs some more characters to flesh out interactions.
  • Apathy may be slightly too strong.
How do I fix these?
  • Increase the drawback to Lucidity's Annihilation, slightly reduce damage.
  • Decrease the base damage of Amalgam's Berserk Gene.
  • Increase the benefit of Penumbra's Total Eclipse.
  • Decrease The Hero's HP.
  • Add some test characters to experiment with different interactions.
  • Apathy will be kept the same, should be balanced out slightly with Lucidity being nerfed.
  • Add some additional layers of variability - e.g equipables or 'stadium' cards of some sort.
Changelog
  • The Hero:
    • HP decreased from 150 -> 140.
  • Penumbra:
    • Total Eclipse additional effect changed: 'heal 15 damage from any ally.'.​
  • Lucidity:​
    • ​Annihilation damage decreased to 40.​
      • Additional effect changed: 'this attack can't be used for 2 turns after use'.
  • Amalgam:
    • HP decreased from 150 -> 135.
    • ​Berserk Gene base damage decreased to 20.​
      • Additional damage increased to 15.​
  • Perseverance now only revives characters back to half HP (rounded up to nearest unit if decimal).
  • Added four test cards.
  • Added Stimulant cards (stadium/field effect cards).
  • Added Protocol cards (held items)

Play Test v3.0

Version 3 Rules/Guide

  • Each player represented as a brain. ​​

  • Turn order determined by die roll, player with highest number goes first.

  • At the centre of the playing surface there is a pool of character cards, trait cards, protocol cards, stimulant cards.

    • Each deck is to be shuffled at the beginning of each game.

    • Players pull 8 character cards each from the pool, and play 3 cards of their choice.

      • ​There are 4 of each character in the pool.​

      • ​Remaining 5 cards go back into the character pool.

    • Players pull 2 trait cards and play them.

      • There are 4 of each trait card in the pool.​

    • Players can put a card back into the pool and pull a new one out, this will end your turn.

    • Trait and character cards have their own unique abilities and attacks.

      • Using any single attack will end your turn.

      • Using any single ability will NOT end your turn.

        • Only one ability may be used per turn.​

        • Each character ability has a three turn cooldown.

    • One stimulant card is to be drawn at the beginning of the game.

      • Every stimulant card has a three turn cooldown, and a new one must be drawn once the active one expires.​

    • Three protocol cards are to be drawn per player.

      • Players must assign each protocol card to a character.​

      • Characters can only have one protocol card at any given time.

      • One a protocol card (if applicable) has expired or been consumed, it is unusable and cannot be redrawn.

  • Characters can attack opposing characters at will.

    • When character HP = 0, they are to be placed back into the pool.

    • Player can no longer play a card into that space.​

Playtest Notes
  • Healing isn't quite accessible enough.
  • Apocalypse: Alpha either needs to have ability changed to an attack as it explicitly deals damage, or needs to have new ability.
  • There are synergy issues - not enough characters work well enough together.
  • Apathy is too strong.
  • Stimulants seemed to be successful in varying gameplay, but did not vary quite enough.
  • Lucidity could do with a bit less bulk.
  • Protocols for the most part were useless - could do with more immediate effects.
How do I fix these?
  • Adding more cards, this will come with time.
    • Focus on adding unique supportive characters.​
  • Modify Apathy to have limitations.
  • Leave Stimulants as they are for now - more playtesting required.
  • Look into ways to make Protocols more effective as a means of varying gameplay.
Changelog
  • Lucidity:
    • HP decreased -> 110​
  • Apathy Trait:
    • Now only prevents additional damage from being dealt.​
  • More cards will come soon.
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