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SoloPlayGames
United States
Alabama
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I am little bit late on this as the file has been posted for a while but I want to be consistent with my variant releases so here you go.
This thread describes/discusses the design and development of the Reef Encounter SoloPlay variant including a design blog that I updated as I worked on the development of this variant.
The download is available using the following link(s):
Reef Encounter SoloPlay Rules
This file is #33 in the SoloPlay series.
More game files available here on the Geek can be accessed from the following Geeklist:
SoloPlay Variants Posted on the Geek
SoloPlay- BGG user GameRulesforOne
Design Goals: Improve game value by providing a challenging solo variant that plays like the original.
Preface:
Reef Encounter was a game that I had on my buy list for a long time but wanted to get a play in before deciding on a purchase. I finally had my 1st play last year some time and it was OK if a bit confusing initially. I was playing the 1st edition where white and slightly darker white kept messing me up. It was a bit long but there was something there that I thought that I might like. It stayed on my want list.
As I began working my way through my game collection doing the SoloPlay variants I started thinking about what games might be next. I get a number of requests all of the time. Since I don’t buy games just to play solo I wanted games that will get played at least for a little while in multi-player mode before going solo "mostly". It took a fellow soloist to push me over the edge to pull the trigger and pick up the new Z-Man copy. I was pleasantly surprised. It is well made. I gave it a solo try and there it was just waiting to be completed. I like these kind of projects.
SoloPlay Reef Encounter Design Comments:
To me it was obvious that the board was going to have to be tight to be challenging and since the game comes with 4 coral reef boards I could have 4 different experiences. More variety is good.
To make it challenging there had to be restrictions on the open environment and so I started determining where the breaking points were where decision points could be placed and a one way to victory fits all did not exist.
The restrictions:
Tiles: Limited to 75 of which you won’t have exact knowledge of the breakdown
Larva Cubes: Limited to 40 but with a variable quantity of each
Placing Alga Cylinders: You can only place as many as shrimp that you have eaten.
In addition to these limits the game items when used are taken out of play so you have to take note of what you have placed out of play.
It became very apparent that the scoring had to be modified a bit to further add to the gaming challenge otherwise you could easily set up the coral tiles to provide you with the maximum payout. The scoring system after many playtests seemed to keep the scoring in the normal range for this game, somewhere between the upper 20’s and the 40’s (occasionally a little higher).
Your opponent in this game is unique for my SoloPlay variants at least when it comes to the occupying the corals. If an opponent occupies a polyp grouping it will stay there for the length of the game but also provides a scoring opportunity. It is actually a very important strategy to consider performing well in this variant. If this is not recognized as a possibility you may find the variant very difficult if not impossible to do well.
This takes me to what turned out to by nemesis in this project, uploading the right file page for the opponent actions. The reason is that the late alterations to the process turned out to be the meat of the challenge presented.
How the game takes and places tiles is crucial to your success, the pace of the game and determines how you will be able to best expand your groupings. There had to be reasons to choose the different numbers of tiles (1-3) and to provide a different "automated" action for each was important. At this point make sure that you understand page 4, especially when the game places 3 or 2 tiles because you need this to happen otherwise the game will score too often. If the game scores every turn you will need to become extremely specialized and place the alga cylinders perfectly to pull out a low level victory. This is not a practical approach.
As you progress, the board can start to get pretty clogged up (this is more likely to happen than not). It is important to plan for this and to selectively give the game at least 1 coral grouping to control. This is so counter intuitive that it is easy to miss. Usually you them to start one earlier in the game than later so you can ensure that you get end game points.
Finally you reach the end and determine the point differential if there is one. If not, you lost. Based on this differential you determine the success level.
So for a quick project there is a bit of depth of thought that you need to have in the 45 minutes that it takes to play out the variant.
Goal of the rule design
1. Give the game a smooth flow where you will constantly consider your future actions.
2. Improve replayability.
3. Give the game some additional scoring goals to add paths to victory.
4. Tighten up the play to keep the pressure on the solo player to perform well.
Comments are always welcome.
Strategies:
1. Page 4 : know it and understand it
2. Action #9: it has a purpose in this variant and can be very important to improving scoring opportunities and give you the time to execute you plan as long as you are setting up for this in earlier turns. It can come back to bite you if you don’t "slow down" your game.
3. You will need to develop a bit of action conservation to ensure that you can keep your game fluid. Spending all of your polyp tiles early and not taking into account the turn order is going against the grain. You will think that the variant is unfair if you try to get out of the starting gate too quick.
4. You have to make sure that 1 of each color shrimp is eaten in the game otherwise you are hit with a scoring penalty that seems small but can have an effect. So you will have to develop a partnership between all of the colors to make it happen.
5. Conserve polyp tiles where possible. If you are taking 3 tiles each turn you will find out that you will run out before the 14th turn or so. Running out is bad.
Final Thoughts
Setup time: about 15+ minutes
Play time: about 45-60 minutes
I was pleasantly surprised with the quick play time and the strategic meat on the gaming bones with this one. The tension near the end is something that I like as I am trying not to let the wheels come off. Hopefully those that follow these variants and are a fan of Reef Encounter will be happy with this variant. Enjoy.
If you have questions about the rules, you can be post them here or to this user’s mailbox to be answered individually, if needed. I will add a FAQ to this post as I see the need.
Other games that will be/are available from SoloPlay/GameRulesforOne are posted within a Geeklist that I created: SoloPlay Variants Posted on the Geek
All new variants and information about upcoming projects will be listed there.
A game that sits in a closet is a waste. Get it out and play it any way you can. These are just my ideas.
My design blog follows and takes you through my thoughts as I was putting together this variant:
5/18/11 While I wait a bit to see what games the community are interested in seeing a solo variant created for I have been giving a solo run through all of the new crop that I have received over the past week. Those with the potential of a good design are Reef Encounter and Troyes. Both have a satisfyingly deeper level of challenge that makes for an intriguing/interesting solo project.
I played Reef Encounter last night twice and it came together quick and with a nice blend of tough decisions and forward planning. I had a loss and scraped by with a small win (final scoring is still not locked in). I really got into the 2nd play.
I played Troyes once a couple of days back and it still needs quite a bit of work. I had my 1st multi-player play also and it went as expected, a hit. This is a definite keeper and I hope that we continue to see more cards to add additional variety to the game.
7 Wonders I played solo about a week ago now and it was kind of all over the place as I tried to closely mimic normal play. It appears that I will have to stray a bit from the norm to make this one happen.
5/20/11 Update: 2 things were ironed out yesterday. I performed a full write up on the SoloPlay rules for Reef Encounter. I would say that 95%+ of the rules were written down in one sitting. There still needs to be more playtesting and I want to add a little wrinkle in the design to give the solo player the most options possible. The setup has been edited into its final form.
The 2nd thing is that I received a copy of The Golden City (Tanga special) and I wrote out some 2 player rules that worked amazingly well. They increased the strategy of play and the last business was laid with only 1 score card remaining. It came down to the last turn where my my ruthless opponent, my 11 year old Through the Ages playing son chose to switch out a bonus card which gave him 4 more points than I and then took a city quarter giving him 2 more points to win 108-103. All of this with only 2 goods cards. It's on now!
I know that there is a 2-player variant on BGG but I have not looked at it and will now to see if I had the same idea as the designer etc. My ideas were written totally independent of what is posted currently.
5/23/11 Update: SoloPlay run through of 7 Wonders was performed and the play was a little better than the last but still there is much more that needs to be done. I want to have more tough decisions. The decisions were definitely more challenging than the 1st go.
I have been preparing 3 of my prototypes for the Atlanta gamefest. A couple that I have had done for a few years now and my new one which I worked on about 6 months ago and have been finishing up most recently. I am hoping to get all of them played with some good feedback. I am going to be curious to see if in a blind taste test that the same game gets picked as "the one". I gave it a bit more sprucing.
The games:
A Provincial Quest - somewhat of an area control game with limited and flexible actions that plays up to 10 players. Game time is about 10 minutes per player. It has numerous ways to success which depend heavily on the actions of the players and how the land is built. There is a tile laying element.
Material Contractor - Kind of blend of economic game with role selection that has kind of a Through the Ages row to choose from. I thought that it was interesting that I put it together in 2007 without ever seeing TtA until just a year ago. It looks similar only. The play is nothing like through the ages. This game has a very interesting speculation mechanic and multiple paths to victory.
Labor Market - this is my most recent game completed. The game can be played quite heavy and originated from an idea that I had to overcome an issue that I did not like about Dominion. The idea changed early on with a little sketch drawing that I made that made me think about a labor pool. From then on I started working on theme and came up with all of the ideas independently and then found ways to join up all of the parts. This game was literally contructed over about 2 weeks of lunch breaks. Initially it was a little dry but then I came up with all of the flexible elements (the events) which really gave the game legs. The small scale playtesting went really well I thought and I was able to see the holes that I needed to patch up. There are numerous intertwined paths to success that are affected by the unique way that the actions are selected and taken. There is a strong sense of development in this one.
6/5/11 Update: Reef Encounter I have documented the rules for this solo variant and have given it a few more run throughs and it is setting up nicely. Certainly a challenging variant with the ability to plan for the future and to balance the scoring opportunities for you and the game. I am still tinkering with the scoring a bit and it still needs a couple of editing passes to ensure that is cleaned up properly.
There are easy and normal rules contained within and I am likely to include a harder variant for those Reef Encounter officianados out there who want a top level challenge. Playtesting and rule tweaks is all that remains. A nice quick variant.
Personal note: I was able to get all of my prototypes played and with differing degrees of success. The big guy (Labor Market) turned into a very entertaining game where I ended up losing to my playtesters because I was prevented from taking a government job. I didn't score too badly and the game was close. It clocked in at 1hr per player almost exactly. It would probably play a little bit faster with a bit more experienced players. I did get some advice about shortening the game and will look into this. I had worked on this before but the game development takes a bit of time to come together so the actions would need to be tweaked to make this happen.
My "cube pusher" was considered medium-heavy by my playtester which surprised me but I have had this done for 4 years now so I guess that I am looking at it with different eyes now. It seemed to be enjoyed.
The last was a Provincial Quest which was commented that the name should be Peasant Revolt because this is what it felt like. It had been a while since I had played this and my regular playtester set me up and drove home an easy victory. The new player wanted to give it another go but it was already too late in the evening. It did not work out the next day. I was glad to get the steps taken to start looking at development.
I have the Labor Market game out for review with a couple gamers across the pond who said that they would be able to muddle through the rules and see how it plays. This will be a challenge for sure given the weight of the game.
6/8/11 Update: Reef Encounter I have played through the game again and tried an early rush to get some polyps scored. I was concerned that this might break the game variant and decided to keep pushing the scoring but about a half of the way through I started to clog up. The colors that I needed to work with were almost too far out into the future. I was just struggling to get by until I could get a couple of groupings eaten. I went into slow mode and put action 9?! to the test. I was able to ride it all of the way out and narrowly escaped with a major victory. It was almost like the game was self correcting as it went along. I was pretty thrilled by that. More testing to come.
Mechanics:
I am using a process similar to my Hansa Teutonica turn order as the player operates all 4 colors of shrimp. The larva cubes, alga cylinders and polyp tile availability is tied to your actions. If you don't free up one to the supply you don't have one to pick up. Or in the case of the tiles you have to draw from the bag which shortens your game. It is important to try and work with the available supply.
The scoring has been modified a bit to balance the soloist and the game opponent. So far it has worked out well. There are a couple of scoring penalties and an additional scoring opportunity, albeit small a small one. The final scoring is pretty tight with the master victory level right now sitting at beating the game by 7+. I have done this once and felt I played a nearly perfect game so it seemed to tie in. The stress level is up a bit even though it is somewhat loose feeling in the beginning. About round 10 you start to feel the pinch as the ocean gets really crowded.
I have created a #9 action which has numerous strategic possibilities and is such a simple idea. Like I mentioned it was a big help in my last game.
6/13/11 Update: Reef Encounter Just finished another play as I type this. I have added a couple of other decision points to the game and toughened up one of the "exploited" aspects of this design (I was using this technique each time). As I don't like to use similar approaches to win I needed to disrupt the use of the "rock". It is now a bit more balanced and tougher. Now I am having to plan even more to achieve a victory condition. It is definitely challenging.
It is a very tight design that really folds back onto itself much like a couple other recent designs. I hope to have this one finished by the end of the month and then review the wish list for my next challenge.
6/15/11 Update: Reef Encounter I played the other night notching up a master level victory by specializing heavily in 1 color and trying to keep my opponent out of it. I was able to get all color shrimp eaten by using the last turn of one of the colors and limited myself from working the "extra" turn that you can create for yourself. I came out with a 9 point victory which is my best so far. It took an end game scoring bonus to make it happen. I am in the process of another play when ... I had a gaming idea.
It came together very quickly as I scribbled it out on paper. I then created the pieces in the computer and set up the 1st play (yes it can be played solo). It was rough on the 1st go but there was definitely something there. Last night I found the missing links and the sequencing. It has abstract qualities moderate player interactions with tactical and strategic play possibilities. Total play time is about 5-10 minutes per player. The solo version is about 10 minutes. This is based loosely on a variant that I put together for a game called Tribulation so that I could play it with my kids (no math though). I need to add a few more special actions and this one is ready for playtesting.
6/20/11 Update: Reef Encounter I made a small update to the rules for clarity's sake and played through another game. Still playing tight I was able to get a 7 point victory by using action #9 to get the extra turn to gain a couple extra points and then to focus on scoring 2 colors well. If I could have eaten more opposing coral I could have scored better but the board was clogging up near the end and my shrimps were blocking me all over the place.
I still need to determine if one of the additional end game scoring opportunities is necessary. I like it because it gives you a slightly different path to victory but may be a little confusing. I use it fairly often.
6/21/11 Update: Reef Encounter Well, I found what not to do! By the 3rd turn I knew that I was in deep trouble. Balance is bad. You have got to commit to something. I should have "sacrificed" a shrimp early to get my color sequence right. I think that this would have opened up the board and given me a better chance to shore up my game. This variant is no cakewalk. I wanted to explore one of the end game scoring opportunities to see if it a viable end game scoring push but given my position I could not fully exploit it. Interesting.
On a personal note the filler game that I came up with coming back from the airport is now fully playable. 1-5 players. This marks the 1st solo game that I have designed from scratch. There is something odd about this. 5 turn goodness. I am hoping to get it group playtested this coming Friday.
6/22/11 Update: Reef Encounter I continue to find new ways to lose. Last night I was hit by an end game situation that I had added to the rules because it could happen (in an extreme case). Basically I was drawing tiles just a little too fast and ran 1 turn short (I actually extended the game 1 turn to be able to score yellow once more). I thought that I was cruisin' and then I gave up 11 points on the last turn to lose by 1. Nasty way to drop the ball but it was my own fault. I knew what was happening but always had enough time before. Not this time.
6/27/11 Update: Reef Encounter I played my first multi-player game since I started this project and did very well winning by over 20. Playing as many games I have solo has really helped in my understanding of the game and the strategies to employ. I played a bit of a rush game controlling the coral tiles to protect my groupings. Only once during the game did I notice a weakness but it was not taken advantage of. I was running my "front" tiles a little lower than normal.
I hope to have this one uploaded by the weekend.
6/30/11 Update: Reef Encounter Played through another game last night and was one turn from victory. I was able to extend the game 2 turns and it allowed me to make the big score but a couple turns earlier I had to give up what turned out to be 7 points to the game. I also couldn't quite get the coral tiles turned the right way and get one more alga cylinder to pick up 4 more points.
I made what appears to be the final tweaks to the rules. I am going to go ahead and put together a player aid to explain the supply and the used stock which will also house the color sequence. This appears to be a very tight design with many different avenues to pursue especially when it comes to setting up the end game. A little mis-step here or there can make it difficult for you. Play time is about 45 minutes with a new setup taking about 10 minutes but almost nothing if playing the same setup.
7/3/11 Update: Reef Encounter More plays and more edits and with a few final little graphic flourishes it is done. I have just uploaded the 33rd SoloPlay variant to the geek. Keep an eye out for it when it gets approved. This is a very challenging game with more variety in the play than I originally saw. Enjoy.
Now to the list. The community spoke and wants Tikal and Twilight Struggle. I am looking at my options for both of those games. I have someone locally who has Twilight Struggle but am not sure if he will part with it for a period of time so that I can learn it and determine how I could go about putting it together.
As for Tikal this is another story. I will post a poll I think in the request thread. I know someone has offered their copy to me and if this is still the case, then I would like to investigate this. More to come.
7/4/11 Update: Reef Encounter Almost made a big mistake here as I found that I included the wrong page 4. Those astute players would find the variant easily solved with this early version. I am uploading a v2 of the rules with the updated page 4 and since I was doing that I added a little additional item on page 3 for additional clarification.
I am glad that I reviewed my scanned copy albeit a bit late.
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