piecepack pyramids version 7

["Tim Schutz" <hexchex@...>]

I?ve been working on some changes to Sorcerer?s Chamber. I?ve added two more spells and removed or changed some of the mechanics that I?ve thought made the game a little clunky. But that?s not why I wrote this email. What I?ve also been doing is using the current version of the piecepack pyramids for some of the play testing, but I?ve also been using a newer set that uses suggestions from Michael for play testing.



<Clip from message 466>

One variation on the pyramid design is to color the tips (say the top 1/8") the same color as the suit icon. This retains the advantage of the suit icon as an orientation indicator and also could support the hiding of suit when the pyramids are stacked, but at the same time the suit of an exposed pyramid will be clear from any seating position around the board.

</Clip>



But instead of placing a color tip on the top of the pyramids I placed two letters on the sides near the top and placed a smaller suit symbol on the back near the top. What I call the information ring.  I also added a black line on the back to designate that as the back of the pyramid. (It?s easier to see if you print out a set and make one.) The front of the pyramids still has a large suit marking. With the new pyramids you can now tell the suit or the size from almost any angle, I admit if you?re looking at one from the side you might have to move your head a little to see the suit, but I find that it?s not that much of a inconvenience.



Why did I do this way instead of a colored tip? There were several reasons. The first one is that I am beginning to see a growing trend in making games a little more colorblind friendly or at least I see it being discussed more. One of the things I like about piecepack is that it is pretty much colorblind friendly. Another reason is that if you print out a set with a b/w printer a colored tip doesn?t work very well. All of the printable games on my website are made to work if they are printed in color or in b/w. I have both a color and b/w printer, but I have friends that only have b/w. The last reason is I prefer to designate things in piecepack by the suits instead of the colors.



Why change the pyramids? As I see it the pyramids are going to be used more as a modified pawn then anything else. Part of the inspiration for the pyramids was the discussion about a direction pawn. And so I would have to agree with Michael when he say?s



<Clip from message 466>

I'm still not sure that I agree with the idea of making the suit visible form only one side however. While I can see the advantage of this for some game designs, there is a significant disadvantage in many games if one of more of the players can't tell what the suit is of some of the pyramids. I suspect the potential size of the latter category of games may be larger than that of the former.

</Clip>



I was discussing the pyramids with a friend and he said? The piecepack already has pieces that hides both the suit and value (the tiles) and pieces that hides either the suit or the value (the coins)? and he thought a piece that hid just the suit would be great, but I think that the next logical choice would be a piece that didn?t hide the suit or the value.



The new pyramids can be found at http://www.tjgames.com/ppp7.pdf and the current version can be found at http://www.tjgames.com/ppp.pdf  Any comments or input would be greatly appreciated. I find that Sorcerer?s Chamber is lot more enjoyable to play with the newer version of pyramids. I should be releasing the newer version of Sorcerer?s Chamber in a few weeks.



Tim Schutz


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]