Re: piecepack design workshop #2: Stations v1.2 by Michael Schoessow

["Benedict" <boycat_oh@...>]

OK, I read the rules through carefully, and played through a 
sample game (I used my split personality to play both sides).

1) General comments

Clever, themed, 2-player abstract, with emphasis on the abstract 
rather than the theme.  Definitely some influence from Alien City 
(Michael's contest winning game), but simpler and faster, and no 
need for extra pieces.

2) Specific comments

I did find some aspects of the definitions section a bit confusing 
when it comes to Spaces. It was not intuitive for me that there are 
only 8 spaces around a tile (rather than 12) - ie some 1/2 x 1/2 
squares would be skipped when 'turning a corner' on the Path.  
What made this a bit more difficult for me to remember during 
play and scoring was the fact that when the connection is in a 
straight line those squares 'do' count.  (see the difference when 
counting spaces in the diagrams  between the 5 spaces and the 
6 spaces).  Another point about the diagrams - I am not 100% 
sure why the diagram at bottom left has 3 spaces between 
stations, and the one at bottom right has 5 - to me it seems like 
they should be 4 and 5, or 3 and 4.  Of course, if the last arrow in 
the sequence for the 3 spaces diagram turns the corner then it 
would clearly be 3 spaces according to the cornering rules.  
Does it harm gameplay that much if the corners are included 
during scoring?  

Gameplay itself is extremely clever.  From a simple set of rules 
the strategies that arise are quite deep.  The option of sliding 
almost any tile allows for defensive or offensive play on every 
turn.  There is also the decision of which number coin to place - 
admittedly this decision pool decreases as the game 
progresses. The other key decision is when to place the home 
station - too early and you give too much away about your plans 
(although it does fix the tile in place, a rule I forgot while playing 
the first time),  too late and you run the risk of a high score (low 
score wins this one).

I wonder if there is a player order advantage?  While playing the 
early game (first couple of coins) I felt like the 2nd player could 
always respond to player 1, although mid to late game that 
feeling was gone.

3) Conclusion

This is a great little game that plays in a short time (there are 
only 10 turns each).  I'd like to see the path spaces addressed 
so there is more consistency.  And I think a scoring diagram of a 
finished game would be a great addition to the rules doc.  

Nice job, Michael!

PS - I didn't try any of the variants, but I wondered whether this 
could be played with 4 using a 5x5 tile layout (with the center 
open), so a 16x16 frame?  It would increase gamelength and 
downtime, and turn order advantages may be a problem, but I 
think it would work.  Players would only place 5 coins and a 
pawn.