Packtet

The Packtet expansion by Antonio Recuenco Muñoz adds 11 new suits to a standard piecepack, "all possible combinations without repetition of the four suits of the original piecepack (arms, crowns, moons and suns)". It's an entry in the Where No One Has Gamed Before expansion/accessory subcontest, and is easier to show than to describe, so please download Packtet.pdf if you're interested. It has a whole page of explanation and suggested uses that ought to get your game design mind revved up.

--RonHaleEvans

Reviews

I'll henceforth refer to the Mixed Suits Expansion as the Packtet, which sounds less dry, and also alludes to its similarity to the Decktet. (Antonio indicated he likes this term on Facebook.)

Like Piecepack Matchsticks, the Packtet is a versatile, promising expansion and was thus awarded the Silver. Antonio included a list of possible uses, such as new, independent suits; shared tiles; and transitions between pure suits. Unfortunately, time pressure meant he could not also submit the recommended sample game for his expansion. Moreover, the Packtet is clearly modeled on the Decktet, which is terrific in one way, because the Decktet is a great game system and it's fascinating to see that functionality brought into piecepack. On the other hand, however, it doesn't meet my definition of innovation as fully as the Gold winner does.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to designing with the Packtet, and I hope other people design with it too. I'd like to see a cleaner vector version of the graphics, maybe with the help of piecepackr (see below), but the existing graphics are quite nice. They match the original printable sets on Piecepack.org and feature "3D" effects that really pop.

Congratulations again, Antonio, for two impressive winning entries -- Desfases and Packtet!

--RonHaleEvans, Where No One Has Gamed Before, October 2018