Glyph Developer Journal: 2/9 [Retrospect] - Playtest #1
This day marks the first full playtest of Glyph with an outside participant--my friend and fellow gamer, Jared. Up until then, I had tried out a few mechanics but not a full game. It went quite well, albeit long (the game clocked in at over 3.5 hours). I'll share a few insights on how it went as well as some thoughts on changes based on the playtest.
My Champions: Necromancer, Stone Golem, Warlord
Jared's Champions: Assassin, Fire Guard, Adept
Main Issue: Time. At over 3.5 hours, it is MUCH too long. My goal is to get under two hours for a full game.
Reasons why:
- Part of this was no-doubt it being the first full runthrough, as well as me explaining everything to Jared.
- Another part was using regular dice instead of Glyph dice. I am quite curious to see how official dice help speed up assigning and making combos.
- But, most of all, was the start of the game. It was sluggish. It took several rounds for the champions to start building up their dice pools and acquire items.
A few notable changes/breakthroughs:
- Energy replenish mechanic to speed up ability activation
- Fire Guard Shield Bash ability underpowered. Going to try lasting until end of next round.
- Dice glyph icon adjusting. Fewer wilds [Arcane] on purple, increase Red, Green and Gold to 4 of each of their "specialties."
