A look back at the GGC version cards part 2
 Mistakes. They happen and this is the biggest one in the game. This was the last card to be checked off the play tested list and was rushed in order to be completed for Gotland Game Conference. The damage this card made to the opponent was so powerful that even if it cost 9 it would still be broken. Lets list the mistakes: 1: It cost 7. A number that is not that hard to reach. Early False Information can destory the opponents deck if it is played twice. 2: It gives 4 Null cards. By giving such a high number disrupts the opponents deck to much even if they have management cards that can remove them from the game. The game become more of fighting this card than fighting the opponent. 3: It gives extra resources. The icing of the cake is that this card gives a huge bonus when played. This is overkill. The first thing that was change in the next iteration of Agency was this card. Now it cost 8, gives only 2 Null card and 3 Resources. It is still unique but this way it does not desiccate the game as it did before. Lets learn from our mistakes and take our time play testing the card more instead of rushing it.  Hacker tool was one of the first Gadgets created. The first effect of Hacker tool had nothing to do with resources but allowed players to look at the top card of a deck and choosing if it stays there or not. This was an underwhelming strategy if you where to compare it to HI Power Rifle (A card that we have yet to come to) and there did not exits a reason for that effect to be relevant in the game. This is one of the best “counter” cards in the game. A popular strategy people play with is SlimDown, a strategy that removes cards in the deck in order to hit higher costing resources. Hacker tool Counters that strategy well since it removes the higher costing resource cards. The downside of Hacker Tool is that it can slow down the game, since it can remove vital cards early on in the game. In the end Hacker tool is a fine card, but could need some polish to its effect.  Hide Away was created based on a common complaint that some play testers had. “Why do I have to discard my hand afterwards?” What they wanted was to save key card to the next round in order to most efficient buy the cards they wanted. Hide Away as a card allows for combination plays. If you don’t need the extra resource this turn or think that the action card could be better with another hand you use Hide away in order to set up the next turn. It is cheep so that you can acquire it early in the game and it is technically a card draw effect. Hide Away did not need to go though that many iterations before its final version was completed.  High Town Business was the first card created to the game. It was also one of the most change card during the development period. Drawing cards is the most powerful effect in the game and drawing 2 is even more powerful. It first started of as a 6 costing card and it was broken. Games was all about getting this card since without any restrictions of how many cards a player could play, you could chain High Town Business into more High Town Business and draw your whole deck every turn. We changed its cost to 7 and it was still too good. The final version of the card cost 8 and it will never go lower than that. It is intriguing how a card with only 1 line of text can be one of the most powerful cards in the game. Until then Nest Invader in the Sky //Marc |