A Little More Pentimo

As the 'default' rules stand, placing a Quint (5 of the same) or an Ouroboros entitles you to play again. With a one-tile (small) hand, making a strategic play with only one tile is functionally impossible.

Optionally, one could draw a second tile before placing the Quint or Ouroboros, but that seems clunky, and reduces one's time to plot or anticipate.

A two-tile (small) hand solves that problem, and introduces a modicum of strategy for all moves by giving more options for scoring potential, and increases the penalty for loss (by roughly doubling the unspent pips in hand).

I think a three-tile hand is too large, but I haven't had a chance to gauge the two-tile hand yet, let alone three, so that is where it is at now.

Pentimo Playtesting

This first image is from a 'large hand' (5 tiles) playtest. With so many Pents in the hand, it was easy to make optimal plays at every turn. Only late in the game did it start to become challenging as the tile selection waned, but even so, it was a fairly flat experience, in my opinion.

 This next image is the conclusion of a 'very small hand' (1 tile) playtest. There was always a valid move, it's unlikely there would not be, but the emphasis focused more on extracting maximum point value from each hand, and trying to limit the opponents scoring options on their move. This was a more thoughtful game, and probably the shape of things to come. I think maybe two or three tiles is about as large a hand as is reasonable before it suffers the same flat challenge as the larger hand..

Another rule adaption made, the Ouroborus are still wild, but can only be played out of the hand, not built upon or stolen.

Things are coming along nicely, going to have at least one solid ruleset written up soon (in my time, that means within a year...)

Pool of Wonders

Herein I play with a 'bullet point room presentation' technique I had suggested in a recent G+ discussion:

• A natural cavern of irregular shape, roughly 20' e-w, 30' n-s.
• 2 Exits, S and NW
• In the NE Corner: A pool about 10' across and several feet deep has formed in a depression.
• Irregular, natural ceiling is up to 20' high with small colorful stalactites dripping into the pool.
• The bottom of the pool is stained in brightly colored strata, the water appears to be clear and smells faintly metallic.

In total darkness, the colored stalactites the bottom of the pool glow softly, but inadequate as a light source. The pool is filled with a mix of water and other runoff from a lab or storage area someplace above, and drinking from the pool will cause a random effect.