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It's not easy being green

Sunday, 20th March 2022 ◆ New eco-friendly meadow (5) ◆ Comments (1) Wodka  

I created some Green specials for Wodka last Summer themed around the idea of specials that were all negative in some way. For example, if you won a trick with the Green 8, the lead passes to the next player instead. This wasn't consistently applied throughout the set (and indeed people joked that the Green 6 - reverse the direction of play - has almost no impact on the game).

They did not go down well at all, and people almost never wanted to play with them! They were quite frustrating to play with, whereas good specials should feel fun and exciting. Armed with a new concept, partner interaction, I went back to the drawing board.

This new set is a whole lot more interesting! My personal favourites:

• G6: gets +3-5 (randomly) when passed. Whenever you pass the G6 to another player (in the passing phase, or due to another card's effect), the card itself increases in value. The receiving player doesn't know if they were passed the G6 or not. This is something we certainly couldn't do in real life, and I always enjoy taking advantage of the digital format.
• G8: scout a player for a suit; gain a card of that suit with value equal to the number of that suit present in their hand. This is a complicated effect, but I really enjoy how the game gives you information about another player's hand using the mechanics of the game (ie. generating cards). Unforuntately, it seems a little degenerate: most of the time, wishing red is the best bet. Low valued red cards are generally strong.
• GA: your partner draws a card from the deck (if able). Once the concept of the greens was nailed down, this card just designed itself. It also implies the existence of a G0.

Along with blues, blacks and the classic reds, we now have a full complement of suits available!