Gem Tokens?
Right now, We're Sinking has been going through a lot of changes from playtesting. I initially wanted to try creating this as a 52 card game. However, if there is a magic spark out there that could turn this into something special I want to make sure I explore it.
In previous versions, players held onto gem cards to represent the point values collected. This however meant that players had to hold these in their hand along with action cards. The gems were useful at the end of the game for points but during the game they just sit in your hand and become cumbersome. Also, once they were in your hand that meant there was only a finite amount left in the deck something that I actually though would lead to tense battles for gems, but so far in playtesting that hasn't always been the case.
In a new prototype build, I've added gem tokens. When a gem card is collected, the player who claims it, gains a gem token of that color, and then discards the gem card, allowing the gem cards to be shuffled back into the deck. This should help fix the issues above to some extent but could cause some others namely, more component expenses and a larger box to contain them.
I'll be playtesting with the two versions over the next few weeks to see where it leads me.
More to come soon!
Cheers,
-JF