How do we set up the center and initial hands to create a sense of balance?
My concern is that players will either focus more on combos from the shared hand or just from their own hand. Ideally, players are making moves based on both their own cards, but also how the center cards will be played be other players. We can test out different starting setups (perhaps specific cards that will be in hand) and play-test to address this. I assume that having some guaranteed starting cards in hand will counter the balance issues.
How do encourage players to create alliances with other players?
While players are competing with each other, we also want their moves to be influenced by what other players are doing. This might mean players can cooperate in order to benefit each other. We might prototype with different combos of cards. My guess is that “alliances” loosely means that some players will avoid certain cards in order for not only their ally to get more points, but also themselves.
How do the mechanics scale?
It’s likely that some mechanics work better with a large number of players, while others only work with a few. We’d have to build an initial starting deck and then play-test with various group sizes. I assume that some mechanics may break down with larger groups, but also be more fun as there are more combo/complexities involved with large groups.
