Baxia & Fantast
Fantast
Hey Baxia, I’ve been spinning through a stack of tabs on medieval plumbing and just came up with a board‑game idea—players are city engineers who have to build a waterworks, balance coinage flow, and keep mythical beasts from clogging the pipes. It’s a mechanical puzzle with a bit of economic strategy. Sound like something you’d want to prototype or tweak?
Baxia
Sounds intriguing, but let’s get the core mechanics straight first. Do the players just lay pipe tiles, or is there a resource‑management layer for coinage? And how do the beasts actually affect the system—random events, forced upgrades, or a whole new rule set? If you can sketch a single round, I can point out any hidden loops or balance issues.
Fantast
Okay, here’s a quick sketch for a round.
1. Each player starts with a small budget of 3 gold coins and a hand of 5 pipe tiles (some straight, some curved).
2. **Action phase** – In turn order players pick one of three actions:
a. Lay a pipe tile on the board, costing 1 coin.
b. Spend 2 coins to draw an “upgrade” card (e.g., “Double‑pipe” lets you place two tiles in one turn).
c. Pay 1 coin to roll a “beast die.” If it lands on a number that matches the total length of pipes you have laid so far, a beast appears on that stretch.
3. **Beast effect** – If a beast lands, you must either:
a. Pay 1 coin to “pacify” the beast (it disappears and you get an extra tile next turn).
b. Or you automatically trigger a “maintenance” cost: lose 1 pipe tile of your choice (you can swap it with a tile in your hand).
4. **End of round** – After all players act, any unused coins are rolled over to the next round. Players then tally points: 1 point per pipe tile, 2 points for each pair of adjacent straight tiles, and a bonus 3 points for completing a closed loop.
That’s the core cycle. Let me know if the coin flow feels off or if the beast mechanic is too punishing.
Baxia
The cycle is clear, but a few things feel unbalanced. Three gold to start is tight if you have to lay a tile each turn – the average cost per turn could exceed your budget if you go for upgrades or beast rolls. Consider scaling the initial budget or letting players draw a “maintenance” card that gives them a free tile each round.
The beast mechanic is clever, but matching the die to the exact pipe length can feel arbitrary. A simple range check or a “beast danger” track that increments each round would give players a better sense of risk. Also, losing a tile is a heavy penalty; swapping with a hand tile is good, but maybe allow a small coin reimbursement if you lose a tile, so the cost isn’t double‑ed.
Overall, tighten the coin economy and smooth the beast trigger. Once you test a few rounds, we can spot any hidden loops or dead ends.
Fantast
You’re right, the starting gold is a pinch if you’re buying tiles every turn. Maybe bump the initial budget to 5 gold and give each player a “maintenance” card that they can draw once per round to get a free tile.
For the beasts, I like the track idea. We could have a “Beast Danger” counter that starts at 1 and increases by 1 each round. Then a single roll of a six‑sided die: if it’s ≤ the danger counter, a beast shows up. That keeps it predictable but still tense.
And if a player has to lose a tile, let them keep half the coin cost (so if a tile cost 1 coin, they get 0.5 back). That way the loss isn’t a double hit.
Let me run a mock round with these tweaks and see if the flow feels smoother.
Baxia
That budget bump will make the early turns feel more liquid, but watch out for inflation—players could spiral into buying every upgrade early. The Beast Danger counter is cleaner; just make sure the die roll is public so everyone knows the risk. Reclaiming half a coin when a tile is lost is a nice mercy, but consider letting the player keep the tile instead of swapping it—players hate being forced to trade unless they really want to. Run the mock round and keep an eye on how quickly the danger counter outpaces coin gain. Good call on tightening the flow.