Duckit and rules simplification
A game is a series of action and resolution loops that, over time, lead to an end goal. The composition of those loops is determined by the features of the game - the mechanisms, length, complexity, player count, and rules exceptions. Rules exceptions, what I like to call if/thens, are the focus of this design blog.
I prefer to limit the number of if/thens in my games as much as possible. When I look at the small library of game designs that I have put together (and all of the games I like to play), I see the following singular vision: few components, a simple loop, and as few if/thens as possible. These things are my guiding lights when inventing a new game (and deciding whether or not to try someone else’s). When considering the above parameters, Duckit is my best invention yet. I think it fixes a few problems I’ve come to realize exist with some of my older games.
Nein Nine is the beginning of the Duckit throughline, and it will be the main focus of what I’ve done poorly in the past. The features of this game are, to me, what makes it so interesting from a traditional card game perspective. However, it is these same features that make it hard to chew on for hobby gamers who don’t have any exposure to traditional games.
First, Nein Nine uses a middle chunk of the standard 52 card deck. Players are asked to remember that each suit starts with 7 and ends with jack. From a traditional card player perspective, this is no big deal. Euchre starts with 9, Schnapsen uses 10 - A (but changes the rank order), Jass starts with 6 and so on. It’s not a major hurdle, but it’s definitely not intuitive. An easy fix would be to bring the deck either all of the way down (ace - 5) or all the way up (9 - king). My next mistake was then building the game on that strange deck structure.
I grew up playing Euchre. I know how hard it is to adjust to the idea that jacks change rank depending on the trump suit. I don’t know why I kept asking other people to get used to it too with my designs. In Nein Nine, the 7’s change rank depending on the trump suit. If hearts are trump, the 7 of hearts becomes the highest ranking trump card, and the 7 of diamonds becomes the second highest ranking trump card. To me, this is a very natural thing. To MOST typical gamers, it’s unintuitive or even senseless. An easy fix is to have one card jump from suit to suit based on trump for the round. If hearts are trump, the joker becomes the highest ranking trump card. The joker conveys such antics quite naturally.
Other features of Nein Nine include 9’s as the pain rank, a joker card that can be the highest ranking card or the lowest ranking card, points awarded for capturing clean tricks, and points taken away for capturing 9’s, and the trump suit is determined by the first 8 that is played. Jeesh, when I write it out like that, this game seems pretty ridiculous (which lends to its divisiveness with players).
Finally realizing the error of my ways, I decided to address these issues with Duckit. I changed the deck to (low) ace - 7 (high), and the joker is always the lowest ranking card. This makes the deck much more digestible. For determining the trump suit, a turn up card is used. Now players have a cue to help them remember which suit is trump. Also, the turn up card makes the other cards of the same rank the LOWEST in their suit. That’s a fun change, and the turn up card acts as a cue to help players remember which cards are special for the round. I cleaned up the scoring system by simply giving penalty points for capturing the 4’s (chosen as the pain rank for their position in the middle of the suit). Because of the turn up card, I was able to add two fun if/thens to the game: If the turn up card is a 4, 4’s are worth double penalty points that round, and if the turn up card is a joker, there is no trump and the rank is reversed for the round (so aces are high and 7’s are low). I think those if/then rules are acceptable because they will be so rare and special. Players will be excited to see one of those two things happen, and there is a visual cue reminding them that the round is special (the turn up card).
Is Duckit a genre changing game? No, not even close. But it was a fun exercise in design, and it makes for an enjoyable snack of a game - perfect for players like me.