Creator Response Game Result Log - Conclusions/Strategies/Rule Altering

[Blauwfuur]

Additional ideas i had about alternate options for the coop and barn.

1. Remove the coop and barn from the game. You can buy chikens and cows. Add an "upgrade coop and barn" for 2 wood and 10 gold to allow you to buy ducks, goats, etc.

2. Every time you reveal a new season card, roll the animal dice and store the produced tiles on the barn and coop. Up to 4 recources can be stored this way. When taking the "collect from animals" action, you can collect the stored tiles.

3. When you buy the barn you het a free cow, when you buy the coop you get a free chicken

4. See my idea above, halve the cost for coop and barn.

 

[kailomonkey]

2. Every time you reveal a new season card, roll the animal dice and store the produced tiles on the barn and coop. Up to 4 recources can be stored this way. When taking the "collect from animals" action, you can collect the stored tiles.

Number 2 could be enabled by buying the coop or barn. So you could buy something like upto 1 chicken and 1 cow without a building and roll for them like normal, but buying the barn or coop lets that type store produce for collection. Maybe just roll 1 animal die x buildings per morning/season so it can build up over time, or 2 dice for each building separately and only animal types of that building produce there. When you go to collect produce you can take stored resources to remove a dice from the roll up to 3. So you could take a stored egg and still roll 2 animal dice to see if you find extra, or take 2 stored eggs and a stored wool and not roll at all. Maximum can still apply like 4 suggested or maybe 3 (or 4) in each building. Any skills that double produce or reroll only apply to rolls on the collect produce action.

 

[kailomonkey]

########## 13 ##########

Players: 1
- Fishing profession, Fishing rod tool.
Season Deck: Shuffled from full deck
Pet: Woof

*Grandpa's Goals: Make Friends, Upgrade Tools, Restore Museum, Raise Animals.
Bundles: 2 Materials, Quality Animal Product, Legendary Fish, Heart+Forageable, 6 Gold, Ore.
Buildings: Farmhouse, Silo, Barn, Coop

Achieved: 9.5/10 success!
*I won't say why until the end, but I played blind to the Grandpa Goals until I had completed the Community Centre bundles. Also I chose my profession upgrades as if I was playing multiplayer (as in I was stuck as a Fisher and got to choose from 2 revealed from the Fisher deck). I managed to keep a good variety of crops, forageables and fish to get 4 friends and 8 hearts built up, and was filling up the field with crops most seasons with money flowing well.

Several Joja tiles came out but they were mostly for things I didn't know if I needed! The Mine got a bit blocked off, Museum donating too, and hearts from friending Villagers got bottlenecked. Seed shortage was a pain though and I spent my last heart to remove it. Not knowing all my goals I was mostly interested in getting friendships, hearts and coins. I befriended Leah, Willy, Abigail and Sam along the way; marrying Leah and only losing Jodi due to her being part of a one-off event. Leah and Sam's gifts came in handy and I took all 8 hearts to the community centre, revealed them all at once and completed half of them, all in a single action!

Even though I'd caught a Legendary Fish and gifted it to someone or sold it or something, I had an item that counted as one! And my flow of heart, forageable and coins got those done! Soon later I used Sam's gift to complete the ore bundle, paid the resources with a resource item card and a wood, and next in a single turn built the coop, bought a chicken and petted it, so the next turn came the quality egg! Having a spouse really helped I think.

Revealing the Grandpa Goals in Winter was a bit late to prepare for! But I already had the friends, and upgrading the fishing pole and buying a second chicken only took gold that I had; and 2 end of turn actions. Finding and donating 2 artifacts/minerals in 2 turns, even with a spouse, proved too much though. First we both went to the mines where I took the 1 Mine Action during a player's turn liberally and considered my wife separate! I was able to get a Geode and smash it for a Mineral! However, the spouse not being able to forage had me stuck on the final turn. I sent her to waste her time and I wasted an action of my own fishing before chancing on a forageable on the way to the museum to donate but only another forageable! I could have mined and hoped to smash out another, leaving the wife to donate, but I then remembered the Joja token meant I had to spend both actions to donate. I was damned!

So I took back my fishing action and forage to at least donate the 1 mineral and it was over. All in all pretty good since I casually continued the game while experimenting with a scripted TS workshop version. Yes that's why I had restricted view of the Grandpa Goals! I have the physical board but I plan to play my first multiplayer game hopefully tomorrow with the help of the internet. The scripted version we'll be using seemed to force profession choice before the setup so I was checking there were ways to setup in the correct order which there was. :)

Sorry for going a little off-topic here, but I very much enjoy having discussions on game mechanics and if we're posting logs to potentially analyse later, might as well lay out some common ground.

It's all good. Part of the topic was to draw conclusions from the logs. Thanks for writing thoroughly :)

 

[kailomonkey]

########## 14 ##########

Players: 2 (for the first time at last!)
kailo (me) - Fishing profession, Fishing rod tool.
mizu - Mining profession, Pickaxe tool.
Season Deck: Shuffled from full deck
Pet: Meow

Grandpa's Goals: Catch Legendary Fish, Restore Museum, Raise Animals, Make Friends.
*Bundles: Summer Forageable, Quality Animal Product, Lake Fish, Mineral + Heart, 10 Gold, Bug Meat.
Buildings: Well, Farmhouse, Barn, Coop

Achieved: *success/not exactly!

I'm going to be brief in describing this session since it was a couple weeks ago. We were lucky getting the Legendary Fish we needed and were very lucky on items in general. It seemed to take ages to start revealing bundles and I had very bad luck with dice rolls which probably caused us issues. We didn't get the mines goal luckily but we also didn't get the buildings goal which syncs well with raising animals.

*Being my first time playing with more than 1 player and my friend's first time ever, I forgot that the bundle donations also needed scaling xPlayers until far too late. It's not on the cards like it is for grandpa goals so I think there's room for improvement there. The xPlayers symbol could be put on the bundle faces and on the backs with a heart symbol.

So we had a pseudo victory with one day to spare, but had we needed double of everything for the community centre, there was no way! With this game in mind and what I've seen in other people's games, I'm of the mind that 2 players is actually the hardest. You'd think it would be 1 or 4 but it's the mathematics of the scaling used which peaks the difficulty at 2 players, that's hard to explain.

Played in Tabletop Simulator and available to Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HWgWg4BTjw
Stream and recording provided by Mizutoka: https://www.twitch.tv/mizutoka

 

[DJModulo]

With this game in mind and what I've seen in other people's games, I'm of the mind that 2 players is actually the hardest. You'd think it would be 1 or 4 but it's the mathematics of the scaling used which peaks the difficulty at 2 players, that's hard to explain.

Yep, 2 players is hard. I wouldn't necessarily say hardest, but suffice to say it's the one mode to keep me from generally taxing 5 gold/1 heart per player for removing a Joja tile (in 1p this is given, in 3p/4p the cost is far less trivial, but still manageable. 2p has some tough times even without that increase though).

I might try and log a 2p run with that ruleset later today (and try out the workshop you used while I'm at it)

 

[kailomonkey]

I might try and log a 2p run with that ruleset later today (and try out the workshop you used while I'm at it)

The particular workshop we used is this one https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2782397187 (as seen in the linked video description)

It's really nicely scripted with only a couple things to look out for that shouldn't affect practiced players but could make a harder time for new players. One, the artifact/mineral tiles always come out artifact up which I hadn't noted, so my newbie playing partner didn't note they were for both. Two, it doesn't offer standard mode as a script, I separated out the standard cards as a local save to make that mode more accessible to myself each new game if wanted, but if it was there as standard I might have had a better time convincing a new player to start there.

Edit: There's also some bug reports in the discussions section that we didn't encounter as an issue. I don't know if they're still present. Could explain for instance why we got the same letter artifact in a row (someone saying it didn't randomise them).

 

[DJModulo]

Setup:
2 players; standard season cards (Wanted random, but seem to have messed that up during creation)
House rule: Removing Joja costs 5 gold or 1 heart per player

CC Bundles: Fall Foraging / Animals / Crab Pot / Chef / Six / Blacksmith
Grandpa's Goals: Catch Legendary Fish, Expand the Farm, Upgrade Starting Tools, Restore the Museum
Buildings: Coop, Barn, Well, Silo

Tools/professions:
P1: Fishing rod / Fishing
P2: Pickaxe / Foraging
Pet: Dog

Result: 10/10 by the end of week 14

Comments:
Picking the Fisher was a no-brainer due to Legendary fish & tool upgrades being two of Gramp's goals. The second player was much less clear; I chose the Forager with the Pickaxe to help getting artifacts/geodes. Not a combo to be seen often as these two roles cannot be intertwined well in general; thankfully this wasn't needed this game.
Barbed Hook off the week 1 season card with two Legendaries on the track already was an incredible boon. I risked losing the Glacierfish W1 because the fisher had no good follow-up after getting it (no watering possible due to the Crow snack) whereas the follow-up after getting the Crimsonfish was incredibly powerful. (Risking the Glacierfish W2 was unnecessary, though).
Afterwards, one of the weirdest games I've played ensued, with the first CC reveals not being thrilling (Pantry/Fish tank in particular) and the first Mine level being atrocious. Getting Dwarf early, I decided to let the Mines sit until I got off that floor and focused money and wood to get the Coop up. It took Dwarf until the end of Summer to get me off that floor, which was when professions turned the game on its head with Luremaster for Crab Pot access and the Charcoal Kiln for easy Ore and hearts. After luckily getting the Blacksmith bundle, it was smooth sailing from there (despite never having a single Stone until the last week of Fall).

Spoiler: Action log

Spoiler: Spring

Week 1
Season card: Crow(G) (-Parsnip); Gift(-); Event (Visitor at the Farm(Willy)->P1 gets random Fishing upgrade->Barbed Hook); sell(-)
P1*: Beach()
P2: Farm()

P1:
Ocean fishing (H/H/J /S(Barbed Hook)): +Halibut, +Crimsonfish
=(+Horseradish*)=>Town
Pierre: -Crimsonfish, buy all Spring seeds (+6G -4G =5G)
EoT: Upgrade Training Rod -> Bamboo Rod (-5G = 0G)

P2:
Water crops
=(+Horseradish)=>Mountain
Lake fishing (H/J/S): +Bullhead
EoT: -


Week 2
Season card: Quality(Strawberry->*); sell(-)

P1*: Farm (Halibut, Horseradish*),
P2: Farm (Horseradish, Bullhead)

P1:
Water crops (+Parsnip)
=(+Leek*)=>Town
Gus: Clint(-Halibut, +1H =1H)
EoT: -

P2:
Water crops (+Potato)
=(+Wood)=>Town
Gus: Dwarf(-Potato +1H =2H)
EoT: -


Week 3:
Season card: Rain (+Strawberry*), Pet(->P2), sell(-Strawberry* +5G =5G)

P1: River(Leek*, Horseradish*, Wood)
P2*: Town(Horseradish, Bullhead, Parsnip)

P2: Pierre: Buy all Spring seeds (-4G =1G)
=(+Daffodil)=>Farm
Water crops (+Cauliflower)
EoT: -

P1:
River fishing (H/H/H /S(Barbed Hook)): +Glacierfish (*Catch Legendary Fish)
=(+Daffodil*)=>Farm
Water crops(+Parsnip)
EoT: -


Week 4
Season card: Quality (Potato->*), rain (+Potato*), Pet(->P1), Fish move, sell(- Cauliflower, Horseradish*, Glacierfish +14G = 15G)

P1*: Town(Parsnip, Potato*, Daffodil, Horseradish, Bullhead)
P2: Town(Parsnip, Daffodil*, Leek*, Wood)

P1:
Gus: Jodi(-Parsnip +2H =4H)
=(+Leek)=>Ocean
Ocean fishing (H/J/J /S(Barbed Hook)): +Super Cucumber
EoT: -

P2:
Community Center:
Reveal: Crafts Room (Fall Foraging; -2H =2H)
Reveal: Pantry (Animals; -2H =0H)
=(+Mineral(Nekoite(E)))=>Mountain
Lake fishing (H/H/J): +Smallmouth Bass
EoT: -

Professions:
P1: Recycling Machine(+), Cork Bobber
P2: Axe(+), Clear Path

After Spring:
15G 0H
Grandpa's Goals: 1/4
CC: 0/6 (2 revealed)
Mine: Lv.1
Museum: 0/8
Joja: 0/0

P1*: Bamboo Rod(Barbed Hook, Recycling Machine)
Potato*, Daffodil, Horseradish, Leek, Bullhead, Super Cucumber (-,-)
Clint, Jodi
P2: Pickaxe(Axe, -)
Parsnip, Daffodil*, Leek*, Smallmouth Bass, Nekoite(E), Wood (-,-)
Dwarf

Spoiler: Summer

Week 5:
Season card: Crow(R)(-), sell(-Leek*, Potato*, Leek, Horseradish, Super Cucumber +15G =30G)

P1*: Ocean (Parsnip, Daffodil, Bullhead, Nekoite)
P2: Farm (Smallmouth Bass, Daffodil*, Wood)

P1:
Ocean fishing (H/H/S>S /S(Barbed Hook)): +Herring
=(+Sweet Pea)=>Town
Gus: Sam(-Parsnip +3H =3H)
EoT: Upgrade Bamboo Rod -> Fiberglass Rod(-8G =22G)

P2:
Water crops(+Strawberry)
=(+Wood, Artifact(Handaxe(B)) #Axe)=>Town
Pierre: -Strawberry, buy all Summer seeds(+4G, -4G =22G)
EoT: -


Week 6:
Season card: Quality(Cauliflower->*), Pet(->P2), Fish move, sell(-)

P1: Town(east) (Handaxe(B), Nekoite(E), Bullhead, Sweet Pea, Daffodil*)
P2*: Mountain(Daffodil, Herring, Smallmouth Bass, Wood*2)

P2:
Robin: Build Coop(-Wood*2, -10G =12G)
=(+Spice Berry*)=>Farm
Water Crops: +Cauliflower*
EoT: -

P1:
Museum: Donate(Nekoite(E), Handaxe(B))
=(+Spice Berry)=>Ocean
Ocean fishing (H/(H/S > H/S) /S(Barbed Hook)): +Trash
EoT: -

Week 7:
Season card: Quality(Melon->*), Pet(->P1), Fish move, Joja(Polluted Waters), sell (-Cauliflower*, Spice Berry*, Spice Berry +11G =23G)

P1*: Farm(Daffodil, Daffodil*, Herring, Bullhead, Trash)
P2: River(Smallmouth Bass, Sweet Pea)

P1:
Water crops: +Hot Pepper
#Recycling Machine: -Trash (+1G =24G)
=(+Fiddlehead Fern)=>Town
Gus: Shane(-Hot Pepper +2H =5H)
EoT: Remove Joja (-Polluted Waters, -10G = 14G)

P2:
River Fishing (H/J/S): +Sunfish
=(+Wood, Fiber #Axe)=>Farm
Water crops: +Blueberry
EoT: -


Week 8:
Season card: Rain(+Melon*),
Gift(P1: Clint: Pickaxe->Copper Pickaxe; P2: Dwarf (Mines: L1->L2)),
Event(Mutant Carp)
sell(-Melon*, Fiddlehead Fern, Smallmouth Bass, Sweet Pea +12G =26G)

P1*: Town(Sunfish, Herring, Bullhead, Daffodil*, Blueberry, Fiber)
P2: Marnie(Daffodil, Wood)

P1: Community Center:
Reveal Fish Tank(Crab Pot) (-2H =3H)
Reveal Bulletin Board(Chef) (-2H =1H)
Donate: Blueberry->Bulletin Board(0/2H; 1/2D)
#Recycling Machine(-Sunfish, Herring, Daffodil*, Fiber +1H =2H)
=(+Sweet Pea*)=>Mountain
Lake Fishing(H/(H/S > J/H) /S(Barbed Hook)) : +Largemouth Bass
EoT: -

P2:
Marnie: Buy: Chicken, Duck, Rabbit (-22G =4G)
=(+Wood, Fiddlehead Fern*#Axe)=>Farm
Collect from Animals (Du/Sh/Sh): +Duck Feather
EoT: -

Professions:
P1: Mariner/Luremaster(Luremaster>Barbed Hook), Treasure Bobber
P2: Charcoal Kiln(+), Forester/Gatherer

After Summer:
4G 2H
Grandpa's Goals: 1/4
CC: 0/6 (4 revealed)
Mine: Lv.2
Museum: 2/8 (B/E)
Buildings: Coop (Chicken, Duck, Rabbit)
Joja: 0/1

P1*: Fiberglass Rod(Luremaster, Recycling Machine)
Sweet Pea*, Bullhead, Largemouth Bass (-,-)*Mutant Carp
Clint, Jodi, Sam, Shane
P2: Copper Pickaxe(Axe, Charcoal Kiln)
Daffodil, Wood*2, Duck Feather, Fiddlehead Fern* (-,-)
Dwarf

Spoiler: Fall

Week 9:
Season card: Crow(G)(-Starfruit), Crow(R)(-)

P1: Town(Sweet Pea*, Fiddlehead Fern*, Largemouth Bass, Wood*2)
P2: Town(Daffodil, Duck Feather, Bullhead)

P1:
Pierre: -Sweet Pea*, Fiddlehead Fern*, Largemouth Bass; buy all Fall seeds (+10G -4G =10G)
=(+Blackberry)=>Ocean
Ocean Fishing(#Luremaster; H/H/J): +Shrimp, Red Snapper
EoT: -

P2:
Gus: Vincent (-Bullhead +1H =3H)
=(+Wood, Hazelnut*#Axe)=>Farm
Water crops
EoT: -

Week 10:
Season card: Pet(->P2)
Gift(P1: Shane (+Chicken); P2: Vincent)
Joja(Small Business Tax)
sell(-)

P1: Town(Blackberry, Hazelnut*, Duck Feather, Shrimp, Red Snapper, Daffodil)
P2*: Farm(Wood*3)

P2:
Water crops(+Bok Choy)
=(+Wood, Mineral(Jasper(H))#Axe)=>River
#Charcoal Kiln: (-4 Wood +1 Iron Ore, +3H =5H)
EoT: Upgrade: Copper Pickaxe -> Steel Pickaxe (-1 Iron) (*Upgrade Starting Tools)

P1: Community Center
Donate: (Blackberry, Hazelnut*)->Crafts Room(2/2)(+Item(Wild Bait))
Reveal Vault(Six) (-2H =3H)
Reveal Boiler Room(Blacksmith) (-2H =1H)
Donate: Shrimp->Fish Tank(1/2)
Donate: Duck Feather->Pantry(1/2)
=(+Wild Plum*)=>Mountain
Lake fishing(J/(S/S > H/J)): +Sturgeon
EoT: -


Week 11:
Season card: Fish move, Joja(Jojamart Warehouse Planning), sell(-Sturgeon, Wild Plum* +7G =17G)

P1: Mountain(Jasper(H), Daffodil)(Wild Bait, -)
P2*: Farm(Bok Choy, Red Snapper)

P2:
Collect from Animals(Ch/Du/Go): +Egg*2, +Duck Feather
=(+Fiber)=>Town
Gus: Wizard(-Egg +1H =2H)
EoT: Remove Joja (-Jojamart Warehouse Planning -10G =7G)

P1:
Lake fishing(H/H/(S>S)): +Chub
=(+Wild Plum)=>Farm
Water crops: +Eggplant
EoT: -

Week 12:
Season card: Quality(Cranberry->*), Rain(+Cranberry*), Fish move, sell(-Cranberry*, Red Snapper, Chub, Wild Plum, Duck Feather +13G =20G)

P1: Town(Egg, Eggplant, Bok Choy, Daffodil, Fiber)
P2*: Museum (Jasper(H))(Wild Bait, -)

P2:
Museum: Donate Jasper(H)
=(+Artifact(Palm Fossil(C)))=>Mountain
#Wild Bait: -Wild Bait +Rainbow Trout, Pike, Squid, Cockle, Eel
Mine (J/S): 2S (+Stone -Eel)
EoT: -

P1: Community Center: Donate:
Egg->Pantry(2/2)(+Item(Animal Products))
Bok Choy, 2H(-2H =0H)->Chef (2/2H, 2/2D)(+Item(Heater))
#Heater: -Heater (animals happy)
=(+Hazelnut)=>Ocean
Ocean fishing (H/H/S) : -
EoT: -

Professions:
P1: Fisher/Trapper (Fisher > Luremaster), Chowder
P2: Snack Recipe, Shells & Coral (no changes)

After Fall:
20G 0H
Grandpa's Goals: 2/4
CC: 3/6 (all revealed)
Mine: Lv.2
Museum: 3/8 (B/E/H)
Buildings: Coop (Chicken*2, Duck, Rabbit)
Joja: 1/2

P1: Fiberglass Rod(Fisher, Recycling Machine)
Hazelnut, Eggplant, Fiber, Daffodil (Animal Products,-) *Mutant Carp
Clint, Jodi, Sam, Shane
P2*: Iron Pickaxe(Axe, Charcoal Kiln)
Rainbow Trout, Palm Fossil(C), Pike, Squid, Cockle, Stone (-,-)
Dwarf, Vincent, Wizard

Spoiler: Winter

Week 13:
Season card: Event (Found a Lost Book!(Mining): Bomb Recipe(no change)), sell(-#Fisher(Pike, Rainbow Trout, Squid), Hazelnut +19G =39G)

P1: River(Cockle, Stone, Fiber)(-,-)
P2*: River(Palm Fossil, Eggplant, Daffodil) (Animal Products, -)

P2:
River fishing(H/H/J) : +Walleye, Bream
=(+Wood, Stone#Axe -Stone)=>Marnie
#Charcoal Kiln: -1 Wood +1 Iridium Ore
EoT: -

P1:
River fishing(J/(H/H > H/S)): +Shad
=(+Wood)=>Farm
Water crops: +Pumpkin
EoT: -


Week 14:
Season card: Gift(P1: Sam: +Iridium Ore P2: Vincent), sell(-#Fisher(Shad, Bream,Walleye), Pumpkin +23G =62G)

P1: Museum (Palm Fossil, Daffodil, Eggplant)(Animal products, -)
P2*: Town (Cockle, Iridium Ore*2, Wood, Stone)

P2: Community center: Donate:
12 gold(-12G =50G)->Vault(2/2)(+Item(Wine))
Cockle->Fish Tank(2/2)(+Item(Rarecrow))
Iridium Ore*2->Boiler Room(2/2)(+Epic Item(Deluxe Scarecrow))
=(+Snow Yam*)=>Mountain
Robin: Silo(-Wood, Stone -10G =40G) (*Expand Your Farm)
EoT: Remove Joja(-Small Business Tax, -10G =30G)

P1: Museum: Donate Palm Fossil(C) (*Restore the Museum)
=(+Stone)=>Town
#Animal Products: +Wool
Gus: Caroline(-Eggplant +2H =2H)
s

Spoiler: Mine cards

L1:
- - I
- D M
G - -

L2:
M I -
D 2G 2S
B I -

Legend: S=Stone, B=Bug Meat, O=Ore, G=Geode, D=Descent(Staircase), I=Item, M=Mine Event, X=Skull, -=empty

Spoiler: Fish track

Start: Bullhead / Crimsonfish / Halibut / Glacierfish / Lingcod
W1(after Ocean Fishing): Newspaper / Periwinkle(R) / Bullhead / Glacierfish / Lingcod
W1(after Lake fishing): Super Cucumber / Newspaper / Periwinkle(R) / Glacierfish / Lingcod
W3(after River fishing): Smallmouth Bass (L) / Super Cucumber / Newspaper / Periwinkle(R) / Lingcod
W4(after Fish move): Trash / Tuna / Smallmouth Bass (L) / Super Cucumber / Newspaper
W4(after Ocean Fishing): Snail(R) / Trash / Tuna / Smallmouth Bass (L) / Newspaper
W4(after Lake Fishing): Herring / Snail(R) / Trash / Tuna / Newspaper
W5(after Ocean fishing): Pufferfish / Snail(R) / Trash / Tuna / Newspaper
W6(after Fish move): Largemouth Bass / Red Mullet / Pufferfish / Snail(R) / Trash
W6(after Ocean fishing): Sunfish / Largemouth Bass / Red Mullet / Pufferfish / Snail(R)
W7(after Fish move): Sturgeon / Tiger Trout / Sunfish / Largemouth Bass / Red Mullet
W7(after River fishing): Red Snapper / Sturgeon / Tiger Trout / Largemouth Bass / Red Mullet
W8(after Lake fishing): Shrimp / Red Snapper / Sturgeon / Tiger Trout / Red Mullet
W9(after Ocean fishing): Broken CD / Chub / Sturgeon / Tiger Trout / Red Mullet
W10(after Lake fishing): Chest / Broken CD / Chub / Tiger Trout / Red Mullet
W11(after Fish move): Pike(R) / Rainbow Trout(L) / Chest / Broken CD / Chub
W11(after Lake fishing): Eel / Pike(R) / Rainbow Trout(L) / Chest / Broken CD
W12(after Fish move): Squid / Cockle / Eel / Pike(R) / Rainbow Trout(L)
W12(after Wild Bait): Dorado / Bream / Shad / Walleye / Octopus
W13(after River Fishing#1): Angler / Periwinkle / Dorado / Shad / Octopus
W13(after River Fishing#2): Perch / Angler / Periwinkle / Dorado / Octopus

As for the script: Definitely decent with a few nice QOL features over the script I'm using (additional trays for friends/money/active Joja tiles are very nice, as is the auto-roller for the dice), unfortunately still uses the first printing (would've loved a TTS workshop using the up-to-date printing). Main issue for me was that the script in part was not true to the original rules, maybe because of the Journey mode (e.g. destruction of crops on season's change, unlimited supply for all resources) as well as the fact that you couldn't spawn in a 5/10 gold coin (at least not that I figured it out). Nothing that cannot be fixed/played around, but a bit inconvenient in places (at least to me).
Then again, it seems an update dropped just today (yesterday evening on US time) , so maybe there will be some ironing out in the future.

 

[kailomonkey]

As for the script: Definitely decent with a few nice QOL features over the script I'm using (additional trays for friends/money/active Joja tiles are very nice, as is the auto-roller for the dice), unfortunately still uses the first printing (would've loved a TTS workshop using the up-to-date printing). Main issue for me was that the script in part was not true to the original rules, maybe because of the Journey mode (e.g. destruction of crops on season's change, unlimited supply for all resources) as well as the fact that you couldn't spawn in a 5/10 gold coin (at least not that I figured it out). Nothing that cannot be fixed/played around, but a bit inconvenient in places (at least to me).
Then again, it seems an update dropped just today (yesterday evening on US time) , so maybe there will be some ironing out in the future.

I didn't notice crops destroying on season change (looking at the vod it looks like they survived for us, at least in non-journey mode). Edit: it looks like this has arrived with the update, hope it's fixed asap.

I did notice the coins though. I may add it as a suggestion if the update hasn't changed that yea.

The game seems to use the components I have in my copy, so I don't know yet what has been updated in the new physical version of the game.

 

[DJModulo]

A few things have changed in the second printing, the biggest ones being: Museum now gives 1 Heart per donated tile, some Villagers have been altered (including an ability switcheroo between Harvey, Abigail and Caroline (I believe?)) and the Mine Deck was revamped (to not have as many dead Levels). I've seen a full list of changes, but cannot remember where.

 

[kailomonkey]

A few things have changed in the second printing, the biggest ones being: Museum now gives 1 Heart per donated tile, some Villagers have been altered (including an ability switcheroo between Harvey, Abigail and Caroline (I believe?)) and the Mine Deck was revamped (to not have as many dead Levels). I've seen a full list of changes, but cannot remember where.

Complete edit from my response yonks ago. I'm pretty sure I have the second print entirely. All good.

 

[kailomonkey]

Hoping to play my first 4 player game on Wednesday. The way the game scales I think it will be slowest but easiest with 4 players, and I'll be playing with board game enthusiasts so, although it's probably their first game I'm thinking of forming the season cards from a mix of starting cards and the rest. But we'll see how the group feel about that. I'd deal maybe 2 randomly from 'the rest' for each season, mix with the 4 starter cards, then shuffle and deal 4 from that. That way they get somewhat a starter experience with a chance to see some variety in case this is the only time they play it.

Looking forward to reporting on the game. I've not played in ages! I'm going to try to be hands off since I got quite good at beating it after a few games.

 

[kailomonkey]

########## 16 ##########

Players: 4
P1 - Foraging profession, Watering Can tool.
P2 - Farming profession, Hoe tool.
P3 - Fishing profession, Fishing Rod tool.
Me - Mining profession, Pickaxe tool.
Season Deck: Standard.
Pet: Kitty

Grandpa's Goals: Mines, Buildings, Upgrade Tools and Legendary Fish.
Bundles: Spring forageables, Summer crops, Crab pot / Legendary fish, Heart + forageable, 8 Gold, Bug meat.
Buildings: Coop, Barn, Well, Silo

Achieved: 10/10 success!*



My initial prediction was 4 players would be easiest so I envisioned mixing in some harder seasons, but since I had the Standard built and ready to go, the team opted to go with that. Grandpa's goals were looking scary so I agreed we could opt for a reshuffle etc and they decided to ditch the Money goal which was replaced by the Tools goal. The team pretty much picked their roles by the colour of the player token which being a 4 player team wasn't an issue (no professions left out). I 'picked' last which made me the Miner and left me with very little to decide (which I appreciated) as I was almost always at the mines! There were no stairs on the cards at all for the first half of the mine which meant aiming for stone, as well as ores and eventually bug meat, but it all went pretty well with other players only joining me I think twice.

Our forager and farmer focused on optimising the crop rotations, with the forager usually making the friends, collecting wood and buying buildings. The farmer mostly double stacked the crops at Pierre's and donated to the museum for extra hearts which came in handy since the bundles needed x4 hearts each to reveal. Eventually we all had at least one friend ready for when the gifts came round on season cards. My only friend was I think Demetrius giving me something better than nothing as a gift.

Of course the hardest goal for 4 players was having to get 4 legendary fish out the fish bag, and that's where the success asterisk comes in. Our fisher cleared the track efficiently and caught our first legendary fish early on. Later our forager got a bonus fishing upgrade that allowed them to spend an additional stardrop while fishing (useful for legendary fish) which synergised well with the official fisher having an extra heart and junimo to spend clearing the fish track and popping our crab pot fish but took some joy out the fisher's main pursuit. Near the end someone may have checked that the last legendary fish was actually in the bag and affected the likelihood of it popping out; but to be fair it was actually lodged deep in the bottom of the bag.

So the final results, we beat the game with one day to spare and our final day of actions was a bit anticlimactic as our success was now guaranteed. However, if the final legendary fish hadn't been given a good reshuffle, I know very well the last TWO days of the year would have had all 4 of us frantically fighting RNG to get the legendary to show itself...



Conclusions: I feel confirmed in my prediction that 4 player would be the easiest, but the Legendary Fish goal definitely is an outlier since it means having all 4 of them show from the bag. The game would have been exactly tight enough and possibly resulted in a loss if there hadn't been that moment of fish checking, but understandable that some would prefer the win rather than stress and loss; especially after 3 hours! The game/RNG giving a non-fisher player the perfect fishing upgrade for legendary fish, when a fishing player's prime focus is rolling dice for legendary fish, had the fisher feeling aggravated as optimal play robbed them of their achievement.

Bottom of the mines should have been an easy goal with 4 players compared to 1, but with so little staircases on the cards, x4 stone needed to descend, and other goals requiring mining... I was very much in the mines all the time! But seeing as I wanted to leave decisions mostly to the new players, and my brain not always moving too fast with people around me, it was a nice role for me to sit in.

With the miner and fisher having one main goal to focus on, the farmer and the forager were left making most decisions making money, more than enough that we could have kept Grandpa's Gold goal. If we hadn't focused on optimising income they definitely could have lent more of their actions to clearing the fish track and winning less ambiguously. That potential for mismanagement of actions solo is gripping, but I imagine could cause some family arguments depending on the family!

The team mostly seemed to appreciate how well crafted the game was to still come down to one day remaining, which I'm glad at since I consider it a great strength of the game.

 

[NextXander]

########## 16 ##########

Players: 4
Me - Mining profession, Pickaxe tool.
P2 - Foraging profession, Watering Can tool.
P3 - Farming profession, Hoe tool.
P4 - Fishing profession, Fishing Rod tool.
Season Deck: Standard.
Pet: Kitty

Grandpa's Goals: Mines, Buildings, Upgrade Tools and Legendary Fish.
Bundles: Spring forageables, Summer crops, Crab pot / Legendary fish, Heart + forageable, 8 Gold, Bug meat.
Buildings: Coop, Barn, Well, Silo

Achieved: 10/10 success!*
My initial prediction was 4 players would be easiest so I envisioned mixing in some harder seasons, but since I had the Standard built and ready to go, the team opted to go with that. Grandpa's goals were looking scary so I let the group opt for a reshuffle etc and they decided to ditch the Money goal which was replaced by the Tools goal. The team pretty much picked their roles by the colour of the player token which being a 4 player team wasn't a big deal (no professions left out). I 'picked' last which made me the Miner and left me with very little to decide as I was almost always at the mines! There were no stairs on the cards at all for the first half of the mine which meant aiming for stone, as well as ores and eventually bug meat, but it all went pretty well with other players only joining me I think twice.

Our forager and farmer focused on optimising the crop rotations, with the forager usually left making the friends, collecting wood and buying buildings. The farmer donated to the museum a few times for extra hearts which came in handy since the bundles needed x4 each to reveal. Eventually we all had at least one friend which I highly recommended for when the gifts came round on season cards. My only friend was I think Demetrius giving me something better than nothing as a gift.

Of course the hardest goal for 4 players was having to get 4 legendary fish out the fish bag, and that's where the success asterisk comes in. Catching them wasn't an issue especially since our forager got a bonus fishing upgrade that allowed them to spend an additional stardrop while fishing. This synergised well with the official fisher spending most actions clearing the fish track but I imagine took some joy out of their main pursuit. Near the end they may have 'checked' that the last legendary fish was actually in the bag and 'affected' the likelihood of it popping out... To be fair it was actually buried deep at the bottom of the bag.

So the final results, we beat the game with one day to spare and our final day of actions was a bit anticlimactic as our success was now guaranteed. However, if the final legendary fish hadn't been massaged toward the top of the bag, I know very well the last TWO days of the year would have had all 4 of us frantically fighting RNG to get the legendary to show itself...

Conclusions: I feel confirmed in my prediction that 4 player would be the easiest, but the Legendary Fish goal definitely is an outlier since it means having all 4 of them show from the bag. The game would have been exactly tight enough and possibly resulted in a loss if there hadn't been that moment of cheating, but I guess some would prefer the win rather than stress and lose. Other players seemed to appreciate how well crafted the game was to still come down to one day remaining, which I'm glad at since I consider it a great strength of the game.

Bottom of the mines should have been an easy goal with 4 players compared to 1, but with so little staircases on the cards, x4 stone needed to descend, and other goals requiring mining... I was very much in the mines all the time! But seeing as I wanted to leave decisions mostly to the new players, and my brain not always moving too fast with people around me, it was a nice role for me to sit in.

With the miner and fisher having one main goal to focus on, the farmer and the forager were left making most decisions making money, more than enough we could have kept Grandpa's Gold goal. If they hadn't been so focused on optimising income they definitely could have lent more of their actions to clearing the fish track and winning legitimately. That kind of potential for team mismanagement is a social aspect that definitely highlights people's personalities in hopefully understandable ways...

Congrats on the win! The legendary fish goal is always the trickiest one for me. Reaching the bottom of the mines takes quite a while but I think I always manage to get it just in time. I like playing with 4 players the most but the big downside is how long it takes.

 

[kailomonkey]

Congrats on the win! The legendary fish goal is always the trickiest one for me. Reaching the bottom of the mines takes quite a while but I think I always manage to get it just in time. I like playing with 4 players the most but the big downside is how long it takes.

Thanks! Legendary fish even appearing is so unreliable and 4 player your odds are the worst, but I suppose it gives the biggest incentive to join forces and get through the fish bag. Bottom of the mines is worst solo but I mostly manage it now too with some experience and luck.

The group I played with are used to 3-4 hour games but I agree 4 player gets too long for people who need more stimulation, especially for the miner (+bottom of the mine) or fisher (+legendary x4) who depend on the same dice for 3 hours with minimal decision making throughout. Solo however is a rollercoaster of decisions which can take me an hour and that feels perfect. It's a shame because fellow board gamers who should love it but don't own it, will most likely be playing it with the most players and the least stimulation/tension, which I've noticed gets a verdict of "it's okay" compared to "intense and exciting" played solo or as a couple.

 

[kailomonkey]

I agree this is an issue. Once you get enough animals to guarantee produce it's better, but with a couple animals it can be a real waste of a turn. Perhaps a fix would be you roll (or reroll) every new day (no resources are taken) but only collect the established produce if you take the action. Taking the action twice in a turn would make this irrelevant though.

2. Every time you reveal a new season card, roll the animal dice and store the produced tiles on the barn and coop. Up to 4 recources can be stored this way. When taking the "collect from animals" action, you can collect the stored tiles.

I was rereading the whole thread and noticed we both separately suggested rolling for animals at the season card stage. We both meant this would build resource tiles to collect later but when I read it this time, the dice themselves came to mind. If we allowed the roll every season card or perhaps every raindrop icon, it could let us just keep any positive results we get on one animal only ready for a first visit when collecting that day. Any dice not locked in place would also be rolled as normal and if the locked dice aren't collected that day all dice would be rerolled and lost the next morning.

To keep it even closer to the current balance it could be just one animal die is rolled this way, and/or only applied to petted animals cancelling the quality. I'm not sure how often getting animal products becomes that necessary to really need this big favour over probability but I do think it could add something to the feel of the game/farm.

the Fish Track was full of crap (pot fish).

I also noticed a playthrough where the fish track got filled with crab pot fish. Would consider adding to the trash rule that if there's no trash to collect, discarding any one fish from the track can be done instead (from the relevant location I guess).

 

[kailomonkey]

########## 17 ##########

Players: 2
P1 - Farming profession, Watering Can tool.
P2 - Foraging profession, Fishing Rod tool.
Season Deck: 4 pulled from standard 4 + 2 from the rest, per season.
Pet: Kitty

Grandpa's Goals: Buildings, Gold, Friends, Museum. (Legendary Fish and Mines discarded)
Bundles: Fall forageables, Animal products, Crab pot / Legendary fish, Heart + Minerals, 6 Gold, Ores.
Buildings: Coop, Barn, Silo, Stable.

Achieved: 10/10 success!

I was playing with a weaker gamer today so I removed the harder grandpa goals, although fishing and mining is a comfy role for players who don't want to make decisions. Still I put them in charge of foraging and the museum, and they did most all the fishing and friend making.

I don't have much to detail about this playthrough. I thought 2 player would be hardest but we sailed through given the goals. We got a free tool upgrade at one point, and a free bundle completion. I took the upgrade for my watering can since it meant avoiding the chance of the mines, and upgraded their rod with gold. We used the free bundle completion to erase the need for more minerals. A forageable revealer profession upgrade came in useful and a scarecrow item, and we were done before the end of Fall!

I don't know how it became so easy but it was appropriate for the other player. Took us a couple hours which is a bit long for my player but a break halfway helped.