It’s been a while since I’ve shared what’s been happening with Nine Muses 2E. The game has been in a state of flux for the past few weeks, so I waited a bit longer than I normally would to write this design journal. Truth be told, I was soul searching for what type of game I wanted Nine Muses 2E to be. And just recently, I’ve discovered that.
My main goals for Nine Muses 2E were:
- Update the artwork
- Reduce the card count
- Lengthen the average game time from 15 to 30 mins
- Add more dynamic elements to the game to give players more decision space
Behold, the new Nine Muses! (Still in development…so, like, it’s new, but it’s not done, so it’s not ‘new’ because it’s not done but it’s ‘new’ because it’s the second ed— never mind, let me just tell you about the game.)
In Nine Muses, you play as a historic figure in Greek Antiquity, working hard to finish your masterpiece.
During the game, you will trade knowledge using the Muses themselves to contribute towards your great work, or “poema.”
You’ll move the Muses and fashion your own knowledge exchanges in this spacial puzzle.
If the central bank (called the Aether) runs out, and you are owed knowledge from a trade, you may steal it from a player of your choice.
Each player only has seven instances where they can contribute knowledge towards their poema. As a player, you must try to collect knowledge, (but not too much, or it’ll risk being stolen!) and turn it in for a maximal points value. There is tension both in collecting resources without them getting taken from you and figuring out how to reposition Muses to build broken trades.
…Or that’s what I wanted, at least.
Players enjoyed the game, the mechanics work interestingly well together, but it needs tweaks!
For one, the trades aren’t that broken and at times can be confusing. The broken part is fixable and somewhat on purpose, I simply wanted to get the mechanics of the muses down. The second part is something for me to think on, the issue stems from you being able to use Muses as an input or an output of a trade, so it leads to a lot of confusing situations. I think I have a solution for that, which involves each muse to have more of a niche and broken, quirky thing about them. I think this’ll be fun and add some interesting scenarios to force tough choices on players.
Another aspect of this was with turning in resources toward the masterpiece. I worked with a small bank, and players were so concerned with their knowledge being stolen that they didnt’ try to ‘push their luck’ and hold onto a bit of it at all. I’ve got to think on that.
A player presented an interesting observation during the post-game feedback session: There’s no chance. This was something that I actually completely forgot about. Chance is great in games, it adds variance. Not all games need chance but most games have it and are made better for it. I think I need to add an element of chance to the game, but right now, I don’t know quite what that looks like? (Giving Muses random resources that players can take, perchance?)
On the art front, I’m working on updating the artwork at a steady pace. Historic figures will have a fresco look, while the muses will still have that greek amphora pot design but instead are all full-body. And all of this will be higher definition than the prior game art, which is fantastic.
Hypatia below (the featured image as well) is unfinished, but a nicer version of this, but with a distressed fresco appearance, will be what the historic figures look like. I’ll show off the Muses and other designs for the game in future design journals.
NOTE: This art is still in development and will look different in the final game design.
Okay, that’s all for now. Until next time, my Muses–stay inspiring!
Mutant Pizza 