tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968585480029088528.post1267866344904882988..comments2024-03-22T05:48:06.362-05:00Comments on GJJ Games: Quick Review - WordWright - Kickstarter PreviewGeorge Jaroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15131784120804596408noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968585480029088528.post-35932582643388948912015-12-03T00:50:29.170-06:002015-12-03T00:50:29.170-06:00Jay,
Thanks for your responses! As I mentioned i...Jay,<br /><br />Thanks for your responses! As I mentioned in the review, the issues I listed were very minor and didn't detract from my enjoyment of the game. With the text flipping, the games I played were on a larger table and we sat positioned so that everyone was able to read the cards pretty much right side up. But I can see where some the cards would be easier to read in multiple alignments for some games. And I totally get that a lot of statistics and testing went into deciding on these specific word parts. Obviously everything can't be included or the deck would be too huge. And there are plenty of word parts to make plenty of words. I can't wait to see what other kids of games some expansions can allow. In our emails you mentioned the possibility of a deckbuilder that uses words. I just want to say that's an awesome idea! Thanks again, and good luck with the rest of the campaign!<br /><br />GeorgeGeorge Jaroshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15131784120804596408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968585480029088528.post-5376032642443836322015-12-02T17:18:34.304-06:002015-12-02T17:18:34.304-06:00Thanks for a nice review of Wordwright, George. We...Thanks for a nice review of Wordwright, George. We may disagree a bit on the numerical ranking (come on, it's a little closer to a 9.9), but you really nailed the concept, and we're sure you'll love it more and more as we get more of our game variations up to be played, and players start creating and sharing their own. The games really grow on players the more they keep playing different games and building words in this unique way.<br /><br />I thought I'd give a couple responses to your head scratches: <br /><br />Flipped word part on side -- We made that decision so that when a card is in play for the group, whatever direction a player is looking at it, it will still be readable. In Word Scramble, there may be several players gathered around the set, and the player(s) in front would have an advantage in not having to read upside down. The upside-down side label offsets that advantage, as a player can scan those labels (right side-up to them). In Criss-Crosswords, cards are laid out and words can go in different directions (forwards or backwards) and having that upside-down option simplifies readability... If the word isn't formed right in one direction, it will be formed correctly in the other direction. So you look at either the center or the edge to read the word. I can understand the confusion your group had, but this hasn't been a big problem in playtests in our experience.<br /><br />Word part choices -- Yes, you're right, Wordwright (like any other game) can't include everything and still be playable. We went through dozens (if not hundreds) of set revisions finding the parts that worked best together. It's quite a juggling act. At the end of the day, we needed to stick with a manageable set of cards (we had 100+ card sets previously) for it to work well across a lot of games. So, certain word parts had to be cut (even if they worked nearly as well as others). The reasons for duplicates or slight variations is that we went through and collected data on the words you could make with a set, and then adjusted the frequency of that part occurring within a 52 card deck (similar to 12 "e" tiles and 1 "z" tile in a Scrabble set). Why 52? As a lifelong player of standard deck card games, a deck of 52 playing cards will always be the most elegant equipment in gaming to me, and I think that count serves Wordwright well. Wordwright can't be exhaustive and still be playable, but this set is very solid, offering around 1,000 valid word combinations. And yes, we do hope to offer expansions in the future to allow for customizable decks and new gaming possibilities.<br /><br />Anyway, thanks again, George. We hope you'll enjoy Wordwright for years to come.<br /><br />Jay Pope<br />http://bit.ly/wordwright<br />Defined Mind<br />definedmind.com<br /><br />Jayhttp://definedmind.comnoreply@blogger.com