Dev Log (10/14/25)

Sorry about missing the deadline; however, rest assured, I only spent a small amount of that time frivolously. Overall, play testing went well. Put the game into another state of flux, but I’d be more concerned if it didn’t at this stage in development, if I’m being honest. Due to that flux state, I don’t have a comprehensive change log like last time, as things are still getting figured out at the time of writing. What I do have is a refined Creatures of Havoc play style, a third core rules revision, and a story about the prior two items.

So, testing on Sep 27th ends, and my testers and I are hashing out what they liked/ didn’t like in the new build while suggesting changes. Overall, they enjoyed this new iteration of Goon Game, but felt that parts were still over-/or under-tuned. Most glaring of all were the Creatures of Havoc, who paled in comparison to the Chimera Core and Empire in terms of power. Now, to some degree, that should be the case: the Creatures of Havoc aren’t supposed to win by fighting fair; however, Creature of Havoc testers felt that the options they were given just weren’t very useful, with one tester saying that almost verbatim.

So, the Creatures of Havoc are underpowered to the point that players do not even know what the game plan with them is. Not the goal, and an inverse of what I thought was going to happen. But whatever, hypothesis disproven, back to the drawing board. Since then, I’ve been focused entirely on the Creatures of Havoc, as while play testers had other problems with other aspects of the game, such as the number of obstacles or the rate of mana acquisition, those are simpler problems that could be patched with just a number or syntax change. The Creatures required a whole retooling; one more focused on what they want to be doing turn by turn, with tools to survive doing so. A direction one of the testers suggested is that every action taken by a unit in the Creatures of Havoc should, to a small degree, build towards the larger game plan, with that game plan also helping the Creatures stay alive long enough to properly go off. Obvious in hindsight, but at the very least, I’ve seen it now. To that end, here is what has changed with the Creatures of Havoc.

First, Kong is now more of an engine than he was before. Previously, he only provided one big payoff and not a turn-by-turn build-up to get to said payoff. Now, he helps himself and other units by applying a condition called Goad to one player, making it harder for affected units to hit Kong or his allies. Goaded units now also trigger abilities of other units in Kong’s army, making it scarier to attack into a Creature of Havoc, giving them more room to breathe.

Kong himself is a risky target if Goaded, as he can discard spell cards to redirect attacks that hit him into adjacent units (including the attacker). He can also add Chaos Cards (the renamed Junk Cards) when he attacks by discarding spells, and when you discard a Plot with Kong in command, you shuffle it into the Reverb deck for a chance to cast it for free.

Discarding spells has become a Kong staple now, for both him and his opponents. Not only are certain spells able to be cast from discard, but nearly every unit in the Creatures of Havoc has an ability triggered by discarding cards, giving them another fuel source to help make up for the lack of mana at the start. Chaos cards go back into an opponent's deck if discarded, making it harder to get rid of them, and the more Chaos cards in people's hands per round increases the number of Reverbs drawn, meaning that the Creatures will have a higher chance of getting free plot casts or just blanketing the board with Reverbs to slow down their opponents.

Tangentially related to that, another pain point brought up by testers was the lackluster effects spells gave, which added to their reluctance to use them, as the mana/action that could have been spent on a spell could instead be spent just attacking for a much more tangible value (damage done/units dead). To that end, Creature of Havoc spells have been reworked to be more explosive, proportional to their cost, and more in line with their trickster archetype. Chaos and Check the Deck are now free casts that get more powerful if you have mana attuned and can be cast from discard, making them prime fodder for Kong’s abilities without losing out on their utility. While higher-end spells steal spells from other players, force card draw, force combat, and create blind spots to hide behind. The cost of these higher-end cards is still to be determined; however, I’m liking the direction things are taking as of now.

If I can be frank for a moment, I was never happy with the original spells. They very much felt like a first draft, and one that I was more than happy to rip apart and try again with. And while I don’t think I’ll need to overhaul the other two factions to the same degree as Creatures of Havoc, there will be ripple effects from these changes. Because as I strip away what made playing his faction annoying or frustrating, I’m getting closer to the core of what makes this game fun for any player, giving me a better checklist to judge the other factions, units, and spells against. It is my hope, then, that by the time I finish the Creatures Overhaul and get to test them, I’ll have a firm foundation for the core units and systems that I can start adding to. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves; everything could go right back into the pot again by the end of the month, so it's best not to start counting those chickens before they hatch.