Dev Log (11/25/25) || Testing Report

Everything’s on fire again.

There’s a reason I paint minis and cook: cause it’s nice to have something creative to do that gets done in an afternoon. Game Design and writing don’t get done in four hours; not unless you're especially cracked. I am not that cracked - yet. So as I watch the last month and a half of work go up in flames before my eyes, I can’t deny the frustration I feel, knowing that there is still a long way to go. But I also know in that moment how everything caught fire in the first place. So at least I’m not left with nothing. 

Before we sift through the ashes, there is some good news: something that survived the inferno – the Creatures of Havoc played as expected for the first time. They still need some tweaks here and there, but they are now in a place where players understand what they do and can form a game plan around that understanding. Something that is now only hampered by the amount of information available to the player.

Testing 11/25/25 - Start of Play

This had been a problem that first crocked up in early builds that I thought was under wraps. However, with faction roles becoming clearer to the player, the number of variables they need to juggle stands out as the main cause of cognitive strain. The simple solution is to reduce the number of variables players need to keep track of; the problem is that my players liked all these variables, so cutting them entirely may leave a gap that can only be filled by reintroducing them, which gets us nowhere. However, something that does get us somewhere is spacing out the faction variables so no single piece becomes too overloaded while still being a comprehensive part of the overall strategy.

Testing 11/25/25 - Mid Play

Take Kong, for example, again. The player who played with him has been the default Plot player for the last three play sessions. This player enjoys everything Kong did, but found Kong’s rule set overwhelming. Taking that into consideration, Kong does four things currently: he Goads players, he discards cards, gets value for discarded Reverbs, and he can redirect Goaded attacks; on top of all his faction rules and unit rules. Looking at it from that perspective, it is a lot to throw at a person, even if Kong is supposed to be the more complicated faction. I remind you that this is not exclusive to Kong; the Empire player had a similar comment, but they could not see the faction's long-term goal. In either case, greater clarity is needed without reducing complexity. Therefore, spreading out specific abilities across a faction could reduce this mental strain while still showcasing what each faction’s end goal is.

In the Creature’s case, Kong could just be focused on discard payoff, taking his Goading ability and making it a faction rule like “Oath of Moment” for Space Marines in 40k. Then, putting his Goad payoffs on the COH Disrupters, giving them a firmer role in the overall game plan while focusing on one part of it. Kong keeps cycling through cards while Disrupters run interference, drawing more Reverbs in the process. Both getting the player to the end goal of hitting one of their Plots to gain VP and a free Plot cast. Changing how players think of each of their game pieces, and hopefully spreading out the cognitive load a bit better: COH Goad as a faction rule, Kong gets value off discard, Disrupters get value off Goad, Attackers help units trigger their own attack abilities more, and Supports help thin the reverb or spell deck. But while there is some uncertainty around this change, what I am certain will help all players is reworking the HIT math so the averages aren’t failures.

Currently, the Avg HIT is 3-4, and the Avg AVO is 1-2, meaning that to hit 90% of units without any other mods, you need a 5+ or a perfect 6. That’s only a 1/3 chance of hitting, for every unit. Not saying that this can’t be in the game, but as the exception, not the rule. As units here are only making one attack, the volume of attacks can’t make up for the low Hit rates. This will take some rethinking, but my working range of values here is as follows:  

HIT		AVO
2	More then likely to Hit	0	Avg
3	Above Average	1	Above Average
4	Average	2	Nimble
5	Almost never hits	3	Untouchable
DAM		HP
2	Pathetic	3	Weak
3	Average	6	Average
4	Above Average	9	Above Average
5	Dangerous	12	Hearty

The main takeaway here is to make high AVOs more of a rarity. Units, on average, should have a favorable chance of hitting their targets, making units with higher AVO more valuable and abilities that raise or lower AVO more desirable. Which dovetails with what I plan to tackle next: the Automatons.

As mentioned in my last entry, the Automatons are still in a very unrefined state. So even with other elements of the game needing attention, they need it the most. Plus, the changes made to them will trickle down to the rest of the game in the long run. Since the Automatons are supposed to be the scariest units on the board in the late game, I can use their various alts as benchmarks for stat lines to compare player units to. I can also experiment with trimming options with them, as their Threat Assessment (TA) rules are another mental tax on players that weighs down play more than it amplifies.

For example, I’ve been thinking of tying TA directly to the number of AI Spawners removed from play. That way, players have an immediate visual of their TA level just by looking at the board, instead of having to check a reference table each Round. So as more Spawners get removed, and the TA goes up, more powerful AI units start to spawn in and in greater numbers to offset their reduced total reinforcements.

All in all, this is a good opportunity to reevaluate the game with my more focused understanding of its systems now that it’s four versions deep. In doing so, I not only further whittle away at unnecessary bloat but also refine and deepen existing elements. So, as of now, these are my major goals for the next iteration of the project:

1. Rework and trim down AI to scale better with Players

2. Rework and trim down Empire, so they have a clearer game plan

3. Rework Chimera Core so they have a more dynamic game plan without overcomplicating them.

4. Remove excessive bloat from spells and Reverbs.

   
   

To clarify, when I say trim or bloat, I’m referring either to systems that work but are cluttered onto a single element of a faction or an element that only adds complications without a worthwhile payoff. Reverbs that add new units to the board: bloat. Useful abilities or spells bogged down by other rules or conditions: trim. The goal, as always, is to try and save as much work as possible; I’m just shearing a bit more off this time around.