A new card drawing mechanic?

A couple of days ago I mentioned how I was exploring a different way of drawing cards. Here’s what I’ve come up with – inspired by a suggestion from one of my excellent playtesters.

At the start of the game, the red cards (bad) and blue cards (good) are separated. Eight of the blue cards are selected at random, and without being looked at, are shuffled into the red cards. That’s the deck.

The remaining blue cards are shuffled, and the dealt to players in the following way:

Four cards are placed face down in front of each player. Four cards are then placed face up on top of these cards. The cards underneath are revealed as soon as the cards on top are played. Only the face up cards can be played.

If a player gains another card during the game (by being given one, or being lucky enough to pick up one of those extra eight blue cards in the deck) then they need to use one of those four “spaces” in front of them, which might mean putting the new card on top of another face up card.

The balance and number of cards would be slightly different for the three player, two player, and solo games.

The idea is not that this would replace the game already playtested, but that people could chose between them. The put-everything-in-one-deck game is simpler to understand, and it is easier to play, so might appeal to new gamers. The half-hidden-hand version as explained above makes the game harder, but also slightly more strategic. It also makes more narrative sense, in that your cards can represent a rucksack of things with some things lost at the bottom.

Are two different card drawing options a good idea, or not?