How many mechanics is too many?

I’ve been looking again at the solo game. To be honest, I tend to start playing the four-player game, feel I’ve got that right, then move quickly through three- and two-player games until I can spend more time with the solo game. It’s a bit easier not to have to pretend to be several different people.

As mentioned in another recent blog post, I’m experimenting with different methods of drawing cards. I am reasonably sure (I’ll go with approximately 90% sure) that there will be two different methods in the rules. People wanting a simpler (but less strategic) game can choose to play with one deck of cards, as in the current video on the Kickstarter. People looking for a harder, less-random game can play with the half-hidden hand method.

And in the solo game? Well, you have those two options…and a third option! Just for the solo game, I’m looking at a “rucksack” hand. In this method you can see all your cards, but you can’t get to the ones at the bottom. You either need to use the cards at the top, or throw them away, or spend an action taking two cards out of the rucksack and swapping them over.

The risk is that the game becomes more like a puzzle than a game…but then, with three mechanics to choose from in the solo game, I don’t think that’s too much of a problem.