Play mod
Sacred Wood Faith's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Use of This Year's Theme | #4 | 4.375 | 4.375 |
| Creativity/Uniqueness | #18 | 3.812 | 3.812 |
| Clarity of Rules/Mechanics | #31 | 2.750 | 2.750 |
Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Includes Law of Root?
No
Includes PnP?
Yes
Includes TTS files?
No
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Comments
Wow what a cool idea for just having a completely alternate win condition! I don't know if I've seen that between the 4 years of root jam I've looked through. Great work and I hope you participate again next time as well, your mechanics and ideas are really fresh
Your faction really pushes its concept to the max level ! Very flavorful and I really like that you start moving around a seed but it cannot be moved once it grows into a tree. Here are some thoughts :
Not having a VP marker at all and losing the game when you lose the sacred tree seems like real challenge to balance. It also seems really complicated to care for the tree each turn. You need 3 actions to collect the three ressources, and at least 2 movements to bring them back to the tree. So with a 5 card hand you need to do nothing but these 5 actions during 5 turns to have a shot at victory.
Leaving the choice to your opponents of where to place the source tokens means you will have a really hard time gathering ressources in what will most likely be the heart of ennemy territory.
Is there a reason why this faction is not able to craft ? ( besides from having more place for berry abilities instead of a crafted items box ;) ) This faction is already not fighting for VPs, this is another way it doesn't not interact with the rest of the game. Although I guess it's what makes it really unique as well :) .
Thank you for all your feedback.
I am not entirely sure I understand you right. You first say their actions seem complicated, but what you say after feels overly simple to me. So could you verify which of the two options you are pointing to? Currently, what you said makes me think I should diversify their actions. But maybe you where trying to point out something else. Just want to make sure.
On the placement of the source tokens, I am reworking sources and resources right now. I am not even sure if I want to keep sources around. As is, they are overly complicated and don't serve my goal very well. If they do remain, I was thinking of having them setup before everyone else. That should at least mitigate the issue, I think.
For the crafting ability, when I made the faction I just forgot that there are other cards, then those that give VP and items. Since I only thought of those cards, crafting didn't seem very useful and space on the board seemed more valuable. I only remembered that cards like sappers are a thing after voting started. I will think on adding it back in, but I also like the naturey vibe the inability to craft gives them. Like crafting being a technology and them rejecting technology. Some accidental lore. I will think on it.
Hey ! Sorry if I was being unclear, let me try to rephrase it. What I meant to say is that the plan to win is simple to understand (move and collect ressources) but the limitations in the action economy makes it really hard to enact. If the sources are two clearings away from each other I think you don't have enough actions to go to the sources, collect the ressources, and bring them back to the tree each turn, but maybe every 2 turns, meaning you cannot win until turn 10. Is there something I'm missing ?
Anyway really curious to see what this faction will become, once again great work
I think generally you are right.
My thought was that two of each token would force the other players to spread them out enough. After pondering over it a bit I think this needs some work. Especially the lake and marsh maps could become a big issue for them. It would be unfortunate if they don't work just because of the map being used. I still like how it makes setup a strategic action for the other players though.
But again, I'm reworking the entire system of gathering resources. We will see what I can come up with.
Great job for a first time entry! I'm not sure if I've seen a faction that has a more important piece than "if it dies, you lose". Root is made for these kinds of wild ideas! Balancing will be tricky, but good luck!
Is there a name for the "source" tokens (waterbell, truffle, and Wisteria) to distinguish them from the "resource" tokens (water, nutrients, and light)? I found it a little difficult to keep the two types of tokens separate in my mind. I assume that you need to be at one of these "source" tokens to Harvest the corresponding resource, but the current wording of the action makes it seem like I could put any resource in a matching clearing with a Sacred Wood warrior.
Also, if you wanted to reduce the number of tokens in play, you could probably get rid of the "unidentified" tokens and just put the image on the back of a "source" token. Then the player would just flip to token over when the Botanists discovered what was there? I assume you were going for something like the Ruins tokens, which definitely works, but I tend to find the assignment of Items in Ruins to be a bit clunky.
Thank you very much for your comment.
Your interpretation of the tokens is correct, you need to be at the source token to harvest it. I attempted to convey this through the resource chart. Originally, I just wanted to call them source tokens on the board, but ran out of space. The growth track is way to big. Maybe grouping resources and sources on the backside and naming them their could work. I tried to at least make them visually distinct, by making the sources gray, also marking them as not really your token.
The idea with the flip side I will definitely add. That's a great idea and you are right the ruins are fiddly.
I love the general concept and think it's very original. Changing the victory condition is a bold move that feels fresh, though balancing it sounds complex and will require a lot of work. It's definitely worth it, so good luck to the designer! Also, I'm very intrigued by the lore: what kind of people are they, and what do these warriors look like?
Thank you for your comment. I saw some people talk about more thematic win condition, so I wanted to work with that idea. To the lore, I haven't thought about it that much, but I was imagining them like a mix of scientists and priests. Like clad in long white robes with glasses and some large books in hand. Not sure on what animal would fit though.