The Price of not Developing Early, Terraforming Mars Edition

The price of not developing early, is losing.

One of the non-Gloomhaven games I've been enjoying lately is Terraforming Mars. The game ends when all 9 water tiles are out, the heat has reached a certain temperature (about 24 steps), and there's 14 steps of oxygen increase. (Nothing removes or subtracts from those, once they are on the board.) You get victory points based on how much you contribute to developing Mars, some cards that you played, and what awards you bought.

As you play the game, you can get straight-up resources or develop longer-term production of those resources. (Most of these results come from the cards you play, leading to a lot of "what cards did I see this game?") Maybe 1/8 of the cards have some additional VP, but are harder to play due to costs or restrictions

You'll choose a corporation that has a certain flavor to it. You'll generally pay $3 per card that you draw during the game...the money is also used to play the cards. Bigger effect = higher cost or difficult requirements. Everyone is guaranteed to look at their own 4 cards to purchase from each turn...maybe 20 turns to the game?

There's lots of pressure in the early game:

1. Needing an engine
1. Everyone is going to have roughly the same income. Income* generation can take off, where maybe you start making more $15 more a turn than another player, but it will generally be at a cost of other things.
2. You could invest in steel/titanium production, based on cards that you drew. But you might not see a lot of cards that can use that production. (Each steel can be used as $2 for cards with the build icon, while each titanium can be used as $3 for cards with the starburst icon.) 
3. Plant production lets you plant more greenery on Mars, getting you VP & a little extra income.
4. Energy and Heat production gives you a little extra income, but less VP than plants.
2. Paying/competing for awards
3. Spending for better card combinations – you keep more cards, allowing more/better combinations later, but at a money cost early.

Develop Income Production Early

You get 10 cards to buy from at the start. Choosing cards that increase your income generation, steel, or titanium production are going to reduce costs in the long run. An example from Through the Ages – you build a mine that produces 1 mineral on turn 1, that will be 20 minerals over the course of the game. The earlier you build it, the better it will deliver results.

Get Discounts Early

Some cards will give you discounts for specific or general things. Playing them early means you get the discounts earlier. The discounts (or refunds) will go to specific types of cards or actions – income production is usually better, because you spend without being channeled into a direction.

Don't Keep Extra Cards

Some cards are really cool. But if they need a zero degree Celsius or higher to play, it's a late game card. That $3 you spent on it, is $3 less you had for developing your early game. 

Sadly, there's not really a counter to that style in the game. If you are not increasing your production engine at the start, it is a footrace that you start by walking upright. With the other players adhering to the same concepts, it becomes much more about your small decisions from the cards you randomly drew, than a grand strategy. 

Beyond the early game...Terraforming Mars does have a joint-map component. Tile placement of your cities and forests can force your opponents into more difficult/less optimal layouts. But an early game engine is clearly an advantage.

*Income generation actually consists of two things - actual dollars being generated beyond your allowance, and the TMs which create the base allowance. TM's start at 20 and go up as you do things to improve Mars...planting trees, bringing water down, and increasing the temperature. If you couldn't get cards to improve income, pay raw money to do those actions. Not as money efficient, but your other choice is to hold on to your money and do nothing...hoping that the situation changes with the next hand of 4 cards to buy from.

The Gloomhaven Experience Part 1

The dusty halls of design work...I love adventure games. The various games were nice, but were missing something. Runebound, Mage Knight, Magic Realm...a future post perhaps.

I've been doing a lot of 3D modeling & printing, at the expense of pondering games publicly. In May 2017, also started playing pickup games of Gloomhaven as the extra player "player 4" a rotating seat in a regular campaign. Mostly as the Mindthief class.

Discussion came up with a regular game group I was in, and we started playing THAT campaign in June as a Tinkerer. Once second edition copies were showing up, joined group #3 as a Scoundrel, and started a home game (campaign #4) as a Cragheart.

Gloomhaven is a solid 10 for me. The round-to-round mechanics are interesting, monsters have variety without excessive rules, the story is good, and the classes are all very different. It's possible I'll come back to those points, but today's focus is on the experience.

The Start

Starting at level 1 with 30 gold pieces worth of basic gear, the first several scenarios are challenging. You have a brief idea of what your character can do, and realize mid-way through that you could have done better. (A feedback loop, where you want to do better.) And there are items in the store, if you could just afford them.

After several adventures, you level up - giving you access to a new card to mix in. New cards, different scenario challenges...the strategic value of each card can change. By level 5 or 6, you might retire your character to play a new class, revisiting the whole system again with different eyes.

The Player Response

As a player, you want to play again if you felt you were getting close to a better item/level/new class. If you reach any of those plateaus, you want to keep playing to see if that plateau was as good as you hoped. 

I played two scenarios last night - the first one, we completed. My Brute got a couple of perk checkmarks, a touch of money, light experience points. The second adventure found me with a third checkmark, a level, and a custom item from the side scenario. New card for leveling (and the anticipation of "what does next level give?), new perks, and the new item (first look, it was weak...second look, amazing). I would have played a third scenario, just to see how everything tied in. Maybe a fourth, to explore those new abilities in different environments.

The Design

Ideally, your game design has replay value. Getting players to return again and again, requires constant feedback loops. The parts that Gloomhaven really dials in:

1. Anticipation
2. Release (achieving a goal)
3. Irregular challenges/rewards

If there's too long of a gap between anticipation and release, there's a disconnect in the loops - even if the reward is good. If it is a short gap, the release fizzles the excitement. Finally, if the challenges are all the same and/or the rewards are static, players feel the grind.

The designer, Isaac Childres, should be pleased with the delivered experience.