Adding Expansions

I was initially just going to write about Terraforming Mars, and how the expansions gave the game a lot of variety in techniques to play/win the game. Someday I'd like to see a game where players had so many varietal ways of choosing how to play, no single game could ever be the same strategy. But, we should probably discuss the nature of expansions first.

One of the challenges of games is adding expansions - covering board games this time around.

Different types of expansions

• More money: Additional revenue streams for a successful game
• Bigger: Couldn't fit the "full" game into the base game
• Ooops!: Fixes for a game's mechanics

Finding more money from a successful game is not the worst thing. What could take the same designer a year or more for another completely new game (without a guarantee of greatness), an expansion might only be 3 months of design & test time. These expansions usually feel more "tacked on", as if it was an afterthought. The base rules need to change in order for new mechanics to work properly, or it feels like the expansion should be a different game altogether. (For example, Turmoil for Terraforming Mars has voting and a ruling council - not matching any of TM's basic game structure.)

Occasionally you'll see games that need patches to address core gameplay issues. Trading card games run into problems with massive discard, or maybe an engine where an opponent simply doesn't get another turn. A game like Eclipse (1st edition) orange missiles were such a dominant endgame, they included anti-missile tech in later expansions as well as weaker missiles with extra battle-speed components. (It still didn't necessarily "solve" the orange missile problem, just added possible counter-measures.)

Sometimes there are games that are some big in scope, it would bombard the players with too many mechanics or concepts...or increase the cost of the base game to become too big of a risk for a casual buy-in. Everdell is an example of a game that was designed to include expansions - made clear by board expansion arrangements that fit together as a puzzle around the core release.

Downsides of expansions

Might not be found - the publisher might only make 2000 copies. In 5 years time, all of those copies have been purchased, but the publisher doesn't want to get stuck with a remainder...they don't print it again. Base game might see reprints, or had a larger 5000-count print run, leaving a lot of copies without the extra fun. Companies will sometimes follow-up years later with a "big box" version, with all the components and expansions. Feel like re-buying your base game?

Some expansions might rely on other expansions for their gameplay. As the publisher, they're stuck adding more components (just in case they don't have the earlier one), adding extra rulebook parts (and needing to match consistency), or ignoring the other expansions as if they weren't necessary (removing interesting gameplay interaction).

Where does that leave us?

Oh man, some expansions really make the games complete. Race for the Galaxy (card game, first 3 expansions) show how things can come together...but they were forced to add extra components. Terraforming Mars (Colonies (more interaction), Prelude (fixing a slow start), Hellas/Elysium (variety for replay) are solid additions, whereas Venus Next (TR for focusing on Venus slows down the overall endgame) and Turmoil (Voting blocks and events also slow down the game) start branching into inconsistent areas).

That said, I feel like expansions are 50/50. Someone might want to play a game, but only play expansions 1 & 3, and someone else might 1 & 2 - maybe it means that game doesn't come to the table. At the very least, one or more of the players don't get the experience they hope for at game night. Maybe the "big" version of the game is too much for a new player, meaning the expansions don't even come to the table. (And the experienced players feel like they're playing an incomplete version.) I still haven't gotten the airship expansion into a Scythe game yet, years later.

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.