Thanks so much for this game. I love the premise of the community repair cafe that supposedly is there to fix physical things, but inevitably gets mixed up in complicated human (and more-than-human) affairs.
I don’t know for sure, but the stat set feels well-balanced? -- like each stat could feasibly get its time to shine, kind of thing.
The roll table feels like a really fruitful set of prompts. I love the balance between the concrete and the more abstract, and that between the specific and the more general. And also I’m just really into the overall tone and energy of the game.
There is an anthology of essays (Utopia on the Tabletop) that we're publishing later this year (if all goes well!). I’m not sure yet how much space we'll have for games as well, but if we do have space I’d love to include Sum of its Parts. If that’s something you might be interested in, I’ll get in touch some time next year with more details?
FEEDBACK + SUGGESTIONS
In the PDF some of the symbols haven’t come through properly, e.g. “Stats: 1♥/2▢/3▢/4▢”
“For example, if a player has a rank of 3♣ and plays the 5 of ♣, they would lose if they roll above 16 and win with any roll below that.” → Maybe this should say “16 or above”?
I think there’s some minor inconsistency in how the core resolution mechanic is described: is it success to roll above your bet, or success to roll equal or below your bet? I’m pretty sure it’s roll above to succeed: “If their bet is less than or equal to the roll, they succeed!” But then the example doesn’t seem to fit that.
My mental arithmetic is not good enough to have any sense of the probabilities of success or failure, or what it would actually feel like to play. It does feel like it *might* involve more work than necessary, i.e. there might be some other system you could use that would give you a similar ? But on the other hand, the potential for big numbers feels fun and cohesive with the spirit of the game. And the multiplication might even slow things down in a *good* way, conveying a sense of care and patience, which also feels like a great fit with the premise.
“Face Cards have a value of 11.” → Any reason not to use 10, like in Blackjack? Sometimes I think it’s just nice to adopt as many already widespread conventions as possible to give your players less to remember.
Prompt table seems really great. I wondered about maybe “Entrepreneur” for “Businessman,” as being gender-neutral and also maybe slightly more generative? You could also combine “Father” and “Mother” into “Parent” to make room for something else on that column. “A Computer / Communication Device / A Disc” felt like there might be a BIT of overlap? Could go with e.g. “A Digital Device / Data Storage” and make room for something else? Or “A Computer / A Message”? One very dramatic consolidation would be “Another Bard / Another Witch / Another Tinkerer / Another Hacker” to “Another Volunteer,” but I’m not sure about that one.
Ideas for things to add if you like any of them and could fit them in:
Patrons: A Refugee, A Repairer, A Campaigner, A Courier, A Nurse, A Scientist, An Exile
Problems needing fixing: A Message, Faith, A Friendship, An Heirloom, A Recipe, An Assistive Technology, A Recording Device, A System, A Plan, A Generator, A Map, A Disguise, An Expectation
Events: A Powercut, A Flood, A Storm, A Heatwave, A Blizzard, High Winds, A Shortage, A Wildfire
Hi! Thank you so much for the comments and feedback!
If Utopia has space I would be honored (once I get this updated lol). Even if it isn’t I’m really excited to check out those essays.
I’m glad you enjoyed the premise! When doing research for this jam I stumbled across the concept of repair cafes and was irrevocably charmed so I’m glad you enjoyed the premise!
Balanced stats was my aim so im glad they feel like that (I wholly disagree with the idea of dump stats lol)
I was do sure I had fixed a lot of the “symbols not showing up” problems but that’s probably what I get for writing half the game on my phone 😅
The game is actually a roll over mechanic! So you want your dice to be more than or equal to stat × card. I will definitely tidy that up next edit to make that clearer.
I feel like at the time there was a particular reason why I wanted face cards be 11 but at the moment I do not recall lol. I will definitely take your suggestion into account when I edit. I also really like some of your ideas/fixes for the role table! I will definitely see what things I can consolidate and update when I do edits. (I can say that father and mother were split up because of the associated tarot cards but I definitely like the idea of parent instead if only because families come in very different varieties)
Thank you again for hosting this jam it was really awesome!
Comments
Thanks so much for this game. I love the premise of the community repair cafe that supposedly is there to fix physical things, but inevitably gets mixed up in complicated human (and more-than-human) affairs.
I don’t know for sure, but the stat set feels well-balanced? -- like each stat could feasibly get its time to shine, kind of thing.
The roll table feels like a really fruitful set of prompts. I love the balance between the concrete and the more abstract, and that between the specific and the more general. And also I’m just really into the overall tone and energy of the game.
There is an anthology of essays (Utopia on the Tabletop) that we're publishing later this year (if all goes well!). I’m not sure yet how much space we'll have for games as well, but if we do have space I’d love to include Sum of its Parts. If that’s something you might be interested in, I’ll get in touch some time next year with more details?
FEEDBACK + SUGGESTIONS
In the PDF some of the symbols haven’t come through properly, e.g. “Stats: 1♥/2▢/3▢/4▢”
“For example, if a player has a rank of 3♣ and plays the 5 of ♣, they would lose if they roll above 16 and win with any roll below that.” → Maybe this should say “16 or above”?
I think there’s some minor inconsistency in how the core resolution mechanic is described: is it success to roll above your bet, or success to roll equal or below your bet? I’m pretty sure it’s roll above to succeed: “If their bet is less than or equal to the roll, they succeed!” But then the example doesn’t seem to fit that.
My mental arithmetic is not good enough to have any sense of the probabilities of success or failure, or what it would actually feel like to play. It does feel like it *might* involve more work than necessary, i.e. there might be some other system you could use that would give you a similar ? But on the other hand, the potential for big numbers feels fun and cohesive with the spirit of the game. And the multiplication might even slow things down in a *good* way, conveying a sense of care and patience, which also feels like a great fit with the premise.
“Face Cards have a value of 11.” → Any reason not to use 10, like in Blackjack? Sometimes I think it’s just nice to adopt as many already widespread conventions as possible to give your players less to remember.
Prompt table seems really great. I wondered about maybe “Entrepreneur” for “Businessman,” as being gender-neutral and also maybe slightly more generative? You could also combine “Father” and “Mother” into “Parent” to make room for something else on that column. “A Computer / Communication Device / A Disc” felt like there might be a BIT of overlap? Could go with e.g. “A Digital Device / Data Storage” and make room for something else? Or “A Computer / A Message”? One very dramatic consolidation would be “Another Bard / Another Witch / Another Tinkerer / Another Hacker” to “Another Volunteer,” but I’m not sure about that one.
Ideas for things to add if you like any of them and could fit them in:
Patrons: A Refugee, A Repairer, A Campaigner, A Courier, A Nurse, A Scientist, An Exile
Problems needing fixing: A Message, Faith, A Friendship, An Heirloom, A Recipe, An Assistive Technology, A Recording Device, A System, A Plan, A Generator, A Map, A Disguise, An Expectation
Events: A Powercut, A Flood, A Storm, A Heatwave, A Blizzard, High Winds, A Shortage, A Wildfire
Hi! Thank you so much for the comments and feedback!
If Utopia has space I would be honored (once I get this updated lol). Even if it isn’t I’m really excited to check out those essays.
I’m glad you enjoyed the premise! When doing research for this jam I stumbled across the concept of repair cafes and was irrevocably charmed so I’m glad you enjoyed the premise!
Balanced stats was my aim so im glad they feel like that (I wholly disagree with the idea of dump stats lol)
I was do sure I had fixed a lot of the “symbols not showing up” problems but that’s probably what I get for writing half the game on my phone 😅
The game is actually a roll over mechanic! So you want your dice to be more than or equal to stat × card. I will definitely tidy that up next edit to make that clearer.
I feel like at the time there was a particular reason why I wanted face cards be 11 but at the moment I do not recall lol. I will definitely take your suggestion into account when I edit. I also really like some of your ideas/fixes for the role table! I will definitely see what things I can consolidate and update when I do edits. (I can say that father and mother were split up because of the associated tarot cards but I definitely like the idea of parent instead if only because families come in very different varieties)
Thank you again for hosting this jam it was really awesome!