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I read this game was based on Pandemic before i played. In order to provide morehelpful feedback in this review, i attempt to avoid using this knowledge (in the case of topics such as thematic cohesion).

On Upgrades, I haven’t felt such fantastic catharsis in god-only-eats-your-heart-how long on such a tiny board as this. Awesomeness aside, upgrades never felt thematically in place. They, instead, served only to intimidate me as a new player. I imagine a way to make these complications more enticing during introductions is to say the upgrades are other kids who now help with trash (tho only when they find the chance).

Exploding garbage got me to giggle. Like coke and mentos – which, shower thought: isn’t that a type of bomb, technically? Why are we teaching kids that? Oh, and also the rule “Whether there is already garbage there or not, nothing happens for this roll” is just a flat out lie – the player was politely able to tell that person to throw their f___ing trash in the godd__n bin and they did 🎶

“they reroll until they get a square without an M.”

I just switched the dice values. Faster and worked often enough.

“Roll an extra time: Roll for new garbage another time, following normal rules”

It is impossible to know if this is supposed to mean “roll a third time” or “pretend like you haven’t rolled for garbage at all yet” (but i just rolled a third time.)

“Players can be carrying garbage normally in this case, they don’t need to Bin It.”

This makes me feel sad and weak. It sounds like they just gave up. One way i can think to strengthen it is that it now costs no actions to pick up or bin trash.

“lose as a team at any time that the squares containing garbage are equal or greater than the number corresponding to the current stage”

Game starts in Stage “1” with “5” trash, so you lose over before you can even begin. - Oh, there’s a lose “amount” listed there. That’s neat. Didn’t see that. nvm.

Rules: The number of garbage needed depends on the difficulty selected at the start of the game: 1 for Normal, 2 for Hard and 3 for Impossible.”

Player Sheet: “+number of upgrades”

These are conflicting Requirements. (I followed the rules on the player sheet.)

Do i have to use all my actions? (I played that i did.)

If i can move diagonally, are diagonal squares treated as adjacent squares?

Thank you for your feedback :-) thematic cohesion is a frequent weakness of my games, and you're right on point about this game too. It's something i should work more on next jam. 

I really like your thematic explanation of 'you show the good example, other kids start cleaning as well, meaning your abilities become more powerful'. If I make another version I'll be sure to include it. 

For 'reroll until you find a square without mud' flipping a 6/1 would result to 1/6 which also has mud. I would keep the one rule rather than make two rules with conditions, but what you did is a perfectly fine shortcut. 

You're right about the 'roll another time', there was another comment about it. 

For 'you win if you're carrying garbage' i imagined it that the ground of the playground is pristine so you win. Does that still not fit thematically for you?

You are right that i should have added more examples to situations like the upgrade cost. I uploaded 15 mins before the deadline, which is my bad. 

You don't have to use all actions, and you can't pick diagonally if you can move diagonally and pick up from adjacent. These are indeed not covered. 

I appreciate your comments, they pointed out a lot of things i didn't know! Cheers!

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Oh no, i just read my post! I have to say: I had a really fun time with the game. I’m glad you wrote it. I’m happy i could play it. It’s a strong submission and that deadline posting sounds like a thrilling experience. My favourite part was how the tiny upgrades felt colossal on the small board ‒ just like all all childhood’s moments of ‘empowerment’: it’s all about the scale you’re living in. I can’t believe i didn’t include anything like that in my original post. Wow, i’m awful at translating my emotional responses into text. I want to work on that.

Best!