I tried two very different action selection systems for Plutocracy this week. Deck building, which didn’t work very well at all. And simultaneous action selection with bidding for tie breakers, which was better, but fiddly and distracted from the core of the game.
In the discussion after the second test the idea of an autonomous game that plays itself and could be manipulated by the players came up. This is exactly the feeling I want for the game, but I don’t think I fully realized it before.
I have so many ideas of how this could go, all of them very rough. It is possibly a complete restructuring of the game. After more than a year and 16 major versions. In some ways it feels like starting over. But after a year of practice.
This may be an entirely different game. I’m not sure what will come of it. Maybe I should leave well enough alone and just clean up the version people like. But I’m hoping I can catch the feeling of shadowy manipulation that I wanted from the beginning.