• Keep the default simple for newer players, so it doesn’t add complexity to playing the game initially. By default, gain:
  • Slot #1: +5 Health on the Captain
  • Slot #2: +15 seconds on timer
• Don’t require VFX or SFX (to make them plentiful and cheap to create)
• Two levels of power:
  • Affects all units in your roster OR
  • Affects only units of that culture in your roster (could be more themed and stronger)
• Probably want to word them as “Your Smugglers” instead of “Allied Smugglers” because of co-op potential.

Tradeoffs

• Roster building is richer, but more complex
• Players could feel overwhelmed when building roster, or when playing against new perks
• Players might feel like they lost due to bonuses
• Players can’t counter these bonuses (no way to disable)
• Encourages players to try new cultures and captains
• We have to have a way to disable perks in live build

Implementation Notes

• Go for the playstyle, emotion and feeling first and foremost
• Verify that these are fun for the player that’s using it, and is fun or less “anti-fun” for the opponent playing it
• Don’t worry about balance upfront - there are too many combinations for us to find. Focus on balance once it’s in the wild.
• Decide if we want to say “Advantage” or “has victory points” or “Favored”
• Show “(Perk)” next to status effect on units in game, so you always know when an effect comes from one of these
• Can put these in pools by complexity, like units, ala Marvel Snap (pool 0, 1, 2, etc)

The learning loop