JUSTIN DEINES 

METAGALACTIC 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Justin Deines- 1
Metagalactic- 1
Table Of Contents​- 2
Module Used​- 3
Number of Players​- 3
GRATIS Outline​- 3
Flowcharts​- 5
Meaningful Action Analysis (MAA)​- 6
Card Game Table Layout Diagram​- 7
Component Pieces​- 7
Detailed Design & testing – Assignment 3 8
Detailed Rules for Players 14
Detailed Design & testing – Assignment 4 22
New Mechanic 22
Final Reflection 29
 

GAME DESCRIPTION

Module Used 
All v All - You are a captain of a spacecraft trying to make a living doing odd jobs and finding hidden
treasures all throughout the Universe. You can't do this alone. Build your crew, become the richest
captain in the great beyond, and win this dangerous game of the unknown reaches in the galaxy.

● Action Selection
● Drafting

Number of Players

● 2-4 players
● Ages 10 +

GRATIS Outline 

Goals
● The last player standing or the one player with the most credits wins after all cards are gone.
Rules
● Make sure all decks are shuffled apart from the crew cards.
● Set the crew cards face up in the middle of the playing field.
● Set all of the currency in the middle of the field.
● Place the Odd Job cards to the center left side and the Info broker cards to the center right of
the playing field.
● All players randomly choose 1 of the 4 ship cards and start game with 50,000 credits.
● Based on the number on your ship card (1-4) determines the order you will go in.
● On the start of every turn, player must pay ship tax of 10,000 credits to proceed.
● If you lost a turn, you do not pay the ship tax on your skipped turn.
● Once tax is paid you can draw from the “Odd Jobs” cards or “Info Broker” cards.
● Odd Job cards are low risk, low reward cards that cost the player nothing to flip over.
● Info Broker cards are high risk high reward cards and cost 10,000 credits to flip over.
● Every player can make one choice per move unless specified otherwise on any given action card
from the Info Broker pile.
● Action cards can be found in the Info Broker pile and can be used right away, or can be saved for
a later turn.
● Once a Player has acquired enough credits you can hire a crew member of your choice.
● Each crew card has a price to obtain.
● Each crew card has special abilities.
 ● Abilities used by a player counts as their move for their turn.
● If a player (A) uses the raid card and player (B) doesn’t have enough credits, but they have
acquired a crew card, they must fire the crew of their choosing, collect the amount they were
bought for, pay the remaining credits to player (A), and that crew card goes back in the middle.
● If a player (A) uses the raid card and player (B) doesn’t have enough credits and has no crew
cards they are removed from the game and their ship is taken by player (A) as collateral.
● Each ship is worth 50,000 credits and goes to your overall currency at the end of the game.
● The only way to sell any extra ships you may obtain from another player, is if you run out of
currency.
● If a player runs out of currency from spending the last of their credits with no rewards received,
that player is out of the game and the ship is lost and cannot be obtained by any other player.
● If there are no more Odd Jobs/Info Broker cards left in the middle, the game ends.
● Count up how many credits you have acquired during the game and be sure to include the ship
card totals you may have acquired including the one you started with.
● Look at every crew member you hired and subtract the crews cut from your total.
● Whoever has the most credits at the end wins the game.
Actions
● Shuffle
● Draw
● Pay
● Choose
○ Flip
○ Hire
○ Pay Flip
○ Action
● Collect
● End turn
Transitions
● Start Game
● Draw
● Choose
● Eliminate
● End Game
Items
● 54 cards
● 80 tokens
Setup
● Unpack cards and tokens.
● Shuffle ship, odd job, and info broker cards.
● Randomly choose ship cards to determine order in which you go.
● Place cards and tokens in middle.
● Deal out 50,000 credits to each player.
● Start game.

   
Flowcharts 
Meaningful Action Analysis (MAA) 

● Shuffle- ​rearrange the ship, odd job, and info broker card separately by sliding them
over each other quickly. Not meaningful, this is an involuntary action.
● Draw- ​pick a ship card at random while cards are face down to determine order of play.
Not meaningful, involuntary action.
● Pay- ​on every turn you must pay a ship tax of 10,000 credits. Not meaningful, this is an
involuntary action.
● Choose- ​you have a few choices of how to use your turn. Meaningful, player gets to
choose how to play their turn.
● Flip- ​flip over odd jobs card to reveal mission at no cost. Not meaningful, player does
not know the card he will get.
● Hire- ​if you have enough credits you can hire one of the ten crew cards available.
Meaningful, player has a choice and knows what cards are available to choose from.
● Pay Flip- ​if you want to take a chance at a higher reward you can spend the 10,000
credits and flip the info broker card. Not meaningful, player doesn’t know what card will
be flipped.
● Action- ​in info broker cards, there is a chance that an action card will be flipped. You can
choose to use it right away or save it for later. Meaningful, player has the choice to use
action cards when it becomes relevant.
● Collect- ​almost every card has some sort of reward you collect on before your turn ends.
Not meaningful, involuntary action.
● End Turn- ​once you’ve made your move your turn ends. Not meaningful, involuntary
action.
Card Game Table Layout Diagram -  

Component Pieces 

● Ship Cards x4
● Crew Cards x10
● Odd Job Cards x20
● Info Broker Cards x20
● 10,000 Credit Tokens x20
● 20,000 Credit Tokens x20
● 50,000 Credit Tokens x20
● 100,000 Credit Tokens x20

   
DETAILED DESIGN & TESTING – ASSIGNMENT 3 

Play Testers For Test 1 

The playtesters this test are not gamers by any stretch of the imagination.

Testers:
● Me age 27
● Brenna my mom age 54
● Jeff my stepdad age 53
Playtest 1 Results 
During the first playtest the only rule clarification that had to be reminded about was the ship tax rule.
Each player have to pay 10,000 credits at the beginning of each turn. The changes I may consider are to
place the rule on the player ship card for easy access to the rule. In doing this I hope it helps remind
players of the rule so it won't be forgotten. Feedback I got from them was about the action cards. I had
to explain to them that action cards could be used any time during their turn. They can hold on to the
cards for a later time or use them right away. Taking this feedback into consideration. My own feedback
I gave myself was that the economy was a bit imbalanced. During the game only two crew cards were
able to be purchased. I changed the values of the cards so that they are more accessible. I also felt that
some of the cards with lose two turns needed to be adjusted to only one turn because it was easier to
keep track of. Lastly I changed the price of the Info Broker cards to 10,000 credits instead of 20,000
credits. I felt that 20,000 credits was a bit much seeing as you already have to pay a ship tax at the
beginning of each turn.

   
Play Testers For Test 2 
This time the tester loves games and plays them regularly.

Testers:
● Me age 27
● Kalli my wife age 27
Playtest 2 Results 
This go around I wanted to see how the game played with only two people. With the previous changes I
noticed an improvement to getting crew cards and it was easier to keep track of lost turns. Some
feedback I got this go around was the clarification on the action cards again. This time I was told that the
wording on the Stealth Drive was confusing and she thought that using it counted as her turn. In the
rules it stated that some action cards will specify if it could be used at any time, but I decided to fix the
way the card was worded for less confusion in the future. She also thought that making the card
something you could buy and use would be better than something random. Took feedback into
consideration. Upon asking if she had fun playing the game, she said, “yes, I had fun kicking your butt”,
seeing as she won the game. In my feedback for myself, I need to make some adjustments to when you
have no money left. How much should player get back for firing a crew? Will have to give it some
thought, but as of right now its whatever you paid to get the card is what you get back.

   
Play Testers For Test 3 
These play testers love playing card and board games.

Testers:
● Me age 27
● Robert age 32
● Roberts Fiancé 31
Playtest 3 Results 
Game went very well we all had a lot of fun with the new alterations. The game went much
smoother than the last two playthroughs. There were two clarifications that were needed while
playing through the game. I had to let them know that bounties could not be collected on self
and for the stealth drive card, how long the ability lasted once used. I also made note that some
cards were still a bit to vague and I need to be more specific.

   
 DETAILED RULES FOR PLAYERS 
Setup 

1. Unpack game and make sure you have all 54 cards and 80 credit tokens.
2. Make sure that all Ship, Odd Job, and Info Broker cards are thoroughly shuffled
separately.
3. Once shuffled, place your cards and credit tokens on the playing field like this:
a. Odd Job cards placed face down on the center-right side of the field.
b. Info Broker cards placed face down on the center-left side of the field.
c. Crew cards placed face up in between the two decks. ​(Note: If you are a new
player to the game, it's best to familiarize yourself with crew abilities before
the start of the game)​.
d. The credit tokens in the center underneath the Crew cards.
4. Once the cards are set, each player randomly choose a ship card and flips it over to look
for the corresponding number (1-4) in the corners of the card. The number you drew is
the order in which you will go in.
5. Deal out each player 50,000 credit tokens (credits), three 10,000c’s and one 20,000c as
your starting currency.
6. Now the game can begin.
Rules and Guidelines 
1. Your turn starts by paying a ship tax of 10,000 credits. This will occur every turn for
every player.
a. If you lose a turn, you do not pay the tax on your skipped turn.
2. Once tax is paid you can choose from three different moves of play. You can only make
one move per turn unless specified on any card. The moves you can chose are as
follows:
a. You can draw an Odd Job card at no cost to the player. (Low risk, low reward
cards).
b. You can press your luck and pay an additional 10,000 credits to draw an Info
Broker card. (High risk, high reward cards).
i. These cards contain some action cards. Action cards can be used right
away, or can be saved and used later on in the game. (Note: If you decide
to save the action card for another turn, when used, it counts as your
turn unless otherwise specified on the card).
c. You can, if you have an efficient amount of credits, purchase a crew card. Each of
the crew cards have different abilities that will help you earn more credits
and/or extort the opposing players.
i. If you chose to use your crews ability, it counts as your turn. (Note: The
only crew cards that this applies to are, Hacker, Bounty Hunter, and
Saboteur).
d. All cards must be read aloud so that other players know what you have. This
includes action cards.
3. If a player runs out of credits they lose, and are removed from the game. A player can
run out of credits in one of two ways:
a. Being raided by another player via Raid action card.
i. If player (A) is raided by player (B) and player (A) has insufficient credits
but has crew cards, player (A) must fire one or more of his/her crew for
the amount of the crews cut in order to pay the remaining credits to
player (B). Crew card goes back in the middle. (Note: This is the only way
you can fire a crew card).
ii. If player (A) is raided by player (B) and player (A) has insufficient credits
and does not have crew cards, player (A) is removed from the game and
there ship is taken as collateral by player (B). (Note: All ships are worth
50,000 credits towards your overall credits at the end of the game).
iii. If player (A) is raided by player (B) and player (A) has insufficient credits
and does not have crew cards, but has an acquired ship from another
player, the acquired ship can be sold for any remaining credits owed to
player (B) and the ship is lost. If it’s still not enough credits both ships are
taken as collateral by player (B) and player (A) is removed from the game.
(Note: This is one of the two ways an acquired ship can be sold).
b. Spent the last of your credits and got no rewards out of it.
i. If you have crew cards, you must fire one crew for the amount of the
crews cut. Crew card go back in the middle.
 ii.If you do not have crew cards, you are removed from the game and your
ship is lost and cannot be acquired by any other player.
iii. If you have an acquired ship, that ship can be sold for an additional
50,000 credits and the ship is lost. (Note: This is one of the two ways an
acquired ship can be sold).
c. Once there are no more Odd Job and Info Broker cards left in the middle or you
are the last player standing the game ends.
4. Once game has concluded add up how many credits you have left and make sure to
include any ship cards you have, including your starting ship to the total amount.
a. Crew needs their cut of the credits. Each crew card has an amount on the card
underneath the crews name. That is there cut of the loot. Subtract that amount
from what you have to get your total.

Main Objective 
The goal of this game is to acquire the most credits before the end of the game. Whoever has
the most credits at the end of the game wins.

   
Play Testers For Test 4 
These play testers are lovers of both card and board games.

Testers:
● Kevin age 28
● Ruth Age 26
Playtest 4 Results 
With previous changes. From other play tests the game went well. Both players seemed to be
having fun, and with later clarification, they said they did indeed have fun. Some of the rules
that needed to be clarified were, shuffling of the cards, smuggler card bonus loot, raid card
rewards, and that all cards needed to be known by all players. One comment I got was to
maybe change the ship tax to 0 and have the Odd job cards cost to 10,000c and the Info broker
cards cost to 20,000c.

   
Play Testers For Test 5 
Some of these testers were gamers and one was not. The one that was not also spoke good
English, but struggled with the mechanics.
Testers:
● Aaron age 37
● Sarah age 32
● Luis age 14
Playtest 5 Results 
This test went very smooth and the previous issues I had before were non existent. All players
were having a great time playing the game. There was some clarification needed for some of
the cards. With limited space on the cards I was unable to write in more detail. I’ve found that
most first time playthroughs the rules are only read once and are never looked back at during
the gameplay. I need to update rules to make sure that if they are unsure of something to
consult the rules again for clarification. I also noticed another economy error with the recruiter
card and got feedback on the card as well. The feedback given was that it needed to be a bit
more useful.
​Week 3 Playtest Reflection 
The 4 comments/issues that player testers had with my game are as follows:
● Stealth drive action card should be a purchasable card like an upgrade for your ship
instead of a random drop from Info Broker card.
○ This feedback was negative feedback because she did not agree with the
mechanic as is. I like the idea of buying upgrades for your ship however, I don’t
believe it will be useful in my game because it won’t fit the mechanics as well as
she might think. This mechanic would work better in a board game. I don’t plan
on using this idea unless I decided to make this into violent game. This idea
would complicate and break the game economy.
● Game was not to long and not to short.
○ This comment was definitely positive because I don’t want the game to drag on
and get boring. I also don’t want it to be short to where it needs more content.
This would have to do with the layout of the game in a way, for it has to with
how many cards there are. I’m going to use this feedback as given and no change
will be needed with this comment.
● Clarification on smuggler card.
○ Two instances where there was some confusion on how the smuggler has a
chance to double loot. This is a documentation/mechanic issue due to how the
card is worded. I need the card to be more specific. This was a negative issue
with the game. I choose to use this feedback to reword the card so that it makes
more sense.
● Rules need to specify to read all crew cards if new player.
○ It was brought to my attention that first time players may not know to read the
crew cards. This is a rules documentation issue. This issue is a negative one. Crew
cards are crucial to a players success in the game. I plan on adding a new player
rundown in the game rules. This will help the game run better for first time
players.

The 4 clear issues I noticed while play testing are as follows:

● Crew cards were to hard to obtain.
○ This was a economy balance issue and I lowered the price of the cards so that it was
easier to acquire these cards.
● Loss of multiple turns were to hard to keep track of.
○ This was a mechanics issue and all cards with multiple loss of turns were changed to
only one turn lost.
● Amount earned from firing a crew.
○ This is both a mechanical and balancing issue and I plan on making some changes
coming up next week with a brand new mechanic.
● Cost of Info Broker cards was to high.
○ This was a economy balance issue and I lowered the price of the cards from 20,000
credits to 10,000 credits.
I had to stop the game a few times throughout my play tests. The only times were when reminding to
pay the ship tax at the beginning of the turn and having to explain the action cards. With the action
cards I had to remind them that they could use that card either right away or could be saved for later.
One error I stumbled across during my first playtest was that some of the Info broker cards had 10,000
credit costs on them, for the idea for the change came before the first test. I decided to play the game
with old idea of 20,000 credit cost to see what happened. I decided that the 10,000 credit idea would fit
better.

DETAILED DESIGN & TESTING – ASSIGNMENT 4 

 

New Mechanic 

The mechanic I decided to implement in my game is the crews cut. This mechanic makes you subtract
from your remaining total at the end of the game depending on what your crews cut of the earnings is.
With this mechanic my hopes are in one last ditch effort someone else may win even though it appears
that they lost.

Play Testers For Test 6 

This couple love to play games and are very competitive.

Testers:
● Me age 27
● Sandra age 51
● Doug age 41

Playtest 6 Results 
Testers had no trouble adopting the rules and following them accordingly. Some of the
suggestions I got from Doug were to add a mechanic where if raided without a stealth drive you
should still be able to defend yourself from opposing players. Seeing as this game can have no
violence this would not work. I also got the feedback to bold out the note in the setup portion
of the rules for new players. This rule states that if you are a new player it’s best to familiarize
yourself with the crew abilities before you play. I bolded the note as it is very important. I found
it difficult to remember to get a picture of this play test. It is very hard to remember that when
you are having fun enjoying the game.
Play Testers For Test 7 
These play testers play card/board games a lot.

Testers:
● Me age 27
● Kat age 20
● Jake age 22

Play test 7 Results 

The results from this play test were very positive. The implementation of mechanics and
wording from the previous tests help out the gameplay. These players had a lot of fun playing
the game. They said that it would be cool to have expansions to the game. Some issues were
with the wording on the recruiter and and bullet pointing the stealth drive abilities. These
issues were addressed.

Play Testers For Test 8 

This tester was not very familiar with card/board games.

Testers:
● Me age 27
● Colt age 41

   
Playtest 8 Results 
This play test didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Since Colt wasn’t much of a card game player it
took awhile for him to get the hang of the mechanics. He would like the game to be simplified a
bit more. He felt it was a lot of information to take in and remember. Once further into the
game he picked up on how things worked. I understand that it's a lot to take in for first time
players, but there is always a learning curve the first play through. That’s to be expected on any
game you play for the first time. I agree with simplifying some of the cards. Plan on changing
later if I decide to work on this game after I am done with school.

   
Play Testers For Test 9 
The play testers in the test play games all the time.

Testers:
● Kevin age 28
● Dev age 29

Playtest 9 Results 
Both testers understood the game mechanics and had no trouble picking up on how things
worked. The players had fun playing the game and I had lots of fun watching. So much fun in
fact that I forgot to take a picture of the game in progress. A few things mentioned during
testing were that raid cards should not be able to be used right away to give other opponents
time to adjust and strategize from the new information. Also I felt that the Saboteur crew card
was underutilized and we felt that the bounty hunter crew card needed to cause the other
player who used the raid card or hacker ability to lose a turn if bounty was collected. Also I wish
to change the wording to the bounty hunter to let players know that the money isn’t collected
from other player but from the bank.

   
Play Testers For Test 10 
Unfortunately​ ​with time constraints and people canceling on me at the last minute I was unable to get
this last play test in. However, I did something else instead. After play test 9, I asked if Kevin and Dev if
they would like to play one last time with me. With knowing how the game was played, I was curious
how strategies would change and how differently the game would be played. I knew going in that this
was against the rules of play test 10, but with no one else being able to play I had to do something
rather than nothing.

Testers:
● Me age 28
● Kevin age 28
● Dev age 29

Playtest 10 Results 
We had a blast playing the game and with the alterations of the game it ran smoothly, but once
again we had way to much fun playing that I forgot to take a picture of the gameplay. To my
surprise I got to see things happen in the game that I didn’t see in previous tests. For the first
time I was able to see a player get knocked out of the game. Finally, I got to see how the
mechanic worked with someone losing all of there credits. Strategies did change through this
test and the game felt more cut throat as everyone wanted to win. Seeing the game played now
I saw potential changes in some of the cards to better utilize them. I’m glad I did this even
though it was against the playtest rules.
Week 4 Tests Reflection 
During this week's play tests, I encountered very little feedback. There were some minor things
that players felt needed to be fixed. Some issues were that the cards needed to be simplified,
wording needed to be changed on some cards, and in the rules the new player part needed to
be bolded to iterate how important it was. Lastly, it was brought to my attention that maybe
the game should have more cards so that the game could last a bit longer and can house more
than 4 people. These issues were positive feedback and I took it as it was. I plan to fix these
issues that were brought to my attention. I want to come back to this game down the road and
look at it with fresh eyes and decided where to go next with it.

Some of the things I encountered during this week's play tests were minor things like someone
losing a turn if the bounty hunter card collects on you bounty. I felt that some cards needed to
be more viable so that they would be used more often. I would like to remake my cards and
type them out to fit more information on the cards as well as make them easier to read and
understand. Some of the cards were a bit unorganized as far as the information on them goes.
All players were impressed at how easy the game was to pick up and everyone but one thought
the rules were very clear. The one in question had been drinking to be fair, but he still gave me
positive feedback.

Most issues were documentation and mechanic issues. I plan on fixing the wording on the cards
and adding a few minor mechanics to the abilities for some of the crew cards as well as the raid
action cards. I don’t believe there are really any major issues to the game only minor ones. I will
say however that I wish to expand on this game in the future.

The new mechanic added to the game was really fun to watch unfold. Some players were
spending lots of money getting crew cards not strategizing for the end game. The crews cut is
very important at the end and if you don’t consider that near the end of the game you may not
have the credits necessary to win. I do plan on keeping this mechanic and maybe adding a few
more like ship upgrades to not only increase the value of your ship, but to also help you make
more credits during missions.

Final Reflection 
I learned that a GDD is very useful in keeping track of changes during the designing/testing
phase. I found myself going back and reading some of the changes from the play tests to help
me fix the design and mechanics of the game. From what I understand about iterative design, I
learned that through play testing I catch things wrong with the game and make note of these
things to make my game better. The more the game was played the better the game got. Not
everyone had the same strategy which made it easier to spot flaws on all aspects of the game.
Play testing is very important and the more it was play tested the better the game became. I
also learned that having people that don’t normally play games had a harder time with the play
tests. I feel that maybe in some cases it's not a good idea to have someone who doesn’t play
many games test my game.