Neat concept, but has some mechanical issues to address:

First, what is the purpose of flipping the tile to night side?

Do you have to use all stars on a given tile? It is possible to chain 6 stars (or more, per the dragon) and NOT use all of the stars on a given tile. If the requirement is to use all stars on a given tile, that's not stated.

When flipping a tile, it's presumed that the flip side has the same stars in the same pattern, assuming you flip it the right way. Unless there is an implied 'north' (which would limit replayability), you'll need to state that that's a requirement when flipping.

Can constellations be made using stars on flipped tiles?

Player voting - if this is a competitive game (which it is, there are points involved), what is to stop everyone from always rejecting everyone else's proposed constellations (notably, because they themselves wanted to use the tile on their next turn).

If only one tile is drawn per turn, and it takes 6 stars to make a constellation, and you cannot reuse stars in 'midnight' side, then...

Player 1: plays a tile - not enough stars to link yet.
Player 2: plays a tile and makes a constellation, flips tiles
Player 1: plays a tile - not enough stars to link yet.
Player 2: plays a tile and makes a constellation, flips tiles.
... repeat

So that everyone is aware that the stars are mapped and cannot be used again in a constellation.


Yes


The dark side mirrors the light side so yes the tile would have to be flipped the same and laid the same direction as it was played.


No. Once a constellation has been committed the flipped tiles cannot be used again.


Nothing rule-wise would stop everyone from rejecting every proposal. Mechanic-wise, players tend to be more democratic and fair when they know they will be in the same position on their turn.


Well, the numerical matrix doesn't really work that way. Tiles are populated with 0 - 4 stars so there is enough chance that the next player can not just lay down the next tile to a total of 6+ stars. Also, void tiles, flipped tiles, and arrows limit tile placement. Not to mention that every constellation needs at least one of your own END stars to create it.

I'm sure there are still some hang-ups for testing to iron-out, but I figured the idea was enough to try it out. Thanks for the suggestions Brian!

Simpson

This is a very interesting and unique idea, and the graphics are beautiful in their simplicity. I'd probably buy something like this if it ever went into production. Seems like there needs to be just a bit more breadth to the gameplay, though... meaning something else to do or some other considerations for forming constellations or earning points. The "majority vote" mechanic rubs me the wrong way in other games, too, as it always seems a little arbitrary / counter-intuitive.

Maybe there could be some kind of cards with "suggested" constellations (maybe represented by pictures, rather than explicitly by star-charts?) that people could be given a hand of at the beginning of the game. Then at least there would be some kind of objective guideline for judging the constellations that people made. You'd have to show how the constellation you created could be fit to the card you're claiming it represents, rather than to your own drawing (which could, feasibly, be almost anything). You might have certain appendages or elements of each card that were "required" and others that were optional (e.g. Orion's sword hanging off his belt) but would earn you extra points. I dunno. Just a thought. It would kind of screw-up the lovely simplicity of gameplay that you've got going now (which really is elegant and creative), but might make for a more competitive game that would suit the market of hard-core gamers here at BGG. Who knows.

That was a stupid idea. Here's a better one.

Instead of telling everybody what your constellation is and then having them vote on whether to accept it, have everyone guess what your declared constellation is (you'd write down your idea first, and then everyone else would write theirs down; everything would be revealed simultaneously; maybe you could get some nifty mini dry-erase boards [like in Wits & Wagers]).

You'd only receive points if at least one person was able to guess what the constellation was, so you'd still have the aspect of "approving" a constellation. This would also have the added bonus of giving players an incentive to create good constellations and not just make crazy stuff up. You could make this incentive even more interesting by possibly giving an additional amount of bonus points (in addition to actually getting the points for your constellation) dependent upon how many people guess what the constellation is.

To provide incentives to the other players to make good guesses, you'd have to provide some kind of bonus points or shared points for all players that correctly guessed the constellation. One option would be simply to allow players to receive the same base points (less any bonuses you give to the drawing player for the number of correct guesses they receive) as the player who drew the constellation. Some might abuse that and just make stupid guesses for whoever's in the lead. Maybe you could even give more points for a correct guess than for the player who drew the constellation. Who knows.

You'd probably have to provide some kind of rods in varying lengths so that players could connect up their constellations providing a framework for others to guess from, since they obviously couldn't just draw a picture of what their constellation represents. What would happen is they'd say "Ok! I've got a constellation!", then they'd lay down sticks between the stars that make up their constellation (both to verify it's a legal construction and to provide the basic star-chart layout for other players to guess from), they'd write down secretly what they're claiming the constellation represents, the other players would then write down their guesses, and finally you'd reveal everything and assign points based on the value of the constellation and whatever bonuses and such you came up with.

-Nate

First, this is one of the coolest and most original ideas I have seen come down the pipe.

Some random thoughts:

1. Why not use wooden pieces, like the roads from "Settlers" to connect the constellations? This would give players a greater sense of accomplishement to see the pieces on the board, IMO. In the end you have a "full" night sky. This would also allow some stars from different tiles to appear in multiple players' constellations.

2. It might be a good idea to include a book with representative images so that new players have an idea of what they can create. This could be a collection of existing constellations.

3. Also, for new players, or as an "advanced" rules set, consider having each player start the game with a hand of cards that have a word (and possibly an image) and they need to create X number of those in their hands.

4. Why not "glow in the dark" stars and/or pieces. Expensive, yes, but they would match your theme brilliantly [pun intended].

Best of luck
and I hope any of this helps.

Great idea. Graphics are very classy!
The only thing I would be concerned with is trying to play with someone that is not that "creative".
There were a few suggestions stated here that I think could be combined to make for some interesting play.
You could make a large deck of cards with titles of constelations. Some are wild and crazy and some are really simple. Some of the those titles could even have multiple meanings. Perhaps a certain number of the cards are turned over (maybe 8 - 12). Those cards are laid face up where everyone can see them. Everybody can see those titles so after you create and privately draw your constellation they all bet on which one they think you created. They would have a wooden marker with their color on it and they place it on the one they think you made. This could even be a fun time to mess with them... "I don't see that in there". You could try to mess with them to make them change their choice. Everyone decides if they feel you did the title justice. All positive votes give you +2 points each and all negative votes give you -1 point each. All players that guessed the correct card get 1 point for each positive vote also. This will cause anyone that picked the right card to probably vote positively though...
This could be worked out.
Something like that would give you a few more things to do while playing and everyone is doing something at the same time.

This is pretty slick. While i was reading the posts i was thinking very much along the lines of what Runehardt wrote. How much meat you want to give it depends on how/where you want to sell it, but i think this is a very good start. I am *so* tired of seeing games that aren't all that much different than what's already out there.

Great concept. I think people who worry about the competitive aspect are missing the point of such a game. The grand thing about the game would be the sketchbook that gets created as you play it multiple times, not who won or lost.

I don't think that representative images are necessary, but historical constellation imagery would be good for reference material. I also wouldn't want any Apples to Apples canned cards to prompt people into finding only certain images. I like the free-form concept as it is here.

My biggest concern would be that alternate players would have very little to do. Player 1 comes up with a constellation using pretty much all the exposed tiles. Then player two turns a tile up but can't do anything. Player 3 turns up a tile and claims a constellation. Next player just turns up a tile. Seems that alternate players just turn up tiles.

I'd buy such a game.

I'm going to try out some of these new ideas this weekend and see what sticks. Two other ideas I was thinking about trying out:

1. Teamplay. Constellation-drawing would play similar to pictionary. Not totally sold on it, but I'm a big fan of the buddy system.

2. Career Handicap. Since the game is about fledgling Luminaries going through the ropes of their first job (mapping the stars), why not have higher job positions that players can hold that incur point handicap as well prestige? The staggering could happen with age groupings (allowing adults to play with kids) or on past game sessions (allowing novice players to play on a more even keel with expert players).

Think of the sense of accomplishment you would have going from a Junior Assistant Luminary Second Class to a Junior Assistant Luminary First Class.

Simpson

Given that people put prototypes into the database willy nilly (see Modern Society), I think you should enter this as a game in the database as well. This is just as close to production as Modern Society is.

I'll probably put it in there when I put out the Print & Play version of it so that any exposure it gets might encourage a player to try it out.

Someone also asked what a Luminary is exactly and since every game needs backstory...

The Field Guide of Stellar Cartography and Relative Lunar Advocacy Towards the Expansion of Truth states,
"The Royal Order of The Most Illustrious House of Luminary in Her Majesty's Service is an all together corporate body of knights and their junior assistants charged with the duty of name-bearing and here-unto name-calling of celestial bodies or other flashes in the night sky that might not be terrestrial in nature or bearing and rather threatening".

To the common layman, Luminaries fly around in a multitude of zeppelins at night pointing at stars trying wholeheartedly to convince each other of their own brilliance whilst their Jr. Assistants scribble in their journals trying to make sense of it all. Not true, as Luminaries also occupy Observatories, Astrolaboratories, and the occasional holiday to the moon* to prevent space madness**.




* Factual Sidenote: There is air on the surface of the Moon which Luminaries enjoy as they oft picnic*** on the surface in order to get away from the hustle-bustle of their nightly encounters and courageous ventures. Moon-men attacks are thankfully few.

**Space madness is the leading cause of death among Luminaries, as well as the leading cause in the increase of new Jr. Assistants. Space madness is also referred to as "Lord Windsor of New Nottinghappenshire Disease". However, due to its rather specifically-orginated nature, the non-general ficticious ailment is still suffers from the non-descript nomenclature.

***Sidenote to the Factual Sidenote: Jr. Assistants with culinary skills, specifically those of the finger sandwich & biscuit varieties, are highly prized as well any general knowledge of tea-making to be sure. We are civilised here after all.

DISCLAIMER: THIS BACK STORY IS UNTRUE AND NOT REAL.