Wardo (#9556),

So much for Knizia's claim that theme only matters in the US. It'll be a shame to see the theme go. Well, I'll second that this is a great game, and besides AdvCiv is the only game I purposely own multiples of.

Wardo (#9556),
Cool. I guess it's lucky that I just noticed and bought this game this week.

mcbeth (#20676),

Actually after much discussion back and forth, I requested the theme change. The original theme is tied to Sandi and my anniversary, and since it was our game, I decided that letting other folks getting involved, it should get a new theme.

The new theme btw, is a Chinese myth of the Four Dragons. I'm VERY happy with the artist, who is working on the illustrations now.

He is updating us with previews as he finishes the cards. You can see them at: http://www.elijahart.com/fourdragons/

Moo
Frank

fbranham (#22305),

These card do look really nice. The old theme would have prevented giving this as a gift but the new one increases its appropriateness.

fbranham wrote:
Actually after much discussion back and forth, I requested the theme change. The original theme is tied to Sandi and my anniversary, and since it was our game, I decided that letting other folks getting involved, it should get a new theme.

I'm sad to see the theme change, but I'm glad to hear that the designer requested it rather than had it forced upon him. Is anything about the game play going to change? Is the variant rule about giving each player 3 free questions during the game going to be included?

DougOrleans (#24023),

That Calavaras variant is still a variant, but some "coins" are going to be included in the game. I have reigned in the coin count a bit to be 3 coins per partnership.

I've waffled on putting it into the final game. 3 coins per player was far too many, and the current value is about right---it gives you just enough to make it fairly tricky to decide when you desperately need some bit of information.

That said, the reason it is still a variant is that:
1. Only after you've played a couple of games do you really understand enough of what is going on to make use of the coins.
2. I actually like the uncertainty of the normal game, which makes your plays more angst-ridden.

It does bring out the deduction aspects of the game, and it definitely doesn't detract from the game---just makes it a bit different. Sounds like what a variant is supposed to be.

Moo
Frank