MAD: In this trick-taking game, winning a Trick isn't always desired because each card has a 'Science' (+) and 'Madness' (-) side that could challenge the balance of players' Score Piles. Trick winners take an opponent's card into one of their matching Score Piles - 2 suits of which are imbalanced from the start - with the goal to reduce each suit to 0.

We tried many different trick-taking games over the course of development on Pack o Game Set 3. Eventually, Chris Handy and John Brieger settled into a routine where they bounced the game that became MAD back and forth with each other as they iterated its design. Key in the design ethos of MAD is that because there are VERY few cards, it's a short number of tricks until the game is complete. Strong play is as much about forcing your opponents to take the wrong thing as it is winning the correct cards to balance out your score. This, alongside the fact that both high and low numbers are useful makes more possible good hands off of the deal, which is key when the game doesn't have a mechanism like bidding to even out the randomness of the shuffle.

WIN: In this micro Long Shot card game, players bet and perform actions at the track while the race unfolds. Your secret bets and clever horse moves are key to winning the most cash at the end of the race!

We also served as developers on Long Shot: The Dice Game, so working with Chris Handy on adapting its gameplay felt like a natural extension of that work. We contributed the game's movement system and refined the game's core set of actions. This is one of the most complex games in the line, and iterative testing was key to getting it into its final form.

FAR: Each player uses their royalty to rule land in an ever-growing kingdom. Rule just enough territory to earn points, as too much greed will cause a revolt and a loss of points. The player with the most points rules the kingdom!

Development on far focused on refining the game's scoring and ruleset around the character figures. We tested several different scoring systems proposed by the designer to arrive at the final product. Early on, we tested individual advanced rules for each character type, but this was a lot for players to keep in their heads. With the 30 card limitation, we couldn't fit reference cards into this game, so we ended up with a more streamlined advanced scoring in the end after testing.

IRK: Play cards and create connected clusters that match the colors you've played in your Scoring Pile. Block and disrupt opponents' patterns to tank their scores. Determine player majorities for each color/symbol then reward points based on Clusters in the Center Area. The player with the most points wins!

IRK went through many iterations, figuring out the best way to both create clusters and to score. We focused a lot of time on dialing inn the cadence of the rounds, how you alternate between selecting colors to score and to play to the center.

YET: In this race for time, players race their airships around a clock, capturing face-up Time Capsule cards for points at the end of the game. The player with the most points wins.

YET's development focused on refining its core gameplay. The visual of twelve of the cards laid out to create a clock was always extremely strong, so we worked to refine Chris's alternate modes into a single version that presented the strongest gameplay. We also worked on ways to improve the interface of the clock made from the cards, including marker cards to help keep the cardinal points of the clock visible for players.

SLY: Players try to protect their Hens at the Hen House while also playing their Foxes to gobble up opponents' Hens. The player with the most points from Safe Hens, exposed enemy Foxes, and gobbled Hens will be the winner!

Sly changed very little during development, with iteration focused on the scoring for the different sets of henhouses. We also did several rounds of blind rules testing on this with casual gamers and families as it is thhe most family-game oriented of the set.

NUT: In this nutty 'set connecting' game, players try to earn the most points by creating trees with Clusters of the same-color, orthogonally connected, nuts. Nuts are collected from communal columns and at the end of the game, players only count their highest valued nut Cluster in each of the six colors.

NUT had been previously published, and we did no development or changes to its gameplay. However, we did recommend extensive changes to the NUT rulebook based on testing, which helped lower the percieved gameplay weight and clear up plenty of room for instructional diagrams.

BOG: In this 2-player battle for the Bog, you'll play Frogs from your hand and move them around on Lily Pads (playing area). Land on flies to draw more cards and on opposing Frogs to earn points. Complete Frog 'Routes' and score Frog 'Formations' for even more points.

BOG was the first of the set 3 games we played, back when we were still working on Long Shot: The Dice Game. Very little changed in development. Our work on BOG focused on its rulebook, including passes of blind testing and editing. We payed special attention to the structure in which actions were presented, cutting rules text while preserving maximum clarity.