I am trying to learn the game and I do not fully understand the rules. I will be grateful for any help :)
1) Build Pista/ Land action: Can there be only one card face down at any time? Or is it possible to perform multiple 'Build Pista' actions, to place there all the possible suits (and later go for 'Land')?
2) Deploy Policia action: Where exactly an undeployed Policia can be placed? Cities? Villages? It looks like a symbol is missing.
3) What happens to discarded cards in a single playthrough? Are they "used up" and do not return? Maybe, given that FAST victory relies on Narcos not being able to draw any... but - Operation procedure, step 2, mentions shuffling cards into a face down stack. Which cards exactly? All cards, including discards, that have not been taken as Intel yet? Shuffle (once again, after the setup) the 'draw deck' only?
4) FAST drawing intel and Narco cards. Does 'draw 1 intel' means to take a card from 'draw deck'? Does 'draw Narco cards equal to...' means to take a card from Narco hand?
5) Operation resolution. FAST rolls a FAST die. Step 4 mentions that 'dice' (multiple) are added or subtracted. Does it mean that value of Policia die is added or subtracted to/from the value of a FAST die?
6) Interdict action: Discarding 2 intel cards "teleports" a deployed Policia no matter the distance, right?
Thanks in advance! The game is interesting and looks great - it is not easy to 'solo' it :) probably because it is a good two player game. The concise rules are not quite clear in few places - I am not sure how exactly the deck operates. Nevertheless, You both achieved a marvel: being able to use effectively the postcard' size of space to provide map, counters and instructions for a set of procedures.
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Pistas (free 2P print-n-play)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #9 | 4.667 | 4.667 |
| Playability - Mechanics | #33 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
Ranked from 3 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
Thanks so much for the detailed feedback and questions! We've updated the rules based upon your questions, but here are some direct answers to hopefully address the lack of clarity.
1. Yes, only pista card can be placed at a time or "Limit 1 pista in play." We want the Narco player to commit to a single landing strip so that it increases the chance FAST can accurately plan and intercept.
2. Good catch! It should be muni icon or "on a muni with no die." Fixed.
3. You deduced correctly. Discarded cards do not return (unless it's one from a tie). Step 2 in the Op procedure has been rewritten to clarify that it's cards in hand only that are used to create a stack.
4. Really great question here. Standardized the phrasing. It's always "draw intel" as you're never supposed to draw from the Narco's hand and only from their deck in order to progress the FAST victory condition.
5. Yes, interdict basically "teleports" Policia from any hex (it's supposed to abstract Policia getting into FAST Hueys and flying to that destination). Rules have been edited to reinforce this point.
Quick note on "soloing": I'm not really sure it's possible considering how much hidden information is involved on the Narco side, especially during the Operation. But let me know if you figure out a way to two hand that doesn't require forgetting your own moves hah. Anyway, thanks again for the feedback. You've seriously helped improved the game and we look forward to trying out some of your submissions. Hoplomachos looks particularly enticing.
Thank You for the answers!
I can only return the compliments with a question and a short discussion. I have been crafting a TTS module for Your game (I wanted to give my printer some respite). Would You be interested in the module? Nothing fancy there but it allows me to play two sides by myself.
You are certainly right about 'soloing' this game. The counters, cards in the hand of Narco player - this makes it very difficult to craft a solo mode for Your game... while retaining postcard-size space for the rules. For now, I am simply playing two sides by myself.
At a glance, however, it does look like Policia side is somewhat easier to "automate", as their actions depend on Budget/ Public Support values and victory conditions (breaking the routes, with some additional capabilities for Plane landing) - all of which is 'public knowledge' and therefore can be used in crafting 'algorithms' or decision trees.
Oh, wow, I'd love to check out the module! I'm sure you saw the TTS mod for Pistas, but sadly I got 0 scripting skills on TTS, so never considered that as an option for solo. And my sense is that your intuition is correct that FAST would be easier in terms of level of effort and complexity.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2973525699
This is really a quick and dirty module - I have not looked for Your module earlier (I did not notice it on itch page for the design). Mine is very similar to Yours... only uglier :) ... and I added a marker for "Attack/ Evade" (with a reminder which one involves 'adding' and which one is about 'subtracting').
No scripting. Preparing the TTS module for solo game would require really creating rules for a "bot" side - or sides - and I am not ready for that. I simply wanted to have Your game in a digital format and be able to move pieces and play it... playing both sides to the best of my ability.
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