u/ella-dott

I’ve been going through medieval recipes from Britain, France, Germany and Italy and noticed that sour flavours seem to have been very popular. Recipes from around 14-15th century frequently use vinegar, verjus or both - in stews, sauces, on roasted meats. It got me thinking about citrus fruits, or lack of them. According to a quick google search, there are records of citrus fruits from that time, so they were around. What kind of citruses would be available? Were they uncommon, unpleasant or unpopular for another reason?

I’ve recently unboxed Deep Regrets and seeing the fish coin and the little buoy dice made me so excited about the game without even playing it. It got me thinking about unboxing in general, and how certain things build excitement (hello boxes with inside print!) and certain things make me feel a bit disappointed (like when there’s no proper organiser tray and I know my game will live in chaos until I inevitably order one).

What makes for a good unboxing experience for you? Do you have any particularly memorable ones (good or bad)?

To give a bit of a background as the theme is relevant, I’m designing a medieval cooking game where players run a medieval kitchen and compete to create the ultimate feast. At its core, it’s a worker placement game with a tableau, and you score based on what you cooked, how well you paired dishes together and how aligned you were with what the guests actually wanted.

The last round has consistently felt unsatisfying in playtests. Playtesters sometimes find themselves with leftover actions but no meaningful action to take. This can happen for example because another player blocked the spot they would have needed, or because they’d need more actions that they have to finish something. These are the usual problems of worker placement games, and in any other round they’re a good problem to have because they add tension and require planning, but not in the final round. It’s also a bit anticlimactic as you’d expect the last round to be the crescendo, the culmination of your efforts and it doesn’t feel like it at the moment.

I’ve noticed some games solve this by giving you extra points for unused materials. This doesn’t quite work thematically because the nobility you’re serving doesn’t care what happens in the kitchens. I’ve been playing with the idea of having a special action in the last round that lets you improve the presentation of your dishes (aka score extra VP), but it doesn’t feel all that satisfying either as it’s really just an action to VP conversion.

Curious how other designers have approached this in their own designs or in games you’ve played where the final round felt like a genuine culmination? What made it work?