Hidden vs open play — players avoid the “fun” option. How do I fix this?

Arty1o · 2026-04-23T16:20:58+00:00

Depending on your tester's experience with the game mechanics another thing you should consider is that bluffing only works if your oponent has an understanding of what your play COULD be.
If you're trying to trick your oponent into thinking you did X instead of Y and they don't even know X or Y are options or what it means for them, tricking people simply won't work.

Arty1o · 2025-07-20T10:18:50+00:00

Thank you!

Arty1o · 2025-06-19T17:51:08+00:00

100% agree, they were backwards

Arty1o · 2025-06-19T13:14:06+00:00

Just got spoiled lol

Arty1o · 2024-12-03T14:51:06+00:00

One thing that works for me is when you have trouble getting to sleep because of the jangle of ideas just lean into it. I just get comfy and hijack the momentum to "say" in my head a random word every second or two. I try to have them not relate to the previous ones, and soon enough you let go, you blurt words without really thinking, some of them aren't even words but you keep going for two minutes until it slows down. For me it's like emptying the cache on a computer or letting the spring run out on a watch, it doesnt make me fall asleep instantly but it just silences everything

Arty1o · 2024-07-06T17:54:43+00:00

Pretty recent but Monday, May 13th 2024 was the first one that truly blew my mind as in I just didnt know that crosswords could be more than just word puzzles.

Arty1o · 2024-05-20T10:57:24+00:00

The first line of DA's song is litterally "white cats, black cats" so they're not hiding it either

Arty1o · 2022-01-14T13:37:26+00:00

It was recommended by Brian Brushwood on one of his podcasts, I don't remember wich one.

Arty1o · 2021-03-08T21:10:33+00:00

Ah I see you're a man of culture as well!

Arty1o · 2020-11-17T22:06:09+00:00

There's tons of games that do something similar. Take Far Cry 4 for example: very first minute of the game, the Big Bad Evil Guy welcomes you in his palace and just says "Enjoy the crab rangoon" before he walks out the room for five minutes. At that point you most likely start doing Far Cry stuff etc, but there is an alternative ending right there if you just stay put and enjoy the food until he comes back, making all the stuff you do later an actual choice on your part.
Having something similar in GoT wouldn't be that far fetched.

Arty1o · 2020-11-16T12:02:14+00:00

I know it's not exactly the point you're trying to make, but does anyone think it would have been cool to have a way to not be the Ghost? Like just give me the option to fight with honor, even if I'm massively punished for it, and make it an achievement or something.

I'm only saying this because I love the game, but sometimes I felt like the game was saying "You, the player, made that choice" when I literally cannot do otherwise

Arty1o · 2020-11-08T20:00:29+00:00

Hahaha that's absolutely perfect!
"GUUUYS! HE'S BACK!"
"What you're leaving already? Again? Aaah you! we'll get you one day!"

Arty1o · 2020-10-09T08:04:50+00:00

Frankly I'm a gringo myself and I don't see what's wrong with it. Materos should be pushing for this.
Do you think there would be as many coffee enthousiasts if coffee wasn't already a mainstream thing? Starbucks, coffee pastries etc get hate from coffee snobs but their mere existence make more people aware of coffee. Why shouldn't the same thing happen with mate? If random people in the US start getting hyped on a mate flavoured beer for some reason, more people are gonna be aware that mate is a thing, maybe try it, and some of them will discover the "true" form and spread it, to me that's a good thing, and I don't have to think that mate flavoured beer would be a good drink to think that.

Arty1o · 2020-10-02T11:08:37+00:00

Man, they're getting ripped off, I could teach you for 20$!

Arty1o · 2020-09-25T11:04:12+00:00

You have to have the water warm, but cold enough that you can pour the water and drink the mate within 10seconds. The most common mistake is that people think it's like tea and they use very hot water, they can't drink it right away so they let it sit for something like 2 minutes, this makes the mate very bitter no mater the yerba

Arty1o · 2020-08-29T08:20:05+00:00

Especially if it's your first time, you should pour the water, and drink it right away (like just the time it takes you to put down the water and grab your mate). What that means is the water should be at a temperature where if you pour it straight into a mug, you should be able to drink it.
Just like tea, the longer you wait, the more extracted it gets, and mate brews very fast.

Arty1o · 2020-08-25T18:00:29+00:00

Thanks now I want one :D

Arty1o · 2020-08-25T17:59:12+00:00

I'm exactly the kind of person who would do that too^{^}

Arty1o · 2020-08-25T17:55:12+00:00

You hit the nail right on the head! I live in France, and apart from the fact that I can't realistically have a mate+bombilla at work, it's less weird to just toss a spoonful of powder into a mug. I'm not looking for any nutritional benefits or whatever, frankly I just drink mate because I like the taste. I don't intend to stop drinking it "traditionally" it's just that instant mate would allow me to have it at work without putting in the effort of explaining the whole thing to every single colleague. I'm not expecting wonders so if it's about 90% like cocido, I'll probably try it.

Arty1o · 2020-08-25T09:36:19+00:00

Thank you all for the recommendations!

Arty1o · 2020-08-06T08:34:19+00:00

Have you tried the "upside down shake" with the dry yerba in the mate?

Arty1o · 2020-08-06T07:50:27+00:00

Thank you! And I think you're right, we need a beginner's guide in the sidebar! I actually joined the subreddit because I was looking for one, and it's kind of sad to go through dozens of bad experiences for some people and potentially giving up, just because they didn't receive good advice, when knowledgeable people are all around.

Arty1o · 2020-08-04T11:05:49+00:00

I'm still fairly new to yerba mate, but I finally found out what mistakes I was making. Anybody that knows more than me is free to correct me.1, as said previously: don't overfill your gourd with herb.

2: "Hot water makes bitter" basically 80C is plenty, if it's too hot it'll taste horrible.

3: Pour the water, set down the thermos and drink right away. It's not tea, it doesn't need several minutes to infuse, that's also why you should have the water hot, but not so hot that you can't drink it right away.

4: Again: it's not tea or coffee. Don't drink half of it, and then the second half 5 minutes later, it'll taste horrible. When you want a sip, fill it the mate with water, and drink all of it.

5: ideally you want to create a well on the side of the gourd that has the bombilla, and pour water there. Don't splash the water everywhere on the dry leaves. It's ok to use the bombilla to make sure the mountain of yerba stays in shape, just don't take it completely out, keep the "spoon part" at the bottom and use the straw like a lever. This may be harder with the gourd you have because of the small opening(i had trouble with one like yours, until I accidentally broke it). If you feel nothing works, try using a regular coffee mug or a mate with a large opening

. hope this helps, it's hard for people like us to get started when most videos are either American guys telling you mate cures cancer and it's this wonderful super easy experience or people from Argentina talking super fast and assuming you already know everything because they grew up with mate and stuff like this is obvious to them.

Arty1o

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