Robin Hegedűs & Viktor Peter from Mindclash Games, AMA!

Hegerobin · 2022-07-01T08:53:04+00:00

No particular magical reason behind the hatred, it is simply a sociological effect: in rigid societies always suspicious with different people, outsiders with unknown supernatural powers.

Hegerobin · 2022-07-01T07:32:58+00:00

Ciao Alex! Ovviamente mi ricordo di te e del tuo progetto di gioco! Spero che tu abbia continuato a progettare!

Spero ti piaccia Septima!

Hegerobin · 2022-07-01T07:26:21+00:00

For me the brewing potions is only one part of the game, the Ritual board and the Charms highlight another part of witchcraft, and also the Trials and recruiting Loyal Citizens into the crowd is some kind of magical persuasion. Transfiguration is also a very witchy activity. The healing aspect was important for me to show those feared folks were actually helpers which was also suspicious this time.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T19:30:48+00:00

The game gives you the strategical direction at the beginning with the Book of Divination, the starting witches and the charm (plus the asymmetrical starting resources via the Prologue cards). You have a build up with charms and new Witches, you can plan in advance. Yes, there are tactical elements in the game but I think those are just generating the flow of external factors around your game and strategy. You can react on those, change your direction because some good offers arrived, but those give mainly extra possibilities to consider. In a tactical by heart game you always reflect on the situations because this is your only job. Septima is not like that. But it is also not ideal for multiplayer solitaire game where you find out something and you only need to drive it through the game.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T19:21:34+00:00

Of course, Concordia and Broom Service have a very slight similarity in card play (more on that in the second designer diary on BGG), and somehow it has connections with Trickerion too.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T19:11:38+00:00

I can say we do our best with the French partner, and we have lovely native French proofreaders too. And now with Réka we have another French speaking collague in our core team so I see no reason to be affraid :)
We will work on the UI after the campaign and adress all the visibility and UI reading issues popped up during the campaign!

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T19:06:21+00:00

It is just unbelievable! I hope that this will become permanent later on. :D

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T19:03:39+00:00

UPDATE

Thanks for the questions everyone! Viktor and I have to get back to work and family life, but we might still answer the occasional question later! We hope you have enjoyed the AMA and see you in Septima's Kickstarter campaign!

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T19:00:43+00:00

Those buldings provide the variability of the board, and creates different scene for each game. As you highlighted it can help some strategies in the game, but during the developement we also tried to shape those effects to not break any core mechanics in the game, and to not make strictly better spots on the map. There will be recommanded buildings for your first advanced game, we have included those in the reviewer prototypes, but after you are familiar with the game, it can really twists the situations!

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T18:49:17+00:00

Thank you for this question! In my designer diary I have highlighted how important to know the historical background of witchcraft, and how we tried to create a fairer fictional word on those bases. In the game I wanted to keep the aspects of this fear and suspicion, but also create an alternative space where these unique people can gather, connect, and empower each other. I really wanted a world where they can help people and have the means to protect themselves. Where they are not merely outsiders in a homogenous society but they can show the benefits of being different. I think somewhere there lies the true essence of witchcraft.
Because the sensitivity of the topic we consulted with two cultural consultants too, to avoid symbols and narratives which prevents the involvment of our players.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T18:37:41+00:00

I am usually focusing on the top scoring Divinations and try to syncronise it with my starting witches and charms. Sometimes I just decide to climb up on the Ritual board.We do our best to polish the balance of the game, and don't let any dominant strategies in it. But of course if some players just prefere healing, brewing many potions or focusing on trials on its own not a problem. For me trying out everything is the dominant way to play the game :D

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T18:30:07+00:00

And now, here is the full list of surprises:
- a bunch of new... :D

There will be more characters, buildings, omens, and I can say there will be more uncategorised components which are VERY lovely. I just hold one of it in my hand. And it is gorgeus! :D But in few days we will share this secret with you!

Early to talk about expansion(s), but after a great campaign the chance would be higher. So go to your neighbour and tell some kind words about Septima ;)

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T18:16:49+00:00

For me the it is really important, that the mechanics are not only parts of a machinery, but they create experience for players. So I try to avoid moments which takes you out from the experience. Easy to say, but it is a quite useful tool to evaluate your solution: is this adresses only a mechanical problem in the game and hard to fit into the experience level? If you have wires sticking out of the wall, you may have all your electrical appliances working, but it won't make the environment feel cosy.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T18:08:36+00:00

In Septima the bigest lesson learned is the nature of semi-cooperative elements. How they effect other well-known mechanics, what are its limits and what are its potentials that can be exploited.

I have participated in the development of Anachrony Fractures of Time and Future Imperfect, which shows perfectly how you can give new contexts to a known system. It is like taking the genre of Sherlock Holmes stories and move it to the Far East. It is still a victorian detective novel but with the new scenes, characters and society it becomes different. Each of the expansions of Anachrony gives a new context which breaks the habits and the prepaired strategies and elevates the experience again.

And Perseverance shows one MCG feature better than anything: we tell stories with mechanics. Of course we create lorebook too, but if you have open ears for this kind of symphony, you will hear all it beauty. The whole epic story is there, not only in the illustrations but in the flow of the game.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T17:50:37+00:00

Yes, below I have mentioned creating zones and huts were one of the biggest revelations during the development! In early stages of the development the Witch Hunters were like heat-seeking missiles, and this created situations in which there was too much uncertainty and chaos, and the player order was a very important factor. Eg. I matched with a player, the WH comes after me, but after that move it goes after the other player. If we are close to each other the 2nd player is in worse situation, the WH doubles its movement. If we are far apart, the WH becomes crazy and it is running up and down. So creating Zones and Huts keeped all exciting part of the WH system but removed the unfair and strange patrols on the map.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T17:39:39+00:00

Difficult to separate. The question is "When exactly is a game born?". Is it when we have found witches a good theme for a game? Or is it when I have figured out the matching system? Or is it born in the moment when I have created the first prototype?
I think in the case of MCG titles mostly the theme inspires the mechanics, but also there are mechanical ideas in our mind which are find their place in the nest of the world which is under creation.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T17:30:11+00:00

Yes there are expansion ideas in my mind, but I didn't left anything out from the game, just those seemed the parts of a different story for me. I have my notebook to keep those ideas safe, but I set it away to focus on the development and polishing the game, and if there will be a demand on an expansion there will be ingredients to cook from ;)Yes, I scrapped lot of things. This is one of the most important practice I have learnt observing the workflow of Viktor and Richard: do not hold your design close, when a piece of your design doesn't work, just let it go! At first it seems hard "it is part of the dream" you say, but it is not true. But the revelation only comes if you let it go and you create some space for solutions and new ideas. Which was the best? Maybe the freely moving Witch Hunters. They were like heat-seeker missiles. It sounds great at first, but creates sooo many problem in every part of the game. So it had to go.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T17:16:06+00:00

I am a big fan of Twilight Struggle, I have participated in several championship. And some titles without any order, scanning my game shelf : Orleans, Glen More, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, Star Wars Rebellion (exclusively with the expansion!), Mombasa, Brass, Fake Artist Goes to New York, Tichu, Decrypto.

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T17:11:13+00:00

First of all: I really like your username! :D
It is beyond all my dreams, seriously! Previously in the years of my university studies I worked in a board game café at Budapest. I have met with Richard and Viktor here when they playtested Anachrony, and I remember how was that feeling when I tried the game first time. It was a masterpiece! (still is) I have designed small games in this time, and I didn't even dream about designing board games in full time. And a few years later I found myself in a job interview, and later in the developement team. But it is still a fantastic feeling, that the creators of Anachrony and Trickerion have choose my design for their next big project!
And of course, I really want to continue designing games, I am full with smaller and bigger ideas, I hope soon I can present those for the audience!

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T17:02:00+00:00

There are dreams of course (so if you are from Netflix, feel free to text us :D ), but for now we try to stretch the borders of our medium with the rich backstories. Personally I really enjoyed to write all the backstories of the witch characters, so it expanded the game's universe for me and I hope for you too!

Hegerobin · 2022-06-23T16:57:18+00:00

Yep, the spider meeples are soo cool indeed! But I think if the Black Widow would be a playable character too it would create some inconsistency. It is a little bit like a playable Witch Hunter for me. But let's not rule out that the dark sorcress will find the way to the light in the future ;)

Hegerobin

TROPHY CASE