In Faraway, the randomness far outweighs the strategy

[AlexSorbin]

To an experienced player, Faraway may seem like a broken and flawed game,
simplicity and speed captivate the player, but the randomness far outweighs the strategy, e.g.
I was given 14 clue cards in the first four moves and none of them had the required symbol on them,
and my opponent had far less clues but got the symbols he needed,
and it was two games in a row, such a broken game

I've played 3000 games of Faraway and I obviously like the simplicity and speed of the game,
but the higher the skill becomes, the more you notice the game's flaws,

first, randomness destroys strategy,
second, once the cards are dealt you immediately lose and you don't need to play in many cases,
third, the randomness of dealing clue cards blindly, even with 5-6 clue symbols you will lose because your opponent got everything you need even without clues

[Arbre Bojo]

The designers managed to create a small, refreshing game with cool visuals that makes us consider interesting choices.
Each game feels unique, with different choices everytime, constantly testing our sense of risk versus reward.
It's addictive, and you might find yourself playing just to beat your high score.

From a pure competitive standpoint, the game can be frustrating at times due to it's randomness. There's still some degree of skill, but two players would need to play way more than just one game to determine who's the best. It can feel unrewarding, even after 3000 games, you still have a chance to lose to a beginner that goes all in and gets all the symbols.

However, I don't think it's fair to call the game flawed for these reasons, because it doesn't intend to be competitive. In fact, the vast majority of board games aren't designed that way. Being overly competitive about it likely to just kill your enjoyment and make you feel more and more miserable.
Don't fall into that trap, play the game with a mindset that makes you enjoy it, or it's just not worth it.

[AlexSorbin]

Thank You very much for response on topic, the game have success and I think (and hope) the designers may meet the issues for further success

[_Crystalboy_]

Thank you for your message.
After more than 2000 games, I feel exactly the same.
With experience, I have more and more games that are closed but only luck makes the difference.
As I said to friends, what makes me still playing is the short time per game. With 5 to 10 minutes more, I would have stopped.

[FarawayCyril]

If you have played 3000 games and you was not in the top 10, you make a lot of missplay and you don't know how play better.

It's easy to win with good cards, it's more hard to win with bad cards but possible...

I was number 1 with 450elo.

[_Crystalboy_]

@FarawayCyril
I was first in arena and global ranking, is my advise acceptable?

The more I play the more I have close scoring and most of the time the difference comes from luck in sanctuary (either you have lost of clues of not)

[FarawayCyril]

Both. I was first in arena and global ranking

[Ragnarok1er]

I figured that out after 5 games so I find it a bit funny that you guys needed 2 or 3000
Here’s a small clue for your next endeavors : when the top Elo of a game is lower than the top Elo of Lucky Numbers, there’s not much skill involved