Hello, not sure this is the correct place to post, but feel like it's the best I've found.. (TL;DR at the end)
To be noted, I find this game extremely smart as an idea and awesomely executed in all levels, except scoring.. I do not want this post to feel in any way as a dig to this game, because it is great in many ways!! After all, who would spend time discussing a game they didn't really enjoy?
To be clear, I am discussing multiplayer version only, as in solo it doesn't really matter.
There are some points I would like to make about the scoring system in general and offer a "home-brew scoring system" idea to give and take some feedback.. Points that are I think valid even with the bug in mind, understanding that your points should only be the army and not all cards earned.. I am hoping this will reach people interested in the game, and not people who might get annoyed by this "rant"..
Point 1) It is not fair to give the same value to all cards. For example a card requiring any pair to win and to a dragon card requiring a Yahtzee roll can not be both calculated as 1 VP. I strongly believe that points should be the die faces used and not the number of cards.
Point 2) If we accept "point 1", it would be uneven to disregard total cards earned and just go for the army since it would be make all cards used count as 0, disregarding how difficult it was to earn them. My thoughts are that instead of oversimplifying scoring and creating unfairness on the way the game values rolls, we could score points as such:
1 point for every card still in army
1 point for every die face printed on earned cards (army and discarded)
Now, this only leaves us with the issue of Suns and Moons scoring the same way as specific die sides. There are a lot of ways to look at that, I feel like it's OK to not go further because we already know we can get one card every round. However, if one wishes to go closer to Yahtzee scoring, a card could be valued as such:
1 point per die needed plus
The sum of numbers printed.
For example, a card needing two pairs, one pair of which must be 4s, is
4 (number of dice needed) plus 4+4 (numbers printed) = 12.
A card requiring ANY pair would be 2 points, and a card requiring A PAIR OF 3s, would be 8 points.
Point 3) All the above are meant to break the unfairness of all rolls required to earn a card providing the same value regardless of the toughness of the roll. There is also a way to add some more strategy in the game, while understanding that luck is always the dominant factor in a dice and cards game. There could be an extra symbol on some cards, for example the multiply "*" symbol, which when played can give the player the ability to earn two cards. For example, a Two Pair throw, could earn a Two Pair card, or two cards, each being a simple Pair card.
Point 4) Tie breaking. In case of a tie, more cards in Army should give the win. If tie persists, the winner is whoever got the Dragon card.
I believe that these could at least be considered as proper variations if the main game wishes to remain simple above all.
TL;DR
Score points for die faces not just cards. Add all die faces earned plus cards remaining in army for proper scoring in multiplayer.
Consider adding another card ability, one that allows players to earn two cards with one throw.
Use cards still in army and/or Dragon card as tie breakers.
