Ideas for new goals?

[Cos-]

I've been thinking about trying to add new goal cards to the mix, maybe playtesting them at home (where we have a Kingdom Builder set and could add new goals). I love how different the game is with all the same rules just based on what goals you randomly drew, and I'm curious how much more variety could be added that way.

A couple of ideas I have, though I haven't thought of good names for them:

* Longest distance connected: Find the two settlements of yours that are furthest from each other, but connected by a continuous line of your settlements; score 2x their distance. So for example if you scored perfect hermits, you'd get 0 from this goal. If your largest clump of settlements were a straight line of four, you'd score 6 from this goal, since the two ends of that line are 3 apart from each other. And so on.

* Like farmers, but for land terrain types: 4 points for each settlement you have on the type of land terrain on which you have the fewest settlements. Land only, water doesn't count. 4 points because there are 5 types of land terrain, so the best you could spread your 40 pieces out would be 8 per terrain, 8x4 = 32 which is close to the 10x3 = 30 max for farmers, and I think this one may be a bit harder than farmers so a perfect score would happen a bit less often.

Anyway, those are just two ideas. I'm curious if anyone else has others that might work well in the base game?

[Knuddelgiraffe]

Hi.
Why not just implementing the existing Expansions?
- Additional Quarters/Boards
- Additional Goals
- Additional Cardcolors
You dont have to Experiment?
Im just curious?
BR

[Cos-]

That's a different topic. I'm asking what ideas people have for new goals that would work well in the base game (same board, same colors, same special tiles).

[Kavorka]

A Goal relating to contact with the opponents settlements could be really interesting.
1 pt / settlement adjacent to 2+ opponent settlements
Or 1 pt / settlement which does not contact opponent settlement

Would likely have a similar feel to lords with advantage to P2.

[Cos-]

Oh, huh, that's especially interesting because opponents can directly affect your score not just by blocking you, but by choosing whether or not to place something adjacent to you. And on boards where there are any relocator tiles, also by moving away from you.

[Arjuna92]

* Longest distance connected: Find the two settlements of yours that are furthest from each other, but connected by a continuous line of your settlements; score 2x their distance. So for example if you scored perfect hermits, you'd get 0 from this goal. If your largest clump of settlements were a straight line of four, you'd score 6 from this goal, since the two ends of that line are 3 apart from each other. And so on.

You're not the only one to think of that. You're describing the Messengers from the Marshlands expansion.
(only difference: they score both settlements at the end of the line so perfect hermits would give you the minimum 2 points. But since everybody scores 2 more than with your suggestion, it's effectively the same)

* Like farmers, but for land terrain types: 4 points for each settlement you have on the type of land terrain on which you have the fewest settlements. Land only, water doesn't count. 4 points because there are 5 types of land terrain, so the best you could spread your 40 pieces out would be 8 per terrain, 8x4 = 32 which is close to the 10x3 = 30 max for farmers, and I think this one may be a bit harder than farmers so a perfect score would happen a bit less often.

That sounds interesting though probably a bit too luck-dependent. If you happen to draw terrain cards very evenly, you just naturally end up scoring more highly, while players with the misfortune of drawing the same terrain a bunch of times get penalised even more.

A Goal relating to contact with the opponents settlements could be really interesting.
1 pt / settlement adjacent to 2+ opponent settlements
Or 1 pt / settlement which does not contact opponent settlement

Would likely have a similar feel to lords with advantage to P2.

Donald X. remarked on this in his Secret History of the Nomads expansion. He found it didn't work well because the opponent could foil it too well. I'd be interested in trying it and I figure it might work well if there are no movement abilities in the game.