Request: Beginngers option to NOT have the 'washback' shuffle/discard.

[pmiller]

Several friend groups have struggled with this game. And I believe it's mostly due to the 'washback' process.

As folks are learning the game flow, various recipes, planning/collecting ingredients, etc - there is a LOT of frustration/confusion when the washback results in little to sell. It takes quite a bit of time to learn how recipes overlap and what extra ingredients should be added to improve the odds of having worthwhile choices after washback.

A 'beginner' option to **skip the washback process** would help new players learn the game stages, become familiar with the spread of recipes, and targeting valuable products. Once players are comfortable with the game this newbie option can be turned off and 'nature' can be reintroduced back into the game play.

[Andrei3009]

Several friend groups have struggled with this game. And I believe it's mostly due to the 'washback' process.

As folks are learning the game flow, various recipes, planning/collecting ingredients, etc - there is a LOT of frustration/confusion when the washback results in little to sell. It takes quite a bit of time to learn how recipes overlap and what extra ingredients should be added to improve the odds of having worthwhile choices after washback.

A 'beginner' option to **skip the washback process** would help new players learn the game stages, become familiar with the spread of recipes, and targeting valuable products. Once players are comfortable with the game this newbie option can be turned off and 'nature' can be reintroduced back into the game play.

To reduce or eliminate the chance of your distillation failing altogether, you just need to buy more of the main ingredient or, as a last resort, water/yeast. Two more main ingredients than you need guarantees you a successful recipe.

BUT I totally agree with the option to cancel or change this mechanic. In my opinion, this is a terrible mechanic that spoils a good game. If you don't remove it, then you need to at least add additional insurance methods.

[Remkar]

Several friend groups have struggled with this game. And I believe it's mostly due to the 'washback' process.

As folks are learning the game flow, various recipes, planning/collecting ingredients, etc - there is a LOT of frustration/confusion when the washback results in little to sell. It takes quite a bit of time to learn how recipes overlap and what extra ingredients should be added to improve the odds of having worthwhile choices after washback.

A 'beginner' option to **skip the washback process** would help new players learn the game stages, become familiar with the spread of recipes, and targeting valuable products. Once players are comfortable with the game this newbie option can be turned off and 'nature' can be reintroduced back into the game play.

You would have to contact the developer/publisher of the physical game. BGA explicitly does not allow house rules that haven't been officially sanctioned, so you would:
-first, need to get the an officially sanctioned rule created
-second, make a bug/suggestion report to incorporate the above rule in the BGA version after it's official
-third, get enough up votes to bring it to the BGA developers attention
-fourth, hope the the BGA developer has the time and interest in adding the change

This seems extremely unlikely, though, especially because the washback process is a main mechanism of the game, so I find it hard to believe the designer would officially ok a version without it.

[TimmerB123]

This, in a nutshell, IS the game.

I honestly don’t even understand how it would function without it.

It would be an entirely different game

[HeluoLCH]

Personally, I feel the core mechanic of this game is all about push-your-luck. The fun comes from managing your risks—either by adding extra ingredients and buying distillery upgrades to safe-guard your brew, or by using minimal resources to go for a big win. If we remove this mechanic, the game might lose its main appeal, and many of the upgrades designed to prevent failure would lose their purpose as well.

[Paddles]

This seems extremely unlikely, though, especially because the washback process is a main mechanism of the game, so I find it hard to believe the designer would officially ok a version without it.

Agree with this, removing washback would unbalance the game in multiple ways.

Firstly, a significant part of the strategy is how do maximise your chance of making the spirits you want/managing the risk.

• Do you spend money on additional ingredients so that even if you have two sugars in your washback, you still have enough to make your chosen recipe?
• Do you spend money (or label bonuses) on distillery upgrades that let you manage your washback in different ways?These are expensive upgrades, but they can reduce risk and need to add ingredients.
• Do you spend money on backup recipes, so that even if you can't make your top-tier spirit you can make something else that is better than vodka?

Secondly, the washback is useful because it reduces the amount of ingredients you need to repurchase each turn. If you have yeast/water/alcohol in the washback, then you can use your limited basic market purchases to buy sugars. If you already have a sugar, then that's less sugars you need to spend money on so you have more for items or upgrades.

If you remove the washback mechanism, then several distillery upgrades become worse than worthless (cost without benefit), and some of the distiller identities become proportionately more powerful (e.g. Nisha Salahar (sp.?) with her three basic market purchases).

[slothsquach]

One of the significant thematic strengths of this game IS the skimming / washback process and is entirely part of the appeal of the game.

Without it its nonesense

[SumatraTiger]

It’s straightforward, I would say simple:

Your distill (unmodified) consists of everything you put into it plus 1 Alcohol card (added) per Sugar card you put into it. Modifiers include for example Worm Tub which adds even more Alcohol.

For example, a normal distill with 1 Water, 1 Yeast, and 5 Sugars will see 5 Alcohols added and thus will comprise 12 cards (not just the 7 you added).

From that stack you get 2 random cards (unmodified) removed and returned to your hand (Pantry). This is useful, not bad. Modifiers include the signature ingredient, Spirit Safe etc. which can allow you to manipulate what’s removed (better control, advantageous). Of course your Pantry also still will contain whatever you chose to exclude altogether from the Distill (if anything: often, but not always, you will Distill all your possible cards).

Your intended result or product is perhaps jeopardized only to the extent that one or more Sugar cards is among those removed. (Though there are times when you would prefer extra Sugars back). Thus you typically will want to include extra Sugars in your Distill, to minimize or even eliminate any chance of failure. To be in a position to do this well you must plan ahead, which takes practice, and leverage game resources.

At that point you can produce whatever what’s left in your Distill qualifies to produce. Typically (again, there are exceptions) you need an appropriate Recipe beforehand.

Finally, this game rewards patience. I now win consistently even over relatively good players, but to get there, I lost a lot because I just did not yet fully grasp how all the pieces fit together smoothly. If you persist and do not worry about losing and just have fun, you will learn. Just play and enjoy the game.