Better reaction checks

[KruaSoon]

There are only a few reaction cards in the game, and I understand the need to give the opponent a chance to react even if they don’t have them, so it doesn’t reveal that they currently lack those cards.

However, I’ve seen many situations where Nixon tries to move the evidence and the Editor is still given a chance to react, even though “Follow the Money” is clearly in the discard pile or removed from the game. I’m almost 100% sure the same thing happens with other reactions as well. It’s especially frustrating in turn-based play, where this ends up being a significant waste of time.

Would it be too difficult, from a technical point of view, for the game to check whether all possible reaction cards are already discarded or removed before prompting?

Or am I missing something — maybe some deeper design idea, like the assumption that players don’t consistently track discarded/removed cards, so this adds an element of uncertainty?

I’d really love to see better handling of reaction skips. I only play turn-based and usually have about a minute per login, then come back much later, so these extra prompts effectively double the number of turns.

[Kayvon]

That's a good idea. It might take a bit of work th implement, but it would help a lot.

I coded Arctic Scavengers, a game which has a similar dilemma. We offered two solutions:

1. Game option: Players can choose how hidden information works. For instance, they can opt to reveal "hidden" information that could still be tracked via the replay. They can opt whether players who have no possibility of attacking are even prompted every single time. Or players can opt to only prompt when other players have cards in hand. Or, of course, to prompt every. single. time.

1. Player option: During the game, each player has a pull-down menu to choose how/when to auto-pass during attack prompts. Players can choose to always receive the prompt, never receive the prompt (perhaps they're saving the attack card), or to only prompt when they can actually attack. Crucially, players can change this during the game, which helps obfuscate whether someone actually has attack cards.