Big Monster is in Alpha !

[nicotacotac]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to announce that Big Monster is now available for Alpha testing. Please feel free to try it even if you don't know the game, it's a mixing of smart drafting, puzzle/tile-laying.

A team variant of the game exists but is still under development and will come very soon ! You can still play the 2/3 players and the the 4 to 6 players variants.

It's also the first game I've developed for BGA so please go easy on me Happy to listen to any constructive feedback and of course to fix any bugs that are reported.

Several useful links :

• French rules
• English Rules
• Rules in video (fr)
• Gameplay - 2 players variant (fr - tric trac TV)
• Gameplay and explanation (fr - tric trac TV)
• Game review (en)

[Grovast]

In case of a turn-based game, how is handled the "real time" gimmick of the game

[nicotacotac]

Hi !
It's sure that there is less "real-time" and quick-drafting effect on a turn based mode, but it does not block the game nor reduce the playability.
Of course first players would have more choice for drafting and can play more strategically, but the last drafting player does not get penalty (in this version) for being last (and forced to draft tiles on its own place).

But this is open for discussion (and purpose of alpha). If you feel it's odd to have the game in a turn-based mode (at lease for 4+ players), go ahead with your opinion and share it !

[nicotacotac]

New Release has been published ! You can find the change log here below :

Mainly design and overall UX improvement have been made. Also, some bug identified by reviewers have been fixed !
Most visible improvement is the tooltips on monster tiles on hand, helping for better view of playable tiles ! Thanks all for your suggestion and thanks again for other reports and finding bugs !

Next release will mostly focus on adding the team variant ! You will be warned a bit before release as this one would probably break the games in progress as major updates are expected, including some on the backbone of the game. Sorry in advance for that !

BUGFIX
- penalty medal was not correctly awarded if tie at the end of the game (ticket 52436)
- diamonds count was wrong when explorer's diamonds were used (bug 52497)
- players was unable to play its drafting card action under certains circonstance (report of LaLoose01 #51965, thanks)

UX
- fixed bug 52055 where medal goals was not visible
- improved display of explorer selection on small screen (bug 52128)
- added the name of explorer in final stats
- added some centering
- fixed count of remaining tile in 2-3 players getting negative at the end of the game
- fixed diamonds icons on final score board
- quick help for 5+ players is correctly displayed now
- "my hand" is no more visible for 2-3 players mode
- when a medal is won by 2+ players at the same time, the goal face is now visible for all players miniboards
- some other small improvements

[Grovast]

Thanks for the answer & release, it motivated me to give it a try !

[nicotacotac]

Hello Explorers of the Universe! I hope you are successful in discovering and catching monsters (and bugs ) !
A new release has been published right now !
We are getting closer to the beta release, that we target to have ready by the end of the month. All feedback and bug reports are welcome !
Thanks again for your help and Have Fun !

Those are the following main updates included in this release:

- A countdown is added at the start of the game, right after the explorer selection. You can now check the selection of others before actually start playing !
==> Feedback on this: is the 10 seconds the right amount of time for the countdown ? More ? Less ? OK ?
- Fixed bug of the explorer able to play a 19th tile not taken into account
- Fixed bug of 2nd ice medal not awarded for teams
- Fixed tie score for teams
- Added global score in statistics (mostly useful for teams)
- Added a color border to tiles on ship to see more easily who sent the tiles to who
- Rearrange and update icons of medal face
- Auto-recenter play area on each moves
- some other UI improvements

PS : normally running game should not be affected, if it is the case, tell me here