One great option - which exists in the Yucata.de implementation - would be for the game to track the cards for you. Theoretically, when I return a card to the deck, I know where it is (at the bottom of its deck) - and as cards are returned in the future, or drawn from the top, I know where that initial card is because I returned it.
If I had a great memory, I could track it automatically. Since I don't, I often have to scroll back through the game log to quickly reconstruct in my mind where that card is relative to the top and bottom (and relative to other cards I've returned). Since "Innovation" isn't really a memory game, and since we're supposed to know where these cards are, it would be nice if clicking on a deck of Age cards could show us the order of the cards in that deck, for all cards whose position we know (and use the card backs to represent the position of cards whose identity we don't currently know).
Tracking cards should also track the position of cards that are known to me which have made it into my opponent's hand or score pile (with card backs representing the cards that are unknown to me).
Yucata.de's implemenation not only does all this, but then has a list of "Unknown Cards", so we know what has yet to be accounted for. For instance, if my Tableau has "Tools," my opponent's has "Sailing," I just recently returned "The Wheel", my hand is empty, and my score pile has "Metalworking" (all Age 1 cards), then clicking on the "Age 1 Deck" will show me a long queue of card backs, with "The Wheel" at the end of the queue (representing the fact that it's at the bottom of the deck, as I just returned it). Then, after this list, will be a picture of all the Age 1 cards other than "Sailing," "The Wheel," "Metalworking," and "Tools", whose position is currently unknown - as they may be in the deck, in my opponent's score pile, or in my opponent's hand, but I haven't seen them, so I don't know where they could be.
Not only is the helpful for tracking potential possibilities for drawing, melding, or opponent's plans, but it's also helpful because it gives me a nice way to see all the cards in the "Innovation" game, to help learn what they are (and what the possibilities for play in the game are). I've memorized "Sailing" because it's an "Age 1" card I see all the time, but I haven't memorized "Robotics" because -as an Age 10 card - it hasn't seen much play from me. So helping to learn the cards is definitely a boon for anyone in the community.
The inclusion of all the "Currently Unknown Position" cards also has strategic considerations. How many times have I been facing an opponent who is massing a huge amount of points with Pottery? I know I need to get to a card that can yank those points out of his scoring pile, but since I haven't memorized all the cards, I don't know which ones I need to go for, and in which ages (or which ones might already be in play due to a tuck) - so I can't really come up with a plan, and I end up flailing. If I had the ability to see what all the cards in the game were - as well as which of those might still potentially be in which deck - it might help me to mount some kind of strategic response to my opponent's current domination.
If I had a great memory, I could track it automatically. Since I don't, I often have to scroll back through the game log to quickly reconstruct in my mind where that card is relative to the top and bottom (and relative to other cards I've returned). Since "Innovation" isn't really a memory game, and since we're supposed to know where these cards are, it would be nice if clicking on a deck of Age cards could show us the order of the cards in that deck, for all cards whose position we know (and use the card backs to represent the position of cards whose identity we don't currently know).
Tracking cards should also track the position of cards that are known to me which have made it into my opponent's hand or score pile (with card backs representing the cards that are unknown to me).
Yucata.de's implemenation not only does all this, but then has a list of "Unknown Cards", so we know what has yet to be accounted for. For instance, if my Tableau has "Tools," my opponent's has "Sailing," I just recently returned "The Wheel", my hand is empty, and my score pile has "Metalworking" (all Age 1 cards), then clicking on the "Age 1 Deck" will show me a long queue of card backs, with "The Wheel" at the end of the queue (representing the fact that it's at the bottom of the deck, as I just returned it). Then, after this list, will be a picture of all the Age 1 cards other than "Sailing," "The Wheel," "Metalworking," and "Tools", whose position is currently unknown - as they may be in the deck, in my opponent's score pile, or in my opponent's hand, but I haven't seen them, so I don't know where they could be.
Not only is the helpful for tracking potential possibilities for drawing, melding, or opponent's plans, but it's also helpful because it gives me a nice way to see all the cards in the "Innovation" game, to help learn what they are (and what the possibilities for play in the game are). I've memorized "Sailing" because it's an "Age 1" card I see all the time, but I haven't memorized "Robotics" because -as an Age 10 card - it hasn't seen much play from me. So helping to learn the cards is definitely a boon for anyone in the community.
The inclusion of all the "Currently Unknown Position" cards also has strategic considerations. How many times have I been facing an opponent who is massing a huge amount of points with Pottery? I know I need to get to a card that can yank those points out of his scoring pile, but since I haven't memorized all the cards, I don't know which ones I need to go for, and in which ages (or which ones might already be in play due to a tuck) - so I can't really come up with a plan, and I end up flailing. If I had the ability to see what all the cards in the game were - as well as which of those might still potentially be in which deck - it might help me to mount some kind of strategic response to my opponent's current domination.
