Board Game Arena

Contrary to what a number of other people have said, I don't find that the game focuses just on deer. Other strategies have worked really well for me, and other types of cards generate a lot of points. If I'm lucky enough to get two ferns in the first 1/3 of the game, for example, I'll go for amphibians much more than for deer. Tree-focused decks - yes, with a couple of red deer, but not a lot of deer combos - have been among the strongest games for me.

But one thing is pretty clear: Insects are underpowered and effectively worthless. I've never seen anyone win by relying on them, and I've given up even considering playing them - I now treat insects as not worth even thinking of playing.

It wouldn't be hard to make a few minor changes that would make bugs viable and worth playing. For example:

* Add one more species of butterfly, and so butterfly sets can score higher.

* Add a host plant, played under trees, that works similarly to ferns for amphibians. Maybe score 4 points per butterfly + 1 point per card with insect symbol (so it's actually 5 points per butterfly). Milkweed might be a good choice because it is well know for its association with monarchs.

* Bats, instead of scoring 5 points each once you have 3 different species, should score 2 points per insect card you have (but only when you have at least 3 bat species).

I think that alone might fix it, and make insects strong enough to hold their own with the other strategies.

Alpine expansion actually did my first two suggestions from my post here!

Although they split the host plants into one for insects and a different one for butterflies, and it only scores 3 per butterfly not 4, it's still very close.

Now what about my suggestion for changing the bats' scoring? I realize that involves changing the existing bat cards, so for physical game sets it would have to be an optional new rule that wouldn't be printed on people's cards. But I really think it makes so much more sense for bats to score for having more insects - that's what bats need in real life.