The game looks awesome! The art is such a plus for the game. But I feel like the art gets in the way of the graphic design regarding the main board and the player boards. From the videos, I kept confusing some of the little trees of the background design with the resource icons. On the map, I feel like the danger tokens mix in too well and I feel like players will either forget they're there or will have to ask other players to read the values from across the board. I hope some of these aspects can be improved on during Kickstarter. Thank you for reading! I'm keeping this game in mind!
Hi Julio, I'm really glad you like the look of the game, and thank you for your feedback! I believe some of the issues you’re seeing are enhanced by the top-down view and looking at things in a smaller form (on screen rather than in real life). For example, the dangerous areas appear more blended from a top-down view than from a chair view, where you can see the edges and depth of the tiles better. Similarly, the numbers on the tiles are quite large; most text/numbers in the game are considerably larger than in most games for accessibility purposes, but the shrunk-down screen view can disrupt that perception. That said, accessibility and usability are key factors in my designs, and I consider them just as important as the gameplay and artwork. I’ll continue to review this through ongoing testing right up until the game is sent to print to ensure the concerns you mention don't impact the final game.
I'm interested! I assume you've done a fair amount of playtesting at higher player counts, but all the videos are only 1-2 players, so it's hard to get a feel for how much analysis paralysis crops up with 4-5 newer players at the table. Does 2 hours seem a realistic play time for higher player counts? After a couple plays to get comfortable with it does it speed up significantly, or does experience just open up the space for even more brain burn, slowing rounds down?
Hi @philomorph7, The playtime on the box is very much a realistic playtime that is based on significant playtesting and is designed to give a true representation of what to expect. I would anticipate the first play of 4-5 player games for most people will be close to the 2-hour mark, and this will normally reduce a little bit with multiple plays. I have seen plenty of 4-5 player games finish in 90-110 minutes and very few take longer than 130. While I am sure there will be some players who struggle significantly with analysis paralysis and will prove me wrong, it is not something I have noticed in playtesting Emberleaf with hundreds of people. In part, this is because there were some design decisions to help combat this. Primarily, on your turn you only perform one action, play or slide, and this is to create the shortest turns possible and allow as much pre-planning as possible. Emberleaf is a game of lots of small turns with the odd bigger one, rather than a game of a few larger turns. I would also highlight the playtime on videos such as this one is much less accurate as I’m providing an additional level of commentary and teach that wouldn't exist in a real play. I hope this helps!
By the way Frank, the way trophies work is a bit strange to me. The last person who places a tile in a region will get the trophy. But how about the hard work of other people there? Shouldn't they get something better? What is the rationale behind this decision?
Hi Shay, great question! The primary purpose of trophies is to encourage player interaction and make other players' decisions matter. While focusing heavily on one area can be very rewarding, smaller contributions often feel less impactful. Trophies help balance this by increasing the value of those smaller actions, giving players a reason to venture into different clearings instead of sticking to their own. Think of it this way: if a small action is worth 2 points and a big action is worth 10, a 5-point trophy boosts that smaller action to 7, making it a much more viable choice. This keeps areas competitive rather than leaving nearly completed zones undesirable for everyone but the player who’s already dominated it. For players already focused on a specific area, it’s important to stay alert and track what others are doing. If you prefer to play it safe, you can strategise to build multiple buildings or clear multiple dangerous areas in a single turn. By monitoring other players or creating certain card combinations, you can always avoid losing a trophy if it’s crucial to your plan. From a design perspective, trophies add tension, pushing players to balance risk-taking with cautious play. Losing a trophy can sting thematically, but mechanically, it’s usually not devastating-especially if you’ve planned ahead. When it comes to clearing dangerous areas, beehives can be incredibly powerful. A single beehive (the row before the trophy) is often more valuable than the trophy itself. Personally, I often go for the second-to-last row over the trophy once the beehive trophy has been claimed! There are a lot of nuances to trophies, and I hope you’ll get the chance to discover them when you play the game. If you'd like me to expand on any of this further, please feel free to let me know!
The game looks awesome! The art is such a plus for the game. But I feel like the art gets in the way of the graphic design regarding the main board and the player boards. From the videos, I kept confusing some of the little trees of the background design with the resource icons. On the map, I feel like the danger tokens mix in too well and I feel like players will either forget they're there or will have to ask other players to read the values from across the board. I hope some of these aspects can be improved on during Kickstarter. Thank you for reading! I'm keeping this game in mind!
Hi Julio, I'm really glad you like the look of the game, and thank you for your feedback! I believe some of the issues you’re seeing are enhanced by the top-down view and looking at things in a smaller form (on screen rather than in real life). For example, the dangerous areas appear more blended from a top-down view than from a chair view, where you can see the edges and depth of the tiles better. Similarly, the numbers on the tiles are quite large; most text/numbers in the game are considerably larger than in most games for accessibility purposes, but the shrunk-down screen view can disrupt that perception. That said, accessibility and usability are key factors in my designs, and I consider them just as important as the gameplay and artwork. I’ll continue to review this through ongoing testing right up until the game is sent to print to ensure the concerns you mention don't impact the final game.
I'm interested! I assume you've done a fair amount of playtesting at higher player counts, but all the videos are only 1-2 players, so it's hard to get a feel for how much analysis paralysis crops up with 4-5 newer players at the table.
Does 2 hours seem a realistic play time for higher player counts? After a couple plays to get comfortable with it does it speed up significantly, or does experience just open up the space for even more brain burn, slowing rounds down?
Hi @philomorph7,
The playtime on the box is very much a realistic playtime that is based on significant playtesting and is designed to give a true representation of what to expect. I would anticipate the first play of 4-5 player games for most people will be close to the 2-hour mark, and this will normally reduce a little bit with multiple plays. I have seen plenty of 4-5 player games finish in 90-110 minutes and very few take longer than 130.
While I am sure there will be some players who struggle significantly with analysis paralysis and will prove me wrong, it is not something I have noticed in playtesting Emberleaf with hundreds of people. In part, this is because there were some design decisions to help combat this. Primarily, on your turn you only perform one action, play or slide, and this is to create the shortest turns possible and allow as much pre-planning as possible. Emberleaf is a game of lots of small turns with the odd bigger one, rather than a game of a few larger turns.
I would also highlight the playtime on videos such as this one is much less accurate as I’m providing an additional level of commentary and teach that wouldn't exist in a real play.
I hope this helps!
@@CityofGamesHQ Thanks!
By the way Frank, the way trophies work is a bit strange to me. The last person who places a tile in a region will get the trophy. But how about the hard work of other people there? Shouldn't they get something better? What is the rationale behind this decision?
Hi Shay, great question!
The primary purpose of trophies is to encourage player interaction and make other players' decisions matter. While focusing heavily on one area can be very rewarding, smaller contributions often feel less impactful. Trophies help balance this by increasing the value of those smaller actions, giving players a reason to venture into different clearings instead of sticking to their own.
Think of it this way: if a small action is worth 2 points and a big action is worth 10, a 5-point trophy boosts that smaller action to 7, making it a much more viable choice. This keeps areas competitive rather than leaving nearly completed zones undesirable for everyone but the player who’s already dominated it.
For players already focused on a specific area, it’s important to stay alert and track what others are doing. If you prefer to play it safe, you can strategise to build multiple buildings or clear multiple dangerous areas in a single turn. By monitoring other players or creating certain card combinations, you can always avoid losing a trophy if it’s crucial to your plan.
From a design perspective, trophies add tension, pushing players to balance risk-taking with cautious play. Losing a trophy can sting thematically, but mechanically, it’s usually not devastating-especially if you’ve planned ahead.
When it comes to clearing dangerous areas, beehives can be incredibly powerful. A single beehive (the row before the trophy) is often more valuable than the trophy itself. Personally, I often go for the second-to-last row over the trophy once the beehive trophy has been claimed!
There are a lot of nuances to trophies, and I hope you’ll get the chance to discover them when you play the game.
If you'd like me to expand on any of this further, please feel free to let me know!
@@CityofGamesHQ Thank you very much for your answer! It makes sense. I like interaction in board games, so this is a pleasant decision for me.