Key Takeaways

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Stat based vs Niche mechanic Traits 

Players remember fun unique traits like space pirate and mech pilot from set 3 or mutant and yordles from set 6. The bard trait was also fun as well as mages and shapeshifters. Although It’s also important to have a balance of new mechanic traits with stat based ones because stat-based traits are more accessible to new / low-skilled players to and offer comp variability.

Balance 

Players don’t necessarily want the game to be perfectly balanced. Set 6 is consistently mentioned by players to be their favourite set even though they also recognise it was an unbalanced set. The most important thing to balance correctly is to prevent the emergence of dominant strategies. This makes the game boring because it becomes predictable and it becomes about who gets the right units appear in the shop as opposed to who makes the best combination of decisions. However, players don’t want to play a set in which each team is equally as powerful as each other in every regard. Being able to maximise the thing a trait is good at makes a team powerful but also makes it highly enjoyable to play.  

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Some traits or units might be really strong however they might be difficult to acquire, meaning it might require the precise execution of the right choices at every stage. This is rewarding for skilled players because they can access stronger teams by performing skilfully. This can also be rewarding for low skilled players because there’s an element of chance that might allow the player to access a stronger build. 

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On the flip side some traits / units might be inherently weaker that allow low-skilled players to access the game without having to understand all the systems intimately. The weaker traits also offer high-skilled and creative players variation because they might choose to mix and match a team with some from a weaker team to gain a particular benefit. 

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