Unpub Preview: Scoville

One of our upcoming events is Protospiel-Milwaukee (and Mid-West Unpub.) This is not an event I will be able to attend, and it is being managed by James Mathes of Minion Games. Games coming to Protospiel-Milwaukee register through a different entity, and by doing so don’t get a page here on Unpub.net. This is our first time with this type of partnership and we’re testing these policies out. One way we can support the games and designers coming to this event is through these previews.   So, today we continue our series of previews of games coming to Protospiel- Milwaukee.

Ed Marriott will be present his map building/worker movement/set collecting game Scoville to the event this weekend. That's an interesting collection of genres that really piques my interest.

Scoville, as witnessed by the logo involves peppers, but it's more than just a pepper planting game. Let's hear what Ed has to say about this unique game...

What was your inspiration for this game? I had the idea that I wanted to play a game where you have to start with very basic resources. You then would have to use those resources to create better resources, which could in turn make even better resources. Throughout the game you are working to get up to the best resources, which will earn you the most points. For some reason peppers seemed to fit that mold with cross-breeding to make hotter peppers.

What is your favorite part of this game?  The uniqueness of the map building aspect. In each round all players have to "plant" a pepper in the fields. The peppers that are in the fields will create cross-breeding opportunities. So throughout the game the fields are being populated by peppers that allow you to breed better peppers. It makes for very interesting strategy of which pepper to plant, and where to plant it.

To your knowledge, What do other people find most interesting about it? People seem to really enjoy the strategy behind planting and harvesting in the fields. The map gets filled up and you harvest by moving up to three spots in the fields. The peppers that you harvest will be a cross-breed of the two pepper fields that your pawn is between. You can block people, you can strategically plant peppers so that only you could benefit from the harvest that round, and you can take advantage of peppers that other players have placed.

What has been the most challenging part of designing this game? When I dreamed up the concept I envisioned it being a card game focused on set collection sort of like Bohnanza. But then I realized that making it a card game would limit the potential of how I wanted the set collection to work. So I, on a whim, came up with the map building part and all the pieces just fell into place.

What advice would you give to players attempting this game for the first time? Don't be afraid to plant the more valuable peppers. Sometimes first time players will hold back the more valuable peppers to use them for fulfilling orders or recipes rather than being bold and planting them.

What has surprised you most in play-tests of your game? I have been pleasantly surprised that every single play-test has not only played to completion, but played "well" according to the play-testers. There were no glaringly broken mechanics. Everything just seemed to work well together.

People who like___________ will like this game. Why? This is a tough one since the main mechanic of Scoville is so unique. But I think people who like games like Stone Age would like this game. I say that because the game itself isn't technically complicated, but the strategy is deep and keeps you thinking and planning ahead.

What do you hope to accomplish at this event?  I want to get the game out there and see what people have to say about it. I think it is a fun game, but my opinion isn't the one that matters.

Tell us anything else you want to say about the game that I haven't asked or you haven't said already. Scoville plays from 2-6 players, recommended ages 10+, and tentatively plays in about 40-120 minutes based on the number of players. Come find me at Protospiel-Milwaukee to give it a go!

Thanks Ed! This game sounds like it's going to be full of flavor. A real hot commodity!

Other  Protospiel- Milwaukee  games previewed:

Arsenal by Keith Matejka

Scrapmech by Carl Klutzke