The design of black market
This game, despite its simple final form, went through a substantial journey of trial and error. The initial spark came from the idea that Tarot cards have different meanings depending on whether they are upright or reversed.
Version 1: The Tarot Deck
Setup: The first iteration used the 22 Major Arcana from a Tarot deck as the main scoring cards and 10 types of "Joker" cards as the player's hand.
The Vibe: Each player started with three random, face-down Arcana cards in front of them. You could either swap out one of your Arcana cards for a new one from the main deck, or play a Joker.
The Wildness: Every single card was unique. Jokers had specific, disruptive effects—like the Mirror Joker making everyone swap their rightmost Tarot card—while the Arcana cards had dual effects for Upright vs. Reversed positions, based on their traditional meaning. For instance, revealing the Upright Fool instantly activated all Jokers in play; revealing the Reversed Wheel of Fortune flipped everyone's entire set of Arcana cards.
Winning: The goal was to be the first to achieve "Destiny Balance," meaning you had three face-up Arcana cards all facing you.
What We Learned (Version 1):
The Good: The theme was fantastic, and playtesters immediately grasped that Upright vs. Reversed meant Good vs. Bad—it was intuitive.
The Bad:
Complexity Nightmare: With 22 Arcana (44 effects) plus 10 Jokers, we had over 50 unique outcomes. It was impossible for new players, especially those unfamiliar with Tarot, to learn without constantly checking a reference guide.
Too Much Chaos: The randomness felt overwhelming. Players felt like they were just along for the ride and that their strategic choices didn't matter much.
Version 2: The Simplification
The Shift: We threw out all the effects and moved the Arcana cards to a common pool. We introduced standard playing cards as the new hand deck.
The Play: The Arcana cards were placed face-down in 9 numbered slots. Players used the numbered playing pocker cards from their hand to interact with the corresponding slot. The first time you played a number, you flipped the Arcana card. After that, playing the number allowed you to purchase the card for points equal to the number. High score won.
What We Learned (Version 2):
The Good: The rules were immediately simpler; no more rulebook diving.
The Bad:
Identity Crisis: The Tarot theme vanished completely.
Missing the Point: The core Upright/Reversed good-vs-bad mechanism was lost.
The Stalling Problem: Players quickly realized there was no incentive to be the one to flip a card (the setup cost). Everyone just waited for someone else to do the heavy lifting, then tried to save up cards for a quick flip-and-buy combo.
Board Bloat: Nine slots were too many, making the game feel less interactive.
Version 3: The Core Mechanic Returns
Aha! Moment: The fun part of Version 1 wasn't the Tarot—it was the Upright/Reversed orientation mechanic. We kept that and ditched the rest.
Refined Layout: We cut the slots down to 6 and introduced the dice roll to determine which slot you could interact with.
The Facing Mechanic: We realized that Upright and Reversed are relative. Why not have players sit facing each other? Now, a card is Upright to one pair of players and Reversed to the other. Crucially, you can only buy a card if it's facing you.
This created a delicious tension. If you turn a card to face your direction, you help your neighbor, but you also make it buyable for them. The main concern was that the starting player on one side might be reluctant to turn a card, fearing the player next in line would swoop in. However, the requirement to roll the exact number and have the purchase resources mitigated this risk.
Finalizing Resources: We replaced the numbered playing cards with simple Red and Black Hand Cards (since the numbers were now meaningless). Flipping was initially done by spending one Red and one Black card, but this still didn't incentivize flips enough; players just hoarded for purchases. So, we made the Flip action its own dedicated function/card type to make the rules cleaner and the action more distinct.
The Finishing Touches:
Borrowing from the Splendor: Inspired by Splendor's resource system (where purchased gems become resources), we reduced the point values on some cards and added effects that could be used in later turns. This let players execute combos and also balanced out the inherent randomness of the dice rolls.
The Power of Loss Aversion: We even included powerful, negative-point cards with huge effects. This was a calculated risk, as people are generally more motivated by avoiding a loss than by gaining an equivalent reward, making these risky, high-impact cards very tempting.
