Sag suggested this, I'll post this in a thread so it doesn't clog up the other thread. This is a variant that my wife and I have been playing 2-3 times a night after work the past 2 weeks or so, we really like it. We have ONLY tested it with 2, so I can speak to its quality with two. Let me know if you guys try this, or have variants you are playing of the game or alternatively if you think this is crazy and the game can't be fixed or changed, etc.

Here's my variant and some discussions after it:

Play to 20 as normal, only tested with 2 players. Rule changes are:

1) Base 2 die buys per turn instead of 1
2) Can't buy 2 of the same die on a turn
3) No exhausted creature game end

<Gary Sax>

Lots of quarriors after dinner. After 15 plays or so now we decided you should be able to buy two dice per turn if you want as long as you don't buy two of the same die. It makes the game a tiny bit shorter and way, way better. Now there's a major choice during the buy process and you can put combos together much more quickly and craft your dice mix.

<Stormseeker75>

Does that solve the "always buy the most expensive thing you can afford" issue I have with the game?

<Gary Sax>

Yes, completely. It makes the game into a "deck builder" in the sense that with two buys you can actually structure your bag. So by the end of games my wife and I generally have very few basic die left and have lots of exactly what we want, including comboed dice that complement one another. The cheap creatures and spells *can* get lots of play with this variant. Since you can buy two cheap dice, and most of the cheap dice are what you would want to combo with other dice, you can make that happen. On the other hand, big dice retain their power because many of them have strong abilities and having big numbers means that they're difficult to kill. If you're summoning 3 goblins on a turn someone can easily kill 2 of those 3 with a decent summon whereas you couldn't get rid of any of a dragon or wizard since you have to reach a higher number or it does nothing whatsoever. I strongly recommend you try it, it is a bit shorter since you can put together more lethal combos more quickly and you can buy more spells which have better mana return than most of the basic options. Turns out even most bad spells are actually quite useful just for the mana they generate in this variant.

It's also a straightforward, easy to remember rule that doesn't change anything else. Someone on BGG had a decent one where if you rolled an assistant you could use it to buy another die or cull a die but I think this is much easier. You do need to get rid of the victory condition for running out of creatures, but I never paid any attention to that. I can also only speak to this variant with two players, though I have no reason to think it wouldn't work with more, as long as you don't allow people to buy two of the same dice (everyone has at least one chance at every die).

It takes away a bit of the power from a couple of dice that add another buy option, but not much---the growth dice are *always* super powerful, regardless of whether it gives you a third rather than second buy. The wizard is also still good who lets you buy another die.

It's amazing how this little change matters. It feels like the game was designed with it IMHO.

My biggest problem with Quarriors by far is the one buy per turn rule. It's an antiquated DBG model and should not be used anymore. I'm pumped to try this out.

Ordered this but haven't played it yet. Should I play with the original rules first or switch straight to this?

I'd add that it was recommended earlier to play to 20 points with four players and that improves the game in my opinion. I haven't played a two-player or three-player game since I read the suggestion and I'd be curious to hear what point totals people are playing to for those games.

By the way, we've never played exhausted creature rule. I don't know if it's ever even come up, but we forgot about it after the first reading of the rules and certainly haven't felt a need for it.


No point playing the junior game in my opinion.

S.

What will this variant be known as? The Sax's Sack variant?

Mr Skeletor wrote:


I'd give the original a try a couple times and see how you feel. The game has more of a play itself quality with 1 buy rules as written, but I enjoyed it then too. If you try a couple times and feel there's too little choice, you'll probably like this change.

Let me know if you guys try this. I hope it works as well as it's working or us. It's still not a heavyweight by any stretch but you can combo much better now and buy choices matter.

How about "Gary Sack"

I hope to take this for a spin tomorrow evening.

S.

I'll try anything to improve this game and this one looks like a great idea. I play Quarriors! with my wife because she likes it so a variant that's already been tested for two is perfect for us.

We took this out for a ride last night, four experienced players, to 20 points, variant as written by Gary above. It worked very well. It also meant more horsepower in the bags of all four players. 8 or 10 damage points became routine as the game progressed and it increased the values of the Quaxos creatures that can't hurt each other. It also added value to the spell that allowed you to neutralize one creature's damage. I think it's likely we could have played to 35, and that we would have gotten there in just a couple of more trips around the table.

Definitely worth taking out for a spin. Thanks for sharing Gary.

S.

Glad you enjoyed it. It definitely makes the bags more full of stuff you want and increases summoning---and can shorten the game as a result.

Especially glad it worked with 4, hadn't tried it.