We don't talk about this much, but one of the reasons we develop entrepreneurship related products is because of how empowering it can be to learn about business, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. These are skills that can help a person be successful in all aspects of their life.

While our GoVenture Card Game is not necessarily designed to be an educational product, the reality is that EVERY game, regardless of its purpose or design, is educational in one way or another. For example, Angry Birds is not an educational game, but while you are slinging birds at pigs, you do certainly learn a thing or two about physics.

And that is what we hope will happen with the ENTREPRENEUR theme of the GoVenture Card Game. We first hope that it will be FUN and ENGAGING to play, while at the same time expose more people to the idea of entrepreneurship and perhaps encourage them to discover more.

The MONSTER theme? Well, we are not sure there is a career path out there for monster bounty hunters, but who doesn't want to fight zombies, vampires, orcs, and more? Plus it may help you for the upcoming Zombie/Monster apocalypse.

When we were designing the GoVenture Card Game, we wanted it to be easy to start and easy to play for everyone — kids and adults, gamers and non-gamers. The game fundamentals are easy to learn - you can get started in a few minutes and then learn additional rules as you play.

But, we also wanted it to have deep strategy so that you don't get bored after a few rounds. That tends to be a problem with easy games that just repeat the same game mechanics. Just as games with deep strategy can often be more difficult to get started.

After a lot of play testing and tweaking, we think we found a really good balance. You can play the game casually and have fun without having to think through the strategy, but for those of us who can't help ourselves and need strategy to be engaged, we can dive in as much as we like, too.

And, even if a player may be more experienced and have an advantage, that advantage can be quickly wiped out with a bit of luck and when other players try to foil them with

ACTION cards (because everyone tends to target the player in the lead).

Many (most?) games involve luck in some way. Whether it be the roll of the dice or the draw of a card. Luck can be fun and keep things unpredictably interesting … but luck can also be quite frustrating.

Personally, I prefer games that have a good balance of skill and luck, with a heavier leaning towards skill.

The GoVenture Card Game is an example of that approach. There are no dice. Just cards. And there are three decks to draw from, including blind draws (ie, cards are face down), so there is some luck involved for sure. But, here is how we designed the game mechanics so that strategy plays into each deck:

PRODUCT/MONSTER CARD DECK

There is a draw pile that is face down (luck) and a discard that is face up (strategy). You choose which to pull from.

CUSTOMER/BOUNTY CARD DECK There is a draw pile that is face down (luck) and a discard that is face up (strategy). You choose which to pull from.

You start your turn by drawing a PRODUCT/MONSTER card. And you end your turn with the CHOICE of drawing a PRODUCT/MONSTER card or a CUSTOMER/BOUNTY card. This involves both strategy and luck at the same time, and you get to choose (strategy) which approach you will take.

Further to this, cards in the discard piles that are face up can be drawn by the next player. So, you have to consider if you are leaving a visible card that might be good for the next player to draw (your competition). That’s more strategy.

ACTION CARD DECK These cards are always good for you and often bad news for other players. Drawing an ACTION card is always a good strategy, but it does cost you two PRODUCT/MONSTER cards to buy it. Those are cards that could have been used to trade with other players. ACTION cards are always face down, so you do not know what card you will get and how effective it may be for you at that particular time in the game. There is further strategy involved because an unused ACTION card takes up valuable space in your hand because you cannot hold more than 5 total cards at the end of your turn. This creates a constant balance of mostly strategy (that you choose) and some luck.

WINNING THE GAME There are two ways to win the game: (1) Earn $20 in SALES/BOUNTY; or (2) Collect all 3 WORLD cards by selling several types of PRODUCTS or capturing different types of MONSTERS. You choose which strategy you will pursue. You may even switch strategies part way through the game, depending on how good (or lucky) you may have been so far with one strategy or the other … and perhaps even based upon how you see cards being played by other players.

Ok, that was a long explanation … but there is even more to say about the game mechanics, which I will leave for future updates.

Ok, so when I play games, I like to trash talk. Nothing mean or anything … just all in good fun. And, I think it gets me into trouble.

I sense this because whenever I have played the GoVenture Card Game, other players seem to like to target me with their ACTION cards. There have been several times where I have found myself saying, “Wait a minute … let’s think about this for as second … I’m currently in LAST place and you are going to use this ACTION card against me? You should be using it against one of the players in the lead!”

That argument hasn’t worked so far, but I’ll keep trying.

In the GoVenture Card Game, you can buy an ACTION card by trading (returning) 2 PRODUCT/MONSTER cards. Some ACTION cards reward you in some way, while others can be used to foil other players. ACTION cards are great for slowing down the current game leader (the player with the most MONEY/BOUNTY or most WORLD cards). Or, they can be used to get revenge on someone who did something bad to you earlier in the game … the “What goes around comes around” strategy … also called the “Karma” strategy ….or the “In your face” strategy.

ACTION cards are fun and strategic.

ACTION cards are the only cards you can keep secret (face down) until you play them. Since you may hold an ACTION card indefinitely, you also have to consider that it takes up a valuable spot in your maximum 5-card limit. So, you may find yourself playing an ACTION card sooner than you would like, or perhaps even trading or selling it.

Once ACTION cards are played, they are permanently removed from the game, so the remaining ACTION cards become even more valuable later in the game.

Players have also been known to "bluff" about their face-down ACTION cards. You will have to play the GoVenture Card Game to see what I mean by that.

Our next update will be about the art of negotiation.

I’m sure we have all read our share of game rules over the years. And, many seem to be more complicated than setting up an IKEA smorgasborga dresser (yeah, I just made that up :-)

Here are some things I have thought to myself (or yelled out loud) while reading game rules:

  — Why is this text so tiny?! Does the game come with a magnifying glass?

  — I have no idea what that means.

  — How the heck are we supposed to remember all of this?

  — Ok, so hold on everyone … give me another hour to read the rest of the rules and then we can start playing. Hello? Is anyone still here?

  — Wait! We need to look that up .... I think it was referenced on page 57.

  — Sigh … those 3 pages of text could have been replaced with one picture.

  — That looks like a picture of the game set up but I can’t figure out what that thing is.

  — Please, please … just show me how to set up and get started!

Yup, it can be frustrating. Needless to say, I did not want our GoVenture Card Game rules to be like that.

But, let me tell you, it is not easy to explain rules succinctly and clearly … and to make sure they are not open to interpretation. It’s very much like writing a legal contract … but without the legalese and an unlimited number of pages.

Here is the approach we used for the GoVenture Card Game:

  — Use graphics with numbered steps to help players set up the game quickly.

  — Use color not black and white.

  — Keep the written language brief and clear.

  — Use a readable font size.

  — Use bullets instead of long paragraphs of text.

  — Organize the sections based on the types of cards or the actions taken in the game. This allows players to refer to the rules when they need to, as opposed to having to read and memorize them from the beginning.

  — Make sure every rule and question is clearly addressed on the cards themselves or in the rules so players always know what the rule is.

  — Include a few tips about strategy.

Since the steps of a player’s turn are the most important to remember, highlight them on the first page for easy reference (we are thinking about including a tent card in the box).

Right now, our game rules fit on a single double-sided sheet of paper. We may change the format to improve it further.

When playing games, I suspect most people are like me and don’t like waiting for our turn. It’s not that fun waiting and wondering if another player’s turn is finished. Are you done? Done now? Ok, how about now?

I prefer a game that keeps me engaged even when it’s not my turn. And, I like a clear signal when a player starts and ends a turn, so we don’t have to keep asking if they are done.

Here’s how we accomplished both with the GoVenture Card Game:

A player starts a turn by picking up a PRODUCT/MONSTER card. That is the only thing you can do on the start of your turn, so it keeps the game moving forward and signals the start of a turn.

The player then takes some actions during their turn. Normally, this does not take more than a few seconds or perhaps up to 30 seconds or a minute for deeper play.

A player ends a turn by picking up either a PRODUCT/MONSTER card or a CUSTOMER/BOUNTY card. This is a clear signal that the player’s turn has ended. The player is not permitted to take any more actions. Once that second card is picked up, there are no backsies! And, the next player is ready to start their turn, without having to ask if the previous player is done.

While waiting for your turn, you will find yourself paying attention and fully engaged during other player turns too. This is because all cards (except ACTION cards) have to be placed face up on the table, so you can follow what players are doing. And, there are always opportunities for trading and deal making.

Knowing when a player turn starts and ends, and being fully engaged while other players take their turns makes for fun gameplay!