The playtest broke the usability. This session broke the assumptions underneath it. Three major structural decisions came out of a single design review that started with one observation: the rarity system was doing nothing a player could see or feel.
Rarity Removed
The original design had Commonplace tiles (always in the bag), Standard tiles (20 of 36 randomly selected per run), and an Unusual/Rare locked pool. This mirrored how the VG describes itself internally — but the VG never exposes rarity to the player as a mechanic they navigate. It's an engine detail, not a player-facing system.
For the board game, the rarity tiers were creating complexity without drama. You had to count tiles, randomly exclude 16 Standard tiles per run, and track which pool was which. For what? The drafting felt the same regardless.
Every Core Room tile goes into the Active Bag at setup. No random exclusion, no counting, no tiers. The bag is the deck. Room categories are now functional (Fixed Floor Plans, Event Additions, Studio Additions, Found Floor Plans, Outer Rooms) rather than quality-based.
Library & Solarium Rethought
Two rooms had mechanics built entirely on the Standard/Commonplace distinction. With rarity gone, both needed new designs that preserved their feel without the tiers.
- LibraryWhen drafting from the Library's single exit, draw 4 tiles instead of 3. More options, same bag, no rarity dependency. The routing cost (one door, deliberate detour) stays unchanged.
- SolariumWhile the Solarium is on the board, when drafting from any Green Room door, draw 4 tiles instead of 3. Green Room doors only — consistent with the other Green Room passives (Terrace: 0 gem cost, Veranda: +1 Common draw on entry).
The Roll Language Problem
The dice in this game say OPEN and LOCKED on the faces — not numbers. But the rules were written with number thresholds ("roll 4–6 for a trunk"). A player holding a die with OPEN and LOCKED printed on it can't translate that. Every roll instruction has been rewritten to use OPEN/LOCKED language directly.
The trunk rule also got simplified: every Bedroom and Green Room rolls the Mid die on draft — OPEN means a trunk is present, LOCKED means no trunk. No exceptions, no "always has a trunk" list to memorize.
New Reference Documents
Three new documents came out of this session:
- Room Glossary — every room alphabetically, with gem cost, entry effect, roll instruction, and notes. Three pages. The goal was to eliminate mid-run rulebook lookups entirely.
- Item Spawn & Trunk Reference — a single card showing exactly what to draw and when, for every room that requires it. OPEN/LOCKED language throughout.
- Dig Result Cards & Trunk Result Cards — physical card sheets that were missing from the package. Both now use the "cards as instructions" framing: draw a Key card, take a Key token from supply. The card is never the thing itself.
This session also produced the site you're reading right now. The docs have been accumulating long enough that they needed a home.