What is next for Roll Builder? Other than more cities (of which we have a TON), I knew there were three elements that needed to be added to make the entire game feel 'complete'. This, along with a few back-end graphical upgrades, were weighing on my to-do list. But now, finally, two of those three elements have been addressed:

Visionaries

Visionaries were always in the works, but it took time to get them right. I like the goal scoring in many roll-and-writes and flip-and-writes, like the ones in Welcome To... or the updates to Railroad Ink: Challenge. However, the race to complete one is almost always for points, and that felt like it was a weaker approach. Instead, it would be neat to have them provide some sort of other benefit, in exchange for only a few points. Some benefits are better early, some later. Some work for certain strategies, while some do not. While all players using the same map will keep the value of the goals fairly fixed, playing with different maps is all over the place. It is why the selection of them can be deferred to the players, so each one gets to choose a goal that suits their map's needs, and then also be strategic about 'reaching over' and going after the goals of other players. Finish it first? A handful of points are yours, for sure, but not an amount that will necessarily win you the game. Instead, gathering the right combination of ability rewards at your pace will give the greatest advantage, with the bonus points being most useful in a tight-scoring game. The result was a softer mechanic that either could be played to, or sometimes ignored. Happy accidents also scored, and some goals are inevitable. There was also a chance to highlight some interesting figures that dwelled in the cities that, so far, have been released or tested. I would like to add more in the future as the opportunity presents itself.

Events

The other addition of choice are Events. The current solo mode (which essentially ranks the player on score) is not very complete. Instead, it felt better to have achievements- finish a scenario that has special adjustments and see if you beat the score on the card. This can be multiplied out to each city. Which city did you use to beat a specific Event? All the cities? It becomes an interesting take on the game, and even in multiplayer, lends itself to shaking up things with a 'base score' to beat. You may not have won, but at least you got through the event. Notably, there are some hidden references. The Rosetta Stone makes an appearance, referring to our past work on Rosetta: The Lost Language, and the event Bronze Age Collapse reintroduces an old rule where both dice could not be used for the same action (frequently forgotten, and the alternative allowed for low rolls to be combined into road actions to still make headway).

If you have the game already, the color files have been uploaded. They don't have to even be printed- even just having it up on your phone or screen is a good reference, or a screenshot sent to each player. We are working on formatting the low-ink versions too, so those will be out as well soon.

Happy building!