Difference between revisions of "Discard Piles"
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Players of [[Race for the Galaxy]] place the cards they have used as payment for actions in [[Discard Piles]]. When the drawing stack is empty, these [[Discard Piles]] are shuffled and used as new drawing stacks - meaning that discards cards can return to gameplay. | Players of [[Race for the Galaxy]] place the cards they have used as payment for actions in [[Discard Piles]]. When the drawing stack is empty, these [[Discard Piles]] are shuffled and used as new drawing stacks - meaning that discards cards can return to gameplay. | ||
| − | Cards in [[ | + | Cards in [[7 Wonders]] are only discarded at the end of each era with the except of cards discarded for money. The players are then permanently out of gameplay except that the player controlling ''Helicarnassus'' which can pick a limited number of cards from the [[Discard Piles|Discard Pile]] during a game instance (the leader ''Solomon'' provides this special abilities once as well). |
== Using the pattern == | == Using the pattern == | ||
Revision as of 14:02, 22 August 2011
Areas or stacks where cards or tiles are placed after they have been used.
Games that use cards, chips, or tiles often distinguish between those that have yet to come in play, those that are in play, and those that have been used. Discard Piles are used to keep track of used cards etc. While this may be for pure practical or aesthetic reasons, other uses is that these represent future drawing stacks or resource areas for those with abilities to take game elements from the Discard Piles.
Contents
Examples
Players of Race for the Galaxy place the cards they have used as payment for actions in Discard Piles. When the drawing stack is empty, these Discard Piles are shuffled and used as new drawing stacks - meaning that discards cards can return to gameplay.
Cards in 7 Wonders are only discarded at the end of each era with the except of cards discarded for money. The players are then permanently out of gameplay except that the player controlling Helicarnassus which can pick a limited number of cards from the Discard Pile during a game instance (the leader Solomon provides this special abilities once as well).
Using the pattern
Discard Piles can be either closed or opened. Closed Discard Piles hide the important information of the game elements in them and do not let the players go through the piles. These piles can be used to provide an advantage of Memorizing (with the most famous example being the cards played in games such as Blackjack). Open Discard Piles, by contrast, either place the game elements so that they can all be seen or allow the players to go through the pile. These open piles support Stimulated Planning but may also cause Analysis Paralysis since they allow players a more complete view of the game state.
Discard Piles make possible a certain kind of Privileged Ability: going through the Discard Pile and taking, or directly using, one of the items in the pile.
Games with Trick Taking may use a Discard Pile for each trick so that players may enact Replays after gameplay has finished.
Can Be Modulated By
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
The most basic function of Discard Piles is purely logistic: they define places where to place used game elements - most commonly Cards or Tiles. However, like Drawing Stacks the size of Discard Piles may function as a Game State Indicator since they allow players to judge how far the gameplay in a game has progress if game instances are limited by how many times Cards or Tiles are used. Open Discard Piles can increase the risk of Analysis Paralysis in games since it augmented the possibilities of Stimulated Planning. This can to a lesser extend be possible with closed Discard Piles since the size of the Discard Piles can provide some information as just mentioned. It should however be mentioned that this is more likely to be easily detected by looking at Drawing Stacks if these also exist.
Discard Piles make easy candidates for refilling Drawing Stacks, and when Cards or Tiles are recycled in this fashion the games that do this have Closed Economies.
Relations
Can Instantiate
with Drawing Stacks
with Trick Taking
Can Modulate
Analysis Paralysis, Cards, Drawing Stacks, Stimulated Planning
Can Be Instantiated By
-
Can Be Modulated By
Privileged Abilities, Trick Taking
Possible Closure Effects
-
Potentially Conflicting With
-
History
An updated version of the pattern Discard Piles that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design[1].
References
- ↑ Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.
Acknowledgements
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