Cow Tipping details... continued

I finally got off my duff and made a modified deck for Cow Tipping - one which simply had 8 "types of cows," with 8 cards of each type. This was easy enough, just used 4 decks worth of cards, just the red ones, numbers 2-9.

Again, the types of sets were to be "all the same number" and "all different numbers." When we played the game I found a major error in the deck configuration! I was thinking that it would be equally difficult to get an "all the same" set as an "all different' set, but that isn't true at all. It's much easier to get an "all different" set than a set of cards of the same type.

The game was really not as fun at all, nor as interesting this way. One player even asked if we could quit mid-game. I think part of the reason was the deck configuration, there was really no point in building a homogeneous set, so instead you simply drew cards toward a diverse set. I think with a better configuration the feeling of building a set might return a bit.

Tyler admitted that was a possibility, but suggested that that wasn't the problem - that rather the game just wasn't that fun. It's not interactive enough... He suggested that the tipped cars be left face up, so you can tell without having to remember who's going for what. Furthermore, he suggested each type of car might confer some kind of ability - the more expensive Trucks and Buses conferring better abilities than the Cars and Trucks.

I would like to try it again this way after fixing the deck. I have removed the 8's and 9's, so there are now 6 suits, with 8 cards in each suit. I intend to add 1 card in each suit that counts as 2 cows in that type, but cannot be used in a Diverse set. I might also add a few special cards (maybe featuring Clyde and Elsa) which would count as 2 cards in a Diverse set, but cannot be used in a Homogeneous set.

I might give some more thought to the idea of abilities - simple ones... but I think it is probably "too much" for this game.