I recently received a copy of the IELLO edition of Innovation, which I was able to order direct from the original publisher Asmadi Games. The IELLO edition updates one of my favorite games with new art and chipboard playing boards for the players, and comes in a slick magnetically-fastened book flap box.
On the surface, it makes for a much more appealing game, particularly compared to the Kleenex box the original comes with.
But that's just the surface! The immediate problem is the same one that buyers of the 2nd edition are familiar with. The box is too small for sleeved cards. Not that big of a deal, except for a $30 card game, no way am I not gonna sleeve my cards!
But that's not what this is about. This is about some of the graphic design decisions that IELLO made, ostensibly to "improve" the game.
Innovation is a complex card game. Each of the cards has important information that drive gameplay
- Age
- Color
- Icons
- Dogma icon
- Dogma text
To make gameplay as smooth and easy as possible, it's important that this information be available and clearly presented to all of the players around the table. Anything that hinders information retrieval by the player hinders gameplay.
This image shows the back of the cards as you'd see them in the decks
At sixes and sevens or dressed to the nines?
Because of the square font they used for denoting the age of the cards, there is significant potential for confusion between the 6s and 9s. The font for each number is essentially the same image rotated. A player's brain has to pause and determine how the card is oriented before it can process which age it is. The only external clue for orientation is the very fine print for the name of the age. As you can see in the (fuzzy) image below, you can tell the cards are reversed because the name is upside down.
While this a minor annoyance, as the cards are normally separated by distance as well, it's compounded by other issues displaying age of the cards.
Back of cards
Here are 4 cards from age 9 for each deck side by side.
The various age locations
In the Asmadi version, the ages are consistenly displayed in the top right corner of the card with a black box and white text, distinctive from the card background. In the IELLO version the age can be in different locations. 336
The placement is inconsistent, and it comes in multiple colors, blending in with the card background color. As you can see, this replaced the black hexagon "flavor image" from the Asmadi edition. While playing withe IELLO version, a player has to spend extra time scanning the cards to identify the age of the cards, both for your zone and your opponent's zones.
Fanned cards from the player side
Even more egregious is the fact that when these cards are in the hand, you can't see the ages at all. You have to cycle through the cards to identify the ages of the cards. There are many dogma actions that rely on the age of cards played or returned, so knowing the ages of all the cards in your hand is vital information. With the Asmadi version, you can just look and see, but with the IELLO version, you must either remember all of them, or cycle through your cards to review (and then remember). Not a big deal when you only have 1 or 2 cards, but if you have 20, it becomes pretty annoying.
Another issue is the size and readability of icons across the table. Dark images on light backgrounds are easier to distinguish than light images on dark backgrounds. The Asmadi icons fairly pop off the card, even when viewed from across the table. They are easy to distinguish and can't be confused with each other.
Across the table - IELLO
Across the table - Asmadi
The IELLO icons are negative images, similar in color to the card, surrounded by white. While they are easy enough to see on their own, collectively, and across the table, it becomes difficult. In addition, the crown and factory images are very similar in shape, which can cause some confusion in low light conditions
To further confuse matters, in the IELLO version, the card icons and the dogma icons are not the same! The dogma icons all confusingly employ a black background whereas the card icons all have a white background. The clock on a white background looks very different from the clock on a black background.
Finally, there are no non-colored markings to differentiate card color for those who may suffer form color-blindness.
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But if it sounds like I am just whining, here's my daughter attempting to explain why she doesn't like the "prettier" version.
BTW, how do you pronounce IELLO? 336