Talk:Better Mousetrap deck

Archived comments from the original site

Wonderful idea, bad implementation. There's only one way to catch the darn Mouse, and you can't use any Noise cards. Electricity does too much too. --Zaratustra, 15.2.02

Agreed. It's entertaining building strange machines and using bits of them against your opponent, but the actual mouse-catching bit tends to be rather dull. Needs reinvention - maybe just a different goal or something. --Kevan, 15.2.02

Deck updated - there are now two ways to catch the Mouse, with a multiple-component requirement for both (Gravity+Cage was rather an anticlimax, before). Electricity's also been weakened by giving the Battery limited usage. And the Mouse doesn't escape immediately, upon noise. And there's Cheese. --Kevan, 8.3.02

Here are a few ideas for cards: Generator: 2 Motion - 1 Electricity Unidentifiable Item Tied To a Helium Balloon: 1 Electricity OR 1 Motion - 1 Noise + 2 Motion Disgusting (but rather adhesive) Goo: The mouse cannot run away at the end of this turn. --Adam, 8.8.02

Great game! I think I'll play it right now! --Matthew, 8.8.03

Amazingly wondeful idea. Light, however, seems quite underpowered. I would propose something along the lines of: Floodlight. 2 light: If the mouse is in play, it is frozen in it's tracks and removed from play. If you used four or more Components to achieve this, you win the game. Without this, light can only be used to produce other energies or look at an opponents hand, which really does not require the number of cards using it there are. I could be wrong, since i haven't played it yet, but that's my initial reaction --Person Man, 25.10.03

Great game, but it could use more cards. The problem with the Floodlight idea is that it sounds like it would _produce_ light, not use it. --Breadman, 27.10.03

I really like this game. Here are the points that I've noticed in play that I think could use improvement: Ambiguities: 1. Does playing the mouse count as playing your thing for the turn? I'd like to see it say that it does not. This seems better in play than the alternative. Note that this card must contradict Dvorak rules in at least the case where someone plays a thing, then an action that causes them to play the mouse. 2. Is the mouse under the control of the player who played it? I don't think so, as this would mean that someone could Boxing Glove it into their hand, and make them lose. Also, this prolongs the game by letting Drastic Modification and Back to the Drawing Board destroy the Mouse. 3. Timing: If you are required to do several things, how is their order determined? I've been playing that the person who has to do things chooses their order. Also, do I need to decide the structure of my machine before I activate it, or can I declare the flow of energy along with the effects happening? The former makes more sense, but the latter is more playable. This might actually be better addressed in the Dvorak rules. 4. When using the Radio Transmitter, must the other Thing be separately powered? I've assumed not. 5. Are Things that make but do not use Electricity Electrical Things? I think they're not, as they can't be used via Radio Transmitter, unless perhaps they're your Things. I suggest changing "Electrical Thing" to "Thing that uses Electricity". 6. The use of the term "Components" on the Cage and Stun Gun makes it sound like it has a special meaning who's definition was forgotten. It should be changed to "Thing", or defined. Playability: 7. It can be way too long, even without Dynamite. With Dynamite, it can be way, way, way too long. Because of this, and trueness to the theme, I think Dynamite should be activated by Light from the Candle or the Magnifying Glass, rather than Electricity. The ability to suddenly play Dynamite and Static or Lighting Strike to almost restart the game is nasty. I would further like for it to not destroy all Things. Perhaps it could destroy some number of Things. My preference would be for it to stun the Mouse as the Stun Gun does, as I think it would be nice to have a third way to win. While I like the combination of using Light and stunning the Mouse, any of these could be used alone. Oddness: 8. The Klaxon should not cause discarding if Muted. Me Being Picky: 9. The Boxing Glove should say "Move" instead of "Return", as the Thing may never have been in the hand of its controller. Clarity: 10. Stun Gun and Cage should say "more than three Things (including Cage/Stun Gun)", as this can cause confusion, though it isn't actually ambiguous. Let me reiterate that I do like the game. Thanks for sharing it. --Todd, 23.12.03

Sorry for the poor formatting. Since it says HTML tags not supported, I figured that it would preserve some basic formatting. It's not unreadable, I suppose. --Todd, 23.12.03

Todd: "1. Does playing the mouse count as playing your thing for the turn? I'd like to see it say that it does not. This seems better in play than the alternative. Note that this card must contradict Dvorak rules in at least the case where someone plays a thing, then an action that causes them to play the mouse." It's generally accepted that if an action causes you to play cards, they don't count toward your thing or action for the turn. As far as the Mouse not counting as your thing, it probably doesn't since it is "put into play" instead of "played" as part of its own effect. --Breadman, 4.5.04

"2. Is the mouse under the control of the player who played it? I don't think so, as this would mean that someone could Boxing Glove it into their hand, and make them lose. Also, this prolongs the game by letting Drastic Modification and Back to the Drawing Board destroy the Mouse." The cited cards could be improved by letting them refer to Components instead of Things, and calling all Things except Cheese and the Mouse Components. That way, it doesn't matter whether the Mouse is under a particular --Breadman, 4.5.04

Only problem/issue I had was only have two traps. In two-player games, it was fairly possible for one player to control both traps. (And only two ways to get a card off the table as well). In multi-player, it becomes worse. --RandomGuy, 6.9.04

Nice game! It would be better to call the "light" coming from the Magnifying Glass and the Candle "fire", and to use it for the Dynamite. --ximo, 6.9.04

I think it would be better if there were more ways to catch the mouse. Perhaps at least one for each energy source? --Brad soup 23:29, 25 May 2007 (BST)

I'd rather pull out teeth than play this deck ever again. -- Zaratustra 04:12, 14 April 2008 (BST)

Agreed wholeheartly. I think the Earth went through another ice age in the time it took to play this. This is one of those games that sounds great but plays awful. --CashCrazed 04:32, 14 April 2008 (BST)