HQ21 EasyGear - Vanilla Edition

[girot]

Heya folks! It's been awhile since i've checked into the Inn. Thought I should check in here with what I've been up to, in case there are interested parties not in the Facebook group.

HQ21 "EasyGear" Cards (Vanilla Edition)

In an attempt to help translate the game into a visual language, I've put together a minimal text version of all of the "equip-able" cards from the current game. Equipment and Armor. The idea was to use icons and visual cues to communicate simple concepts with a minimum of reading and/or looking things up. This is meant to cater to children, newbies, casuals, dyslexics, and all forms of visual learner. Walls of text (no matter how small) would ideally no longer present a barrier to learning and enjoying this wonderful game. Veterans of HeroQuest, and veteran gamers in general, have had mixed reactions thus far. That is perfectly fine. If these cards aren't your cup of tea, you are not at all obligated to drink it.

"Vanilla Edition" means these cards are translations of the current game cards (core, WL, KK, FH, and mythic) as directly as possible with very very little change. I worked with folks to keep things as simple as possible, resisting the temptation to "fix" anything. again, the point of these is to help those who are not obsessed (yet), to get comfortable enough with the game to become obsessed (like the rest of us).

I did not provide a card back with the set so those interesting in printing could decide for themselves what they want to use. this set is 100% free to use by the community. initial release is already formatted to be ready to use with makeplayingcards.com interface. you can download this set (and related documentation) from Dropbox here... https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/egstsgupff39g7j2krb6a/h?dl=0&rlkey=l6ccuv35ojozvgg6z4h36b14k

i also released a PSD template with editable text layers so it could be freely translated into other languages by interested parties.

[HispaZargon]

Interesting project. Thanks for sharing.

[QorDaq]

I really dig this concept. The art is great, and I like how your graphic shorthand reads here. The distinctions between standard gear and artifacts via the table design is clever. I also appreciate the thematic backgrounds to identify which sets the gear comes from. Nicely done.

I also think the intent comes through in the iconography you use to identify who can use each item and how it can be used (combining armor types, adding CDs etc.).

In general I can see some purists balking at the departure from conventional HQ design, but I think there's some charm in how it's all put together. I can definitely see the utility in introducing these cards to younger players, as you mention was part of the philosophy behind the project.

I don't own Photoshop myself (or know how to use it), so the PSD files are not of use to me personally, however I think its great that you made them available for those who might want to play around with these designs. On that note, let me ask; would you be willing to share the blank cards in PNG format? That would be a lot easier to use (again speaking for myself), as I think the thematic approach to the various background card images would be fun to tinker with.

Regardless, and again, cool project girot. Kudos.

[girot]

thank you very much for the detailed feedback, i really appreciate it.

the blank cards in PNG format?

i can definitely do this, excellent suggestion. the gentleman i did that for was not a photoshop guy, but he had one in his back pocket. setting these up as textless PNG files is a fantastic idea. all they need is whatever app they have access to (ie microsoft paint) to add in text in the desired language.

[QorDaq]

That'd be great, girot. Thank you for entertaining the idea. Also, While MS Paint has it's uses, I like to do text application in Word, it's much more versatile. Just putting that into the discussion.

Thanks again.