Skill Level

Hints and Tips

• Skill Level is applied on a per player basis, therefore players will differ in their ability to respond to Chief Offers as the game progresses. Players can decide to directly manipulate Skill Level, spreading out deliveries so that all players reach the maximum level of productivity in the smallest amount of time, or the rise in Skill Level can just be seen as a side benefit of fulfilling Chief Offers in order to gain Cronos.
• While Skill Level is shown in the ERM, changes to it might not be noticed by the players. By tapping the Skill Level indicator the advantages of gaining in Skill Level are shown.
• The benefits of increases in Skill Level are complex when considered as a team - a single player concentrating on meeting Chief Offers and improving the productivity of their land is the most beneficial method to them. This will only benefit them and the team overall if the resources they can produce match future Chief Offers; and also that player will need to navigate through their ERM quickly enough to keep on top of their harvesting requirements.
• As Skill Level increases the cost of harvesting will increase, while also becoming faster. This represents an increase in the sophistication of the tools used by the player. This increase in costs can adversely affect players who harvest too quickly, causing their resources to expire before they can be sold to the Chief, and wasting valuable Cronos.

Importance in Game Design

• While the players are informed about changes in Skill Level in the ERM, and some of its effects are revealed within the interface, this nuance might be missed by busy players managing a new situation under pressure. Revealing the effects of the Skill Level through analysis can show the benefits of pausing to examine the mechanics of any system.
• As some of the effects and ramifications of the increase in Skill Level will only become apparent to players through analysis, this can foreground more introverted players who may have spent time analyzing the game while more extroverted players communicated ideas and instructions.
• Members of the team may quickly become quite separate in their Skill Level. This discrepancy can be leveraged by particularly adept teams funnelling their Cronos to players whose harvesting costs are lower.

Relevance to Evivve’s Ecosystem

The Skill Level changing gives some fluidity to Evivve’s Ecosystem. This means that players must continue to pay attention to their progress and costs as the game progresses, rather than analysing the systems at the very start and assuming that those variables will remain static for the duration of the game.

Best Practices for Facilitators

• Only reveal as much about the Skill Level as you think the players will need to know, as analysis of the effects of an increasing Skill Level can be a valuable learning point.
• Through the lens of the AFERR model Evivve has dedicated specific time for the players to reflect on what they’ve learnt, and what decisions they could have made. Consider raising questions about what the players thought of the Skill Level rating, and how it affected their play. If a further session is due shortly, you might want to leave them to discover the effects Skill Level has in subsequent playthroughs.

Benefits and Challenges

• A benefit of the increased Skill Level is clear, faster harvesting means more resource to sell to the Chief, increasing Cronos and with it, access to Movilennium. With the deadline for becoming a Methanite cannot be altered, optimizing their production is key to the player’s success.
• As with other mechanisms, such as Land Purchase, the Skill Level mechanism rewards study. Players exchanging information about their Skill Level and its effects during the game can benefit the entire team.
• A challenge to the increased Skill Level is the increased cost of harvesting to players. While they should be receiving sufficient Cronos from the Chief for the deliveries that elevated their skill level, the increase in the cost of Harvesting can mean they run out of Cronos if they don’t consider their actions carefully.
• The increase in Skill Level means that more Resources can be produced by a player in a shorter amount of time. But this is balanced against their Tribe Rep, if the right Chief Offers don’t come in those Resources will Expire. A challenge to the players is to see and mitigate this threat before it happens.