Working on the game board virus

So I stayed up late last night and finished my design of the virus on the game board. So 9 of the hexes require rolling 1 Research icon to enter and 9 require 2 Research icons to enter.

Virus

Reworking the designs of the hexes and molecules

I haven't play tested this yet, but I printed out my example components and they look too small. I think players will have difficulty instantly identifying various proteins if they are on the opposite side of the board from them. So I made a few changes.

I have changed the round molecule token to a square shape. This allows me to add more proteins to the token and is a better use of space. Probably easier to punch out the pieces too.

Molecule

I have also changed the background image of the hex so it uses less black. The previous image would have sucked all the black out of my printer. I think it is easier on the eyes and it makes the Research icons stand out more. The molecule in the bottom, right hand corner shows a Biohazard symbol in the corner, so it reinforces that this is the protein symbol you need to roll in order to clear out all frozen Biohazard dice when on this hex.

I also added a light green see-through square where the molecule token would be placed.

Hex

And finally here is an image of the molecule placed on the hex:

Molecule on a Hex

So what do you guys think? Is the iconography clear? Does the hex layout work? How about the molecule layout?

I am really, REALLY looking forward to finishing this prototype and getting it to game night!

Virus Hexes

Virus Hexes

The game board is made up of 19 hexes, which represents the Virus the players are working together to find a cure for, and thus save humanity. 

There is a center hex (A1) where the players' pawns begin in. Then there is a ring of 6 hexes around the center hex (B1-B6). And then there is an outer ring of 12 hexes (C1-C12).

Each Hex has 3 features.

1. Each hex has a designation/label based on where it is on the virus: B4, C11, etc.

2. There is a number of Research icons the player needs to roll in order to research the molecule in that section of the virus. 

These icons will be displayed at the top of the hex, and there will be 1 or 2 of them. In game play this means the player must roll 1 or 2 research icons before they can place their pawn in this hex.

3. There is a protein displayed at the bottom of the hex. When a player rolls a biohazard symbol on a die, it locks the die and it can no longer be rolled. 

In order to unlock these dice with the biohazard icon, the player must roll the protein displayed on the hex they are currently in. If a player rolls that icon--and doesn't use it to destroy the Molecule--then they can use it to unlock all their biohazard dice.

In this particular hex the player must roll a yellow protein (unique) to unlock any biohazard dice they may have. In another hex they might only have to roll a blue protein (common).

Placing Molecules on Hexes

So at the start of the game--during the setup face--the players draw a face-down molecule token and place it randomly place it face up on an empty virus. They do this until all the hexes--except the center one (A1)--have a molecule.

In the example above it is coincidental that the molecule with B4 label was placed on the B4 Hex. In most cases they will not match. The only time you intentionally place the B4 Molecule on B4 Hex is during the Mutation phase, which happens twice during the game when you place 3 new molecules on the board.