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Inside Florenza: X Anniversary #2

In the last article, (you can read it here) we had the chance to talk about Florenza X Anniversary’s Game Development. What are the choices and the changes that we made to this edition of Placentia Games’ best seller?
For the Florenza’s anniversary edition we wanted to step up the game and bring it to the level of our most recent production, and adding more functional game ergonomics, with clearer iconography and a more readable layout of the elements.

Our aim was to develop a Kickstarter worthy product, while skipping the crowdfunding platform itself: our fans demand for a re-print was really high, so this was the right game with which we could try this approach (you proved us right… there are only a few copies left before it sells out!)

First of all, it was time we freshened up the materials, replacing the obsolete cubes with prettier, modern, wooden components. Tambu created different versions of the molds for the resources (wood, fabric, iron, spices, marble, and gold), which we presented to our suppliers. They sent us the samples that we used to make a decision for the final shapes, then we updated the games graphics with those created by Sara.
The workers have been updated too, in this case, Tambu had a brilliant intuition: we couldn’t create a satisfying mold of a whole figure, so he suggested using a recognizable icon that could be functional to the setting, Cosimo de Medici’s profile portrait. An idea that fit perfectly the game and with an impactful component that’s also pleasant to handle.

Moreover, we also replaced the notes, that players considered a bit old-fashioned, with shield-shaped tokens, which are smaller and easier to handle. Opposite to what happened with the first edition, now we have providers that guarantee the quality of these components.

Moving on to graphics and illustrations, we had two main needs: on one hand we had to update everything according to the newly added rules, on the other hand, we had to solve a few readability and clarity problems. In particular, Mario and Matteo, who know the game inside—out, followed the restyling to make sure that the most important details were in the most visible positions.
We also carefully designed the iconography, in order to harmonize all the elements of the board, the tiles and the district boards. For instance, now, all the elements that generate income are highlighted in purple on all the game’s components.

The main board has been re-built too in order to make each element more visible and easier to read for all the players, we took the opportunity to reinforce the setting: we asked Sara to draw up some details that we love, such as the paintbrush, the hammer and the geometry compass, which help the players to fit the shoes of the big renaissance designers. We think she managed really well to maintain a stylistic coherence with the rest. Moreover, Paolo Vallerga from Scribabs, our trusted graphic designer, carried out a great “sorting and reusing” job, with all the previous illustrations from the previous editions, and the Card Game, to pick those that are more suitable to the new style.

For what concerns the Workshop tiles, we decided to simplify their aspect, and make them more visible and clear, with identification colours, so that all the players could have a good global vision, mostly on the opponents player boards, which is a fundamental aspect for the gameplay. It wasn’t an accident that we moved District Workshops to the top part of the district boards, i.e. closer to the centre of the table, where the other players can see them.

It took us a year to develop Florenza X Anniversary, including the updates to the game design and the graphics and illustrations restyling. It was almost like creating a game from scratch, however, we’re very proud and happy, we are sure that now Florenza, which we believe a jewel of eurogames, has fulfilled its full potential, and is up-to-date with market’s current production.
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