{"id":17829,"date":"2025-09-08T14:57:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/?p=17829"},"modified":"2025-12-26T10:13:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T10:13:02","slug":"harvest-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/blog\/2025\/09\/08\/harvest-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvest Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Dans la cr\u00e9ation ludique, comme dans beaucoup de domaines, les contraintes peuvent \u00eatre une source d\u2019inspiration dont il faut ensuite savoir s\u2019affranchir. En 2022, j\u2019ai voulu me livrer \u00e0 une sorte d\u2019exercice de style, en cr\u00e9ant plusieurs petits jeux de 18 cartes, un format appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 des \u00e9diteurs puisque l\u2019on peut en mettre trois sur une planche de 54 cartes, le format standard des imprimeurs. Deux de ces jeux sont aujourd\u2019hui publi\u00e9s, 6 Suspects<\/a>, qui est rest\u00e9 bien sagement dans le format des 18 cartes, et Migo<\/a><\/em>, qui l\u2019a un peu explos\u00e9, passant \u00e0 25 cartes et quelques jetons. C\u2019est aussi ce qui est arriv\u00e9 \u00e0 Fruit Cocktail<\/a><\/em>, qui devrait bient\u00f4t arriver dans la m\u00eame collection que Migo<\/em>, et \u00e0 Harvest Valley<\/em>, J\u2019ai plus r\u00e9cemment con\u00e7u un autre jeu \u00e0 deux joueurs qui semble destin\u00e9 \u00e0 rester dans le format 18 cartes, Les Sorci\u00e8res de Minuit<\/em>, qui cherche un \u00e9diteur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mais revenons \u00e0 Harvest Valley<\/em>, ou plut\u00f4t \u00e0 Preachers\u2019 War<\/em>, la guerre des pr\u00e9dicateurs, qui \u00e9tait le nom de mes premiers prototypes. C\u2019\u00e9tait un jeu de pose de cartes dans lequel chacun des joueurs, deux ou trois \u00e0 l\u2019origine, jouait un pr\u00eatre qui cherchait \u00e0 attirer les ouailles dans son \u00e9glise, au d\u00e9triment de celle du voisin. Les joueurs posaient donc sur une grille des cartes paysans, qui allaient \u00e0 la messe dans l\u2019\u00e9glise orthogonalement adjacente, ainsi que des chevaliers qui, parce qu\u2019ils sont \u00e0 cheval, pouvaient aussi \u00e0 la messe en diagonale. Bien s\u00fbr, les paysans se d\u00e9tournaient de l\u2019\u00e9glise si un joueur pla\u00e7ait une taverne \u00e0 proximit\u00e9, et les chevaliers pr\u00e9f\u00e9raient aller combattre les dragons, c\u2019est quand m\u00eame plus classe. \u00c0 l\u2019inverse, une relique bien plac\u00e9e pouvait augmenter l\u2019attractivit\u00e9 et donc la rentabilit\u00e9 d\u2019un lieu de culte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Preachers War<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Le th\u00e8me fonctionnait bien, mais tous les \u00e9diteurs auxquels j\u2019ai pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 le jeu avaient la m\u00eame r\u00e9action \u2013 on ne peut pas se moquer de la religion. C\u2019est gentil, \u00e7a passera peut-\u00eatre, mais on ne veut pas prendre le risque. C\u2019est dommage parce que, moi, j\u2019aime bien me moquer de la religion. Sachant qu\u2019ils prennent leurs religions bien moins au s\u00e9rieux que nous, je l\u2019ai aussi montr\u00e9 \u00e0 des \u00e9diteurs japonais, en proposant de remplacer les chevaliers par des samurais et les \u00e9glises par des temples bouddhistes ou des sanctuaires shinto, mais je n\u2019ai pas eu beaucoup plus de succ\u00e8s.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Boardgame Fair<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Antoine Davrou, qui g\u00e9rait alors Ghost Dog, le petit \u00e9diteur de Migo<\/em>, appr\u00e9cia le jeu et me proposa un autre th\u00e8me, les \u00e9diteurs cherchant, au salon de Cannes ou d\u2019Essen, d\u2019obtenir le meilleur emplacement pour leur stand afin de faire la promotion des nouveaut\u00e9s. Il me sugg\u00e9ra aussi d\u2019ajouter quelques cartes pour que l\u2019on puisse jouer \u00e0 4 ou 5 joueurs, et tant pis pour le format que je m\u2019\u00e9tais impos\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019origine. On a bricol\u00e9 un prototype, le nouveau th\u00e8me ne fonctionnait pas vraiment, et on a laiss\u00e9 tomber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J\u2019ai continu\u00e9 \u00e0 montrer mon petit jeu, notamment \u00e0 Arnaud Chevalier, de Matagot, qui avait publi\u00e9 6 Suspects<\/em>. Arnaud ne voyait pas tr\u00e8s bien ce jeu dans la m\u00eame gamme, mais m\u2019a mis en contact avec David Harding, de l\u2019\u00e9diteur australien Grail Games, qui avait une petite gamme de jeux de cartes en \u00ab pixel art \u00bb dans laquelle il pensait que Preachers\u2019 War<\/em> pouvait avoir sa place.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Harvest Valley prototype<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

C\u2019est David Harding qui a trouv\u00e9 un nouveau th\u00e8me, l\u2019agriculture, et Preachers\u2019 War<\/em> est devenu Harvest Valley<\/em>, r\u00e9f\u00e9rence \u00e0 Harvest Moon<\/em>, qui fut un grand succ\u00e8s sur Game Boy. Les \u00e9glises sont donc devenues des fermes, les paysans des l\u00e9gumes, les chevaliers des arbres fruitiers. Tavernes et dragons sont devenus sangliers et corneilles d\u00e9truisant les r\u00e9coltes.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Dans l\u2019\u00e9ternel et vain d\u00e9bat sur th\u00e8me et m\u00e9canismes dans les jeux, et ce qui vient en premier, on oublie souvent qu\u2019il peut y avoir entre les deux des allers-retours. Il n\u2019est pas rare qu\u2019un jeu change de th\u00e8me, et parfois \u00e0 plusieurs reprises, entre le premier prototype et le jeu \u00e9dit\u00e9. Cela peut initialement nuire \u00e0 la coh\u00e9rence du jeu, certains syst\u00e8mes inspir\u00e9s par le th\u00e8me initial n\u2019ayant plus beaucoup de sens dans celui finalement publi\u00e9. Mais \u00e0 l\u2019inverse, le nouveau th\u00e8me peut sugg\u00e9rer de nouveaux m\u00e9canismes et enrichir le jeu. C\u2019est ce qui s\u2019est produit ici, et qui a fait de Harvest Valley<\/em> un bien meilleur jeu que ne l\u2019\u00e9tait Preachers\u2019 War<\/em>. Si les fermiers cultivent des l\u00e9gumes et des arbres fruitiers, me suis-je dit, pourquoi ne planteraient-ils pas aussi des c\u00e9r\u00e9ales ?  C\u2019\u00e9tait l\u2019occasion d\u2019introduire une troisi\u00e8me mani\u00e8re de marquer des points, en plantant de larges champs de bl\u00e9s compos\u00e9s de plusieurs tuiles adjacentes.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

C\u2019est un conseil que je donne souvent aux auteurs de jeu : vous pouvez acceptez un changement de th\u00e8me propos\u00e9 par l\u2019\u00e9diteur, mais faites-en sorte d\u2019avoir le temps de retravailler vous-m\u00eame le jeu dans sa nouvelle incarnation. Certains des effets et des m\u00e9canismes qui \u00e9taient inspir\u00e9s de l\u2019ancien th\u00e8me peuvent ne pas avoir beaucoup de sens dans le nouveau, qui a l\u2019inverse peut vous donner de nouvelles id\u00e9es de cartes ou de r\u00e8gles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Le jeu fait partie d\u2019une collection de petites boites bon march\u00e9 au parti-pris graphique assez original, inspir\u00e9 des jeux pour Game-Boy des ann\u00e9es 90, et toutes illustr\u00e9es par Francisco Coda. C\u2019est un univers que je connais mal, mais c\u2019est tr\u00e8s mignon !  Les autres jeux de la s\u00e9rie sont Level 10<\/em>, un jeu de coop\u00e9ration et de communication limit\u00e9e de la famille de The Game<\/em> ou Hanabi<\/em>, ainsi que Ohio Bob<\/em>, le cousin d\u2019Indiana Jones et Aliens Attack<\/em>, inspir\u00e9 de Space Invaders<\/em>, deux jeux pour 1 ou 2 joueurs don’t je ne sais pas grand chose puisqu\u2019ils  devraient sortir en m\u00eame temps que Harvest Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Une erreur s’est gliss\u00e9e dans les r\u00e8gles du premier tirage de Harvest Valley. Cela devrait \u00eatre corrig\u00e9 dans les suivants. Cela n’emp\u00eache pas de jouer, mais le jeu est un peu plus logique avec les r\u00e8gles compl\u00e8tes.
– p.7, ce qui est d\u00e9crit comme l’effet de la carte Mauvaises Herbes est en fait l’effet de la m\u00e9t\u00e9orite. Elle remplace une autre carte, sauf une ferme, qui est alors plac\u00e9e dans la rivi\u00e8re.
– Les mauvaises herbes sont juste une carte sans valeur, plac\u00e9e comme n’importe quelle autre carte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvest Valley<\/strong>
Un jeu de Bruno Faidutti
Illustr\u00e9 par Francisco Coda
2 \u00e0 5 joueurs \u2013 15 minutes
Publi\u00e9 par Grail Games<\/a>
Boardgamegeek<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

With boardgame design, like with many creative activities, constraints can bring inspiration, especially when one knows when to get rid of them. In 2022, I decided to try a kind of stylistic exercise, with designing a series of 18 cards games, a format much liked by publishers because one can print three copies on a standard 54 cards game printing sheet. Two of these games have been published since, <\/em>6 Suspects<\/a>, which stayed at 18 cards, and <\/em>Migo<\/a>, which exploded or overflowed the format since it now has 25 cards and a few tokens. This also happened with two other games, <\/em>Fruit Cocktail<\/a>, which will soon be published in the same series as Migo, and Harvest Valley. More recently, I designed another one, Midnight Witches, which has managed to stay at 18 cards and is now looking for a publisher.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s go back to <\/em>Harvest Valley or, since this was the name of its first prototype, <\/em>Preachers War. <\/em>Preachers War was a card\/tile laying game in which each one of the two or three players was a priest trying to attract the most flock to his church, if needed with diverting them from other churches. Each player on turn played a card in a grid. Peasant were going to orthogonally adjacent churches, while knights, being on horses, could also go worship diagonally. Of course, peasants would give up church if there was an adjacent tavern, while knights could be diverted to fight a dragon. Conversely, a well-placed relic could make a church more attractive and therefore more profitable.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Preachers War<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The theme worked well, but all the publishers to which I showed the game had the same reaction \u2013 \u201cbetter not mock religion. It\u2019s done in a cute way, it would probably be OK, but I don\u2019t want to take the risk.\u201d Pity, I really enjoy mocking religion, may be because I know it too well. Knowing that they don\u2019t take their religions as seriously as we take ours, I also showed this game to Japanese publishers, replacing churches with buddhist temples and Shinto shrines and knights with samurais, but I wasn\u2019t really more successful.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Boardgame Fair<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Antoine Davrou, who was then managing a small French publisher, Ghost Dog and had just published Migo, enjoyed the game and suggested another setting, publishers trying to get the best spot for their booth at the Essen or Cannes game fair to promote their new games. He also suggested that I add more cards so that the game could be played with 4 or 5 players, even when it would not fit anymore in the 18 cards format. We made a prototype, but the new theme did not work that well and we gave up.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I kept on showing my prototype to publishers, among which Arnaud Charpentier, of Matagot, who had just made <\/em>6 Suspects. Arnaud did not think my game could fit in the same line, but put me in contact with David Harding, of the small Australian publisher Grail Games, who had a line of small \u201cpixel art\u201d card games in which he thought my game could fit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Harvest Valley prototype<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

David found the new setting, agriculture, and <\/em>Preachers War has become <\/em>Harvest Valley, a wink at the old Game Boy game <\/em>Harvest Moon. Churches have become farms, peasants vegetables, knights fruit trees. Tavernes and dragons have become wild boars and crows eager to destroy your harvest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The discussion about what comes first in boardgame design, theme or mechanism, is largely vain because both happen, but even more because it often goes both ways, back and forth. The theme of a game often changes between the first prototype and the published version. It sometimes weakens the game\u2019s consistency, when some of the rules or effects designed within the original storyline don\u2019t make much sense in the new ones. Conversely, the new setting can also inspire new mechanisms and make the game richer. That\u2019s what happened with <\/em>Harvest Valley. If farmers plant vegetables and fruit trees, why not also grain ? This was the opportunity for introducing a third way of scoring points, with building large wheat fields made of several adjacent tiles.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I often give this advice to wannabe boardgame designers: you can accept a change of theme suggested by the publisher, but make sure to keep enough time to rework the game in its new setting. Some of the effects designed for the old game can become meaningless in the new one, and should be removed, but conversely the new one can give ideas for new cards or abilities.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Harvest Valley is part of a small series of small and cheap boxes with an original graphic style \u2013 nineties style pixel art -, all with art by Francisco Coda. It is a world I don\u2019t know much about, but it looks cute. The other games in the series so far are <\/em>Level 10, a cooperative communication game in the style of <\/em>Hanabi or <\/em>The Game, as well as <\/em>Ohio Bob, Indiana Jones\u2019 cousin, and <\/em>Aliens Attack!, inspired by <\/em>Space Invaders, two 1-2 player games of which I know nothing since they will be published together with Harvest Valley.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a small error in the rules of the first print run. The game still work well with the rules as written, but is thematically a bit more consistent with the effects as intended.
– on p.7, what is described as Weeds is in fact the Meteorite. It replaces another card, not a farm, which is placed back in the river.
– Weeds is just a worthless card, placed like any other card. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvest Valley<\/strong>
A game by Bruno Faidutti
Art by Francisco Coda
2 to 5 players \u2013 15 minutes
Published by Grail Games<\/a>
Boardgamegeek<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dans la cr\u00e9ation ludique, comme dans beaucoup de domaines, les contraintes peuvent \u00eatre une source d\u2019inspiration dont il faut ensuite savoir s\u2019affranchir. En 2022, j\u2019ai voulu me livrer \u00e0 une sorte d\u2019exercice de style, en cr\u00e9ant plusieurs petits jeux de … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[536],"tags":[538,537],"class_list":["post-17829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-harvest-valley","tag-grail-games","tag-harvest-valley"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Harvest-Valley-box.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2HNOP-4Dz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17829"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19375,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17829\/revisions\/19375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}