Breaking down the previous post and adding more

So let's see if we can state in simple terms what's going on in this half-made card game so far:

- Standard game mechanics, nothing to write home about: players, individual play areas, one draw deck, cards in hand or in play area, used cards go to the discard - so far, standard game mechanics

- Unusual game mechanics: face-down discard pile, win condition not chosen until murder weapon is drawn

- Simple explanation:  scandals played face down, including murder. Scandals face up bring consequences. Murder also makes you lose but ends the game. Action cards do action things. Somewhat like a Magic clone: creatures = characters, action cards = sorcery/instant/interrupt, and too much scandal/caught murdering = out of life points.

I haven't played the currently Kickstarted game Exploding Kittens, but I think I might have developed a similar playing conceit: a game of hot potato with effect cards to mitigate being caught. Granted, people who have not played the game have expressed concerns with how boring/simple the mechanics would be. It's certainly a road sign for me, saying that I need to add more.

What mechanics could be added to involve more complexity to the game? I don't mean action card mechanics, I feel that that will come in time, and is actually a sort of a second order complexity. Fluxx does this on purpose; its rules are almost completely read off the cards near the end of the game. It's fun in a confusing way, but I'd like to make the cards no more complex as I have to in order to create the perfect level of complexity.

Another iffy decision that needs to be made is: how heavy do we go on the scandal part? This could be a game merely about scandal without so much emphasis on murder, if need be. But that would change the mood of the game from the players being outstanding citizens solving a murder to players being scoundrels, all trying to embarrass the other characters. It would be very similar to Gloom. I wouldn't want to copy it too closely.

What if we went in G's direction and tried to get into the nittier grittier about solving a mystery, using the cards? The scandal part would be a side mechanic to this main mechanic of solving the murder. This takes me somewhat back to square one. The difficulty of creating the scene in specific details is enormous, since you'd have to have a card for every possible weapon or scenario, like Clue (wrench, lead pipe, axe, and so on and so on...) I could reuse the Capability/Motive/Opportunity mechanic. Perhaps if someone was proven to have all three (placed face up in their playing area), that could be the lose condition for the murderer. The only problem is, that I wouldn't want to create a sort of Schrodinger's murderer condition, whereupon the murderer who is caught (and loses the game) did not get selected until late in the game, and so not given the chance to outwit everyone else. I'd want a mechanic where the murder is determined early on (in secret, drawing the right card), and then that player spends the rest of the game avoiding getting caught.

Some more card ideas:
- Guilt-wracked: You must play this card on any scandals in your play area immediately, or you must play immediately after you play a face-down card thereafter. (Insert bad effect here)
- Mob-justice: Play any time. Players vote to lynch one follower.