The first week back
Waybill reopened on October 1. This is a short account of the first week: what we changed because of it, and what we plan to do next. If you found the game through the Facebook group, the Discord or an ad, this is written for you.
What changed
The price is stated plainly, and neither price is required. Playing on the America board is free, and stays free. If you want to host your own games there is a $20 one-time purchase, and if you want to support the game there is a supporter plan at $4 a month or $40 a year. The $20 purchase now sits level with the supporter plan on screen, so you can see both and choose, or choose neither and keep playing.
The phone demo's tour works by touch. Its ring now follows the thing it points at when that thing moves, the card names the button that is really there, and it scrolls to its target once instead of fighting you for the screen.
Choosing a train's stops works on a phone. The stop list is rebuilt. Press "Add a stop" and you get a list you can search. Or choose "Pick on the map", and the sheet folds down to a strip so you can see the board and tap the town you want.
Buying and selling shares is clearer. The screen for it names the two kinds of money plainly: "Your railroad's money" and "Your own money". When the game will not let you buy or sell, the reason is written above the buttons, in words, instead of a button that does nothing. And it no longer lets you buy the same shares twice by pressing twice.
Railroads are no longer all called "My Lines". A new railroad is called yours until its first line is ordered, and is then named after that line's two end towns, such as Boston & Worcester. Railroads already called "My Lines" in the public games were renamed the same way.
The phone's status bar is one line. It holds that height, so the sheet under your thumb stays where you put it.
There is help, and it is linked from the game. Six help pages cover your first line and train, choosing stops, shares and the two kinds of money, railroad names, joining a season already under way, and what costs money. The game has Help links in the lobby, in the settings menu, on the train order sheet and on the screen where you buy and sell shares.
The community is in the game. The Facebook group and the Discord are both linked from the lobby and from inside a game.
What is next
These are the things we have agreed to do, in no particular order and with no dates:
- A hint on the idle status bar.
- A way to reorder a train's stops.
Tell us what is confusing
The best thing you can do for the game right now is tell us where it confused you. A sentence is enough: what you were trying to do, and what happened instead.
Post it in the Facebook group, talk to us on the Discord, or email support@waybillgame.com.
Thank you for the first week.