Post 2- I made a game that stresses me out

I've play tested this game once. That doesn't mean it was bad, or that I didn't see potential. It was because it stressed me out. And if it stressed me out, it would likely happen to others. I think that it is important to unpack why it is stressful.

I've made a couple of games where the depth of strategy is deeper than when my small brain can handle. This is one where I can see people with big brains really succeeding.

I think the stress and the amount of things to keep track of is related. But, unlike games with lots of rules or exceptions to remember, button combos or riddles to recall, you instead have a few layers of problems that interact (or interfere) with each other, causing this stress. 

Stress 1: Timer 1- Time elapsed. You can play the long game and hit exact plays , but the score you get was achieved in more time, scoring lower.

Stress 2: Timer 2 - Watching it go around, you miss opportunities, knowing that timer 1 is going and counting against you. You plan your next plays while anticipating the approach of your well-timed play.

Stress 3: Awareness - Awareness of what cards are in play, what is in your hand, and ranking the options/play order based on the time, the colored nodes available.

Stress 4: Decisions- If you play on a card, you limit your other options of playing on that card. That also means covering the nodes leave other nodes open on the tiles in play, but also you have to think forward to the card you just played.

Your hand is dealt in 3 card bursts, and you draw new ones when you run out. This means you have to determine what order the three are played, by extrapolating things forward through TIME.

Stress 5: Doing the math for scoring, while both timers are going.

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Is it the act of time and life passing? Is it a reminder of mortality? Is a reflection of punctuality? Of hindsight and mistakes? Is it FOMO (the fear of missing out)?

Anyways, it is completely manageable gameplay, with some complexity and a high skill ceiling for prioritization/placemnt, and the timer is not that important if you can just let it go.