Open Hand

Do you prefer to play with or without open hand if playing online?

I think it‘s more interesting to play without open hand as you won‘t know what will happen. 

This also encourages to communicate „Wait, I will play heroic interception next turn, if you have oblivion in your hand play it next turn“.

I also think it‘s interesting to let other players make their own decisions and sometimes others could just always suggest what to do. 

In my opinion open hand is only worth to explain this game others and teach them some strategies or whatever but otherwise I am not interested. 

What‘s about you?

I don’t really see much of a point playing with closed hands.  In my experience, people end up just telling everyone else what they have practically all the time. And in cases where that doesn’t completely happen, people often wish it had.  Stuff like, “wait, how long have you had that Heroic Interception?  Now I wish I hadn’t discarded my Oblivion last turn!”

And as far as alpha players go, that’s kind of just a risk you’re always going to take with coop games, especially when you play with strangers.  I don’t believe closed hands inhibit them any more than open hands do.  

I've never seen any reason to hide your hand in a game like this. Especially this one. Imagine playing as the Adept, for example - "Okay, I can let someone play a card now...umm, so what does everyone actually have?", and then having to wait while everyone tells you and then try to figure out the best play from that. As opposed to just looking at what everyone's got out and going "Okay, how about if X plays <card> because then that will deal with Y...". I would find it so frustrating if no-one would want to show what cards they have when I kind of need to see them :P.

I prefer playing with closed hands, just to stave off that urge to alpha. I'm getting better at just going "Ooh!" when I see someone draw something exciting. I mean, that's fun. :)

I strongly dislike playing with open hands. I find that just being able to click on what you want someone to play vastly lowers the barrier to alpha-ing. It feels frustrating - I don't like people telling me what to do. I'd rather play more slowly and have a discussion if other players care what I'm doing. Alternately, I'm totally fine shooting from the hip and playing non-optimally most of the time.

Either way, I'll usually ignore/avoid suggestions made by people who just click on the options they think I should take without saying anything about it.

It really depends on who I am playing with, but a bunch of random people I would prefer a closed hand, if I play at all. There are too many people that "know the game" and will insult if people do not play exactly as they would have done. It's one reason why seeing me in a multiplayer game isn't too common, as once I encounter one of those players I don't go on for awhile.

One game I had someone that suggested a card every time, even suggested a power when it was the only thing there. So I never picked what their suggestion was even if it meant skipping.

I always play with closed hands on the tabletop, and in the digital version (except for live streams). If someone on the tabletop wants to have their hand open that's no problem with me, but I find the game more interesting with closed hands.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that suggestion thing in the Steam version...gawd that's annoying. If people want to suggest I play something, tell me, but personally I'd rather they didn't unless I ask. This is the kind of game where it feels so much better if everyone present is in constant discussion over the current state of the game, even if it's just "Oh, there's nothing useful I can do this turn, I'm drawing two". But it bugs me when people tell other people what they think that person should do, and I try not to do it myself. But I tend to play physically or on Tabletop Sim with people I know, so it's not really a problem ;).

I definitely prefer playing with closed hands. If I have an opportunity to let someone else play a card, I’d rather ask them what awesomeness they can pull off (or not) than look over everyone’s cards and make that decision for them. To me, it feels more thematically appropriate and more respectful of other people’s ownership of their own activities. 

I've never played anything but the IOS version, and that solo.

That said, if you're not teaching the game, it seems like the correct way is to play with closed hands, and invert the discussion. Rather than "you should play this card," I'd say players should limit themselves to "I'm thinking of playing this card. Does that work well for you, or do you have a reason I should save it for a later turn?" I.e. never tell anyone else what to play, and don't ask what they have, but if you think coordination is important, ask for it in regard to what you're playing, not what they're playing.

I'm not sure you can get quarterbacking types to agree to that, though.

I prefer closed hands.  Open hands makes more sense with newer players or streaming the game.  Whatever your preference I’m glad it’s an option I the video game.  

It might be because I play with my freinds that do tabletop stuff with on this, use voice chat, go after difficulty 3/4 stuff regularly, and sometimes even varient hunt but we use open hands exclusivly.  I guess it could work for things in the difficulty 1-2 range where one good player can save the day but I have a hard time seeing people beat the difficulty 3-4 types without a lot of chatting between everyone.

It’s a coop game so I’d hope people are talking about what they can and can’t deal with.  Doesn’t mean you have to reveal what’s in your hand. 

If I play with people I know then I totally play with open hands, as we usually have voice-chat going and we talk about our plans. It helps coming up with plans easier if they can just see what I have in hand. Playing physical they are usually closed, but that's just because people are holding their cards and not really trying to keep it a secret.

Oh I don't tell people what to play. If someone is puzzling over their options I'll instead point at whatever the villain/environment decks currently have out and say stuff like "Well, this thing is a pretty major threat right now - is there anything you can do to help with that?". Also, if I'm teaching and someone asks me about a specific card, it kind of helps if I can see it, in case I need to double-check the wording or something (many of the older decks I've got memorised pretty well by now, but by no means every deck in the game ;)). Also, if people can see my hand, it better helps me explain whatever I'm planning for my next turn, or whatever, should I need to go into any more detail than "I'm gonna deal with X on my turn so don't worry about it", or "Don't worry about not being able to do that thing along with the other thing because I can let you do that when we get to my turn", etc.

I dunno, it just feels...wrong (if that's the right word) for people to be keeping their resources from each other when the whole point of the game is that we're working together and need to know what each other is capable of.

I prefer to play with closed hands, because otherwise someone (probably me), will tend to dominate the game.  And if that happens, nobody (including me) ends up having any fun.  The groups I play with don't overshare until things get bad, and the partitioning of information really helps people feel a sense of accomplishment, and generally view other players as more competent.

I prefer closed when it comes to digital.

It's for the same reasons that have been coming up: Avoids alpha/annoying players from trying to lead me by the nose, lets me and others think for themselves unless they ask for help, let's me focus on my hand and what I can do, and encourages communication between players opposed to just clicking on a card and expecting someone's intent to be clear.

I never find the digital game to go so fast that there isn't a moment for a quick question or such, such as asking someone "Can you do this?" or "I can give a draw or play: Who wants what?" I usually don't have access to voice, but typing something out usually only take s a few moments anyway.

Do people not listen if you try to say "Hey guys, can you please not keep trying to tell me what to do? It's my turn - let me decide how to play..."? If they don't, maybe find some different people to play with...

I’ve had to do that several times, but that doesn’t always work. And it’s hard to keep track of every Alpha/Annoying player when so many different people play. And when you don’t have any personal friends that play, you take what you can get.