I like elegance in design, and part of that is wrapping as many functions as possible into its pieces. The stacks of tiles in Lines of Questioning also serve as its turn track; the corners of the board are both places to play and a way to keep score. Whenever the game needed something, I tried to find a way to handle it with existing components.

Sometimes, though, the game needs something that the current pieces can’t provide. Playtesting Lines of Questioning has revealed one: a way to note the last-played tiles. The ends of the lines are important, which means it’s important to be able to remember where they are after the lines lengthen and twist back on themselves. It’s also valuable to have a visual reminder when the last tiles in the lines are not adjacent. Some kind of token at the ends of the lines would answer both of those needs, but neither the board nor the tiles can act in that role.

In the digital version of the game I’m working on, there are markers that automatically follow the lines as they grow. A nicely-produced physical version might employ cubes, meeples, or (at one playtester’s suggestion) little wooden gavels. For the print-and-play currently available, coins are a good size.

If you’ve been having trouble keeping track of what’s happening as Lines of Questioning progresses, try using tokens at the ends of the lines. They reduce the memory overhead quite a bit.

(A quick poll: Gavels? Or something else? I’m tempted to try something like a legal pad for the attorney and a Bible for the witness, but many witnesses choose not to swear on a Bible anymore . . . .)