New Game Design Update - Many Changes

So as I stated in my last design post, I have been in the process of making some major changes to the card design.  I now believe that I have achieved an acceptable product to begin testing.  Rather than keep you all waiting, let's dive right in to the changes.

Here is a picture to compare the old card structure to the new structure:

Card Changes

I realize this does not look like much of a change, but it really changes how the game is played.  Here's a brief explanation of the new card layout:

Card Anatomy

1. Card Title
2. Cost to build
3. Ability provided
4. Synergy/Upgrade
   1. For Synergy, the building listed is required to utilize the Synergy ability.
   2. For Upgrade, the listed cost must be paid to gain access to the Upgrade ability
5. Hidden Ability – this ability will be provided while this portion of the card is visible.
6. Citizen Points rewarded for the building
7. Year this card is available
8. Number of players to include this card
   
   
    
   The real change to the card is the new Hidden Ability.  This ability will only be available until a new building card is built next to it.  The new building card will overlap the existing card such that the Hidden Ability becomes, well, hidden.  What this also accomplishes, is that it hides the Citizen Point value that the building provides, which will hopefully make all players "forget" about how many points everyone has and just enjoys playing the game.
   
   
   I also made changes to the player boards.  Previously, the boards were very basic holding spots for all the cards.  Now, however, the layout looks more like that of an old Western town:
   
   

   

   Player Board

   As you can see, the new player board lists the starting resources, number of workers, and special ability that player has.  Why Special Ability?  Well, my plan is to make each player board double-sided.  One side will have the board you see above, while the other side will have different starting resources, workers, and/or a special ability.
   
   
   Also added in this version is new House Tokens.  Before this update, players received additional workers for free at the beginning of each year.  Now, players will have to buy House Tokens which provide additional workers.  There are currently 4 different types of houses that provide between 1 and 2 workers (and possibly some additional Citizen Points and resources).  I was not really a fan of just providing new workers for free each year, so my hope is that this will be a good replacement.
   
   
   At this point, I have no plans to have a playable version with the new changes ready for any game days that I will attend this month.  I hope to be able to get a few people to visit and try a runthrough with these changes, however, before bringing a copy to one of the game days in March.