Sanity Test for The Lesion: Charcot's Tournament

Exemplary--very clear and easy to follow structure.

On box and front page of rules.

Compellingly sets the milieu in which the game takes place and gives the players a clear role to play.

Provides a solid primer on the science of neurologic localization (which seems necessary for understanding the game) but offers very little insight with regard to mechanics and goals of the game itself.

All components are listed with counts. Most have thematic names. It's not clear from the rules what the nature of the lesions (game pieces) is, or whether they are all identical or come in some varieties.

Component samples are not pictured in conjunction with the component list, but example cards and mats are pictured in various places throughout the rules. Given the small number of components needed for the game, it's unlikely players will have difficulty identifying any of them.

A bit rough, but covers the essentials. Opportunities for further polish include: shuffling of the sign cards is presumed rather than stated. Since the sign cards are unusual in that there is a not a common back for all cards, some additional clarification would be helpful--does it matter whether the cards in the draw pile are pathway side up or patient side up? Could they even be a mix of the two? (This is answered later in the rules, but should be here in setup.) What should be done with the game pieces that aren't needed at the start of the game to mark each players score? Minor typo: "on the center of table" should be "center of the table" (and perhaps, "in the center of the table").

No setup picture per se, although the first example does appear to show a first turn situation. A proper setup picture should clearly show the organization of the 'diagnostic tableau' (see below), including the empty spaces that do not have a card at setup, and should represent the physical locations of the game mats (in front of players) and the tableau of sign cards (in the middle of the table). Establishing those concepts here will give you more leeway in the illustrating the game play examples.

More difficult than necessary, largely due to the added challenge of divining the nature of the unnamed thing where the available cards live. It should be named (I'd suggest "diagnostic tableau" or similar), introduced in the setup section, and illustrated in a diagram that will make clear what is meant by "top row" and "bottom row" here in main rules.

Examples would be a little easier to read if the active player were given an name and used pronouns consistent with that name (say, Joseph - he, Marie- she, etc...) rather than simply a position number and arbitrary pronoun.

Very good illustration of two consecutive turns serves to clarify much of the workings of the card tableau, and does a fine job of confirming the various turn actions. Pictures are slightly misleading in that they tend to show the sign cards below the player mats, whereas in actual play the mats would be in front of the players, and the cards in the middle of the table.

Very good (although no tie-breaker).

Very clear, once issues with the array of cards were deciphered

Very nice columnar lay-out with interspersed graphics, clear headings and reasonable white space.

Adequately represents the core elements of the theme. However, photograph here isn't consistent with the art used everywhere else in the game. Photo is notably blurred at this size (although that may be intentional...)

Distinctive and clean. It is occasionally tricky to properly read the 's' in the logo.

Having only three pictures feels sparse, but they do successfully represent the various components. Adding a photo showing everything that comes in the box would be a very good idea. Also consider adding a shot or two showing close-ups of some of the card art.

Concise overview of theme and core game concepts. (Should clean up extra spaces before periods in first paragraph)

No video