Prototyping

I have added three first moves (two basic kicks and the corresponding counter), and restricted the first counter to work only for "hits" (and not kicks). I have done some very basic testing, and it starts to be difficult to think of an always-winning strategy. The counter is now limited to when you can practically guess what your opponent's next move will be (is this too big a nerf? Statistically, a counter deals almost 2.5 times the damage a normal hit does though).

There are two points I am not really happy with yet:

• The guard and evade moves look more time-winning distractions than moves that are really usable. Guarding considerably reduces the damage received, but doesn't put the defender in any favorable position. And evade only increases the chance of the opponent missing and going to unbalanced state. The way this state is handled today acts merely as a short delay before the next action.
  
• Random behavior seems the winning strategy now. While there is no guarantee of success, constantly hitting while preventing the opponent to anticipate looks the best option. I already have a couple of ideas to incite players to play moves with a purpose in mind, and will try and test them soon enough.
  

The next step for me is to provide a strong system simply based on the elementary moves I have added up to now. It includes balancing the various strategies, and finding a real purpose to the defensive moves. To do so, I'll take my testing one step further, and try it with other players. A simple deck of printed cards and dices should be enough for some real-life prototyping.