Let's theory craft A CCG

So, we talk about card games a lot, and we inevitably discuss the issues that pop up in the design of each game, whether it's power creep, broken mechanics, Pay to Win, or whatever else may be the issue. With that in mind, let's conceptualize a game that satisfies our collective autism.

I've always taken issue with Rarity = Power. In terms of business sense it works. Rare cards means more cost, but in an ideal game system, the focus would be less on actually having access to the cards, and more on using them.

If I did have to institute a system, it would be based on tiers of cards. Your common rarity woul let you have up to six copies in a deck, with your most rare only allowing one copy.

One method maybe be tying power to rarity only in regards to the card type. Say, spells are all common/uncommon, while the one-of deck mainstay base/avatar/whatever are uncommon and rare. You only need one so fuck it.

Alternatively, rarity could directly reflect complexity, not power. A powerful but simple card would be common, while the card with multiple abilities would be rarer. Hard to balance maybe, but whatever.

The main problem with removing rarity like that is that the stores will no longer be able to make a profit. This would work really well for an online medium, but otherwise stores won't have the ability to sell $20 cards or $300 cards.

Alternative problem, players think rarity=power and drifting too far from that will confuse and alienate.

Regarding Power Creep: This one has been solved already hasn't it? Just introduce formats. aka Type 1 & 2 in MtG which was copied by most other cards games.

Broken Mechanics - easy. bans. Or if digital, nefs.

I don't know what else there is to discuss. Just make a good game that isn't a fuckin MtG ripoff and you'll have my support.

I've never liked MTG's mana system, but at the opposite end, Yu-Gi-Oh is broke as shit.

I did, however, like Duel Master's method of doing that: Each turn during your turn there is the Mana Phase, where you have the option of choosing a single card from your hand and adding it to your mana pool, which you can then tap as a single land. You're never mana-screwed, nor mana flooded, but it does affect the value of card advantage greatly.

It does lead into some interesting things that Duel Masters never did though, like spell cards that you can rotate from your hand to your mana pool, letting you recover cards from your pool for later.

>like spell cards that you can rotate from your hand to your mana pool, letting you recover cards from your pool for later.
Are you talking about mana reburst or am I misreading this?

I once had an idea for an alternative to rarity and always wondered what the ramifications for a Limited Environment and the game itself would be:

Instead of having rarity, cards are distributed by card type. If you take MtG for example
>A booster contains any 4 creatures
>Any 4 instants or sorceries
>Any 3 artifacts, enchantments, planeswalkers or remaining oddball cardtypes

You'd need to iron out some kinks, of course, like where artifact creatures go and so on.

I played one Duel Masters GBA game and used a BarkWhip the Smasher deck exclusively, I never got into the game in depth. So yeah, you're probably right.

Here's how my special snowflake resource system works:

You have three action points per turn by default and it costs one to play a card or turn a card from your hand into a resource permanent. Each resource permanent reduces the cost of playing cards by 1, and you gain resource points upon playing the card if the cost goes negative. Each card has a (higher) cost that lets you play it from the resource zone(this doesn't cost any additional action points).

I'm working on a CCG right now and trying to avoid being "MtG but..." . One thing I have to differentiate is a game area that is comprised of mutual card selections. You bring X cards and your opponent does as well, then you mix them and put them in the middle and use them as a central game element.

Don't have a resource system, it slows the game down unnecessarily. Don't have set rotation, it forces players to constantly buy new cards and people don't like that. Don't have multiple formats, just stick to 1 so you don't confuse your players.

So without a resource system how do you limit player action? A set number of actions per turn, like Yugioh?

Don't, it's that simple. Players don't like to be contained all the time, let them go off and do amazing combos and loops.

I guess that's one way to think, but what stops the game from turning into Yugioh then, where it's just whoever wins the coin-toss usually wins the game.

First, you steal from yugioh again and make traps, but to make it different they can be used from your hand before your turn. There's plenty of other ways to make it different.

Creature and spell cards have no inherent effects, excepting perhaps elemental affinities or group descriptors. Fire Elemental, Vampire, Undead, Human, etc.

All spell and creature effects are built using preexisting tables listing the cost of certain effects and attached to the otherwise empty creatures/spells. Spend 2 resources to give a creature 4 points of attack, spend another 1 to let it attack flying enemies, spend 4 to attach a counterspell.

The impetus to get people to buy new releases is to have the nice new artwork done by all your favorite hentai artists.

I'm assuming this is digital only.

Yes, I was planning for digital. Otherwise it's a huge pain in the ass.

>screwed
Wow tcg did a similar thing but had quest cards, which could go face-up and had a trigger to "complete" them to gain soms benefit and flip them face down. They also had an effect where soms cards would do something of playes facedown as a resource.

Anyone ever play Two Worlds Two?

It had a system where you basically used cards to create your own spells, which could lead to wacky things where you summon a tornado of crates to smash your enemies to bits.

It gave me the idea of trying to transfer some of that to a card game, like a "Wizard's Duel" sort of thing where rather than summoning monsters to beat your opponent, you try to make your own custom spell, maybe roll to see if it works, and then whittle down your opponents HP. The balance would be between using powerful spells and actually getting a cast in.

Every card game needs some sort of resource system, though. Otherwise everyone just plays the best and most efficient cards and every deck is the same.

I'm actually in the initial planning stages for my own card game. Right now, there are no lands or energy per se. Instead, once on your turn you may select a card from your hand and place it face down. This becomes your "land" and tapping it generates "mana". You're never screwed for resource, but you have to think carefully about which card you use for that.

You can also cast those cards as long as they aren't tapped and you pay the cost. It kind of acts like a second hand, but can be destroyed by "destroy target card" effects.

Basically, in my game, I want everything to come with a neutral ratio of risk:reward. Each color/faction/group (or whatever I decide to call them) will come with their own strengths and weaknesses and I'm working really hard to make sure each one is roughly equivalent.

Creatures can attack other creatures, but can tap to avoid an attack. So it's like duel masters in that a tapped creature is open to attack, but unlike duel masters, untapped creatures aren't completely safe.

Also, noncreature permanents can be attacked and can't avoid attacks, but they are much tougher. Some creatures are better at destroying them.

How to make an incredibly shitty CCG: The Post

Sacrificed permanents and discarded cards go to a different zone than destroyed permanents and cast spells.

Has anyone considered a rehash of Star Wars:CCG's method for paying to play cards?

>Start of turn: draw cards face down to a force pile for the amount indicated on all locations
>Draw as many cards as you like from the force pile
>Pay for any cards you wish to play using the by moving the indicated number of cards from the force pile to the used pile (they remain face down)
>At the end of the turn move all cards from the used pile to the bottom of the deck

(I might be slightly off on that. It has been a LONG time since I played Decipher's Star Wars game)

No instants. People underestimate how much complexity they add and overestimate how much depth they add.

Most of the interaction in card games come from instant effects.
Take a look at Pokémon if you want a game lacking instants: It's a nice little game, but it lacks in depth, simply because your opponent can't do shit while it's your turn. There are absolutely no responses to consider, you just do whatever the fuck you want and then take what your opponent dishes out.
Another example would be Hearthstone.

No instant effects also make any Haste mechanics or anything else immediately usable pure cancer and a nightmare to balance. Again, look at Hearthstone: Charge broke the game several fucking times already, simply because you cannot respond to whatever your opponent is doing.

>I want to play solitaire: the post