Designing collectible card game

I played them to a near cult-like religion. For those of you that have spent time trying to climb the competitive ladder of an RTS, you know that those games have particular play patterns that when missed by even.

The challenge was, how do I capture that feeling and experience in an analog game. I felt there were four core things about the experience, it would need to have two manageable resources, and two it would need to have some element of base construction, it would need a tech tree. Finally it would need to simulate the precision of timing that RTS games have at a high level.

So by understanding these things I could start crafting the core loop steps you saw above. The specific rules I set out on the initial framework changed drastically based on failures in achieving that core experience. But that is to be expected. Without that core experience in my mind, and on paper I'd have no way of knowing what we were trying to achieve. I believe some core principles need to be understood when designing a core game loop for a card game.

Keep It Simple Stupid; means don't over complicate the process. In an initial framework, each site on Sularia had specific placement needs, and they even had requirements that a past "site" was in play to build a future one. By imposing tight restrictions on the gameplay, we could not see how the more in-depth strategy could evolve because the rules and game loop restricted it. Open up your rules, keep an open mind on the initial framework using your vision for the experience as a way to drive the "ruleset" based on early prototype feedback.

Wait what? Yup you heard it here first. Game Balance is part of the individual cards fitting together cohesively. It has nothing to do the game loop. The game loop is just the restrictions on how your cards will behave when in play. So worry only about whether the game breaks because playing cards in a specific sequence would do that. For example in an early playtest of Sularia, players could utilize their Influence also to play combatants.

In the final design, only Sularium will pay for combatants. Because early playtests had players forgoing sites altogether or minimizing sites to flood the battlefield with combatants. Removing sites from decks strictly went against the core vision for the game without that vision that may have been a rule that would have stuck around.

You don't need 25 - 30 playtests to realize at this stage that the game is or isn't adhering to your overall vision. If you play it and don't like a core loop component.

Try something different, remember, our target is your vision for the game. As you develop the loop don't be afraid to throw away a part that seems to break the fluidity of the loop.

We had many reviewers in our first campaign comment on how "silky smooth" Battle for Sularia played. Those were their words, not ours. The experience was only possible by cutting the excess garbage away to create a logical sequence. If you are not familiar with computer logic or how computers operate things like "while loops" or "if-then clauses" I would suggest taking some time to do a basic programming course. Remember that a game loop is the backbone of our game, and considering how a computer would handle these steps, helps us build a seamless loop.

If you cannot adequately explain your loop with logic, then your game loop will not feel transparent to the player. For example, if I was right my game loop in computer code, and again this is not operational, it's just a framework understanding of how the game operates.

While obviously, my coding skills would not land me a job as a programmer, it helps to understand that conditional clause and trees that have to occur to move onto the next steps of the game. Understanding current design trends is a crucial step, much of modern card game design has forgone the collection of resources for the sake of action economies, or some other methodology that doesn't require the collection of resources.

I love these games a lot, but for Sularia a game inspired by RTS games it didn't fit with the core vision of what the experience was supposed to be. In an RTS game, you collect resources. If your game doesn't need resources, great, think of other unique ways to limit a players turn to keep the core loop in balance. At this stage, you need to get to a prototype fast. Make a quick set of cards to test the loop. Don't worry about Balance or uniqueness or abilities or any of that stuff; we will get to it later.

Instead, build something you can play with right now, and check the loop to see if it is functioning. If not, then its time to iterate on the loop until it does. In the next article, we will discuss the high-level card and "color" design. Do you like what you read here? Give us a heart or if you want to discuss this article in our community join us on discord! Products Battle for Sularia. Community Articles. Social Media. Where to Buy Webstore. Store Locator. Create an account.

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Part 1. All rights reserved. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc. Pick a name and theme for your game. Think about what kind of world you want in your game. Come up with characters, creatures, and other elements that exist in the world of your game.

Use the theme to help decide the name and other aspects of your game. You could have a fighting trading card game that involves different types of characters such as ninjas, samurai, and commandos. Create a backstory and history for your game. Spend some time thinking about the history of the world of your game. Write backstories for each of the characters and creatures to create a rich and complex universe that your game exists in. The larger world of your game could be a place that just survived a major flood or maybe there was a recent zombie outbreak that wiped out most of the people.

Come up with a way for players to win the game. Give your player a goal or goals that they have to work towards in order to win or beat the game. Choose goals that give meaning to your game so people are interested in playing it and it sounds fun. Adding goals to your game can also force players to strategize how they want to play their cards, which can make your game more fun and engaging.

Use your theme to come up with the mechanics and card types. Design your rules so they make sense and suit the world of your game. Add commands, attributes, styles, and procedures that make sense for your game and help make it a cohesive playing experience. Try to balance the rules and character abilities so the gameplay is relatively even. Part 2. Research the rules of other trading card games for inspiration. Look up the rulebooks for other trading games online to get ideas of how they work and create a cohesive way to play.

Draw inspiration to make your own rules and borrow aspects that you like from the games that you research to help form your game. For instance, you could borrow the turn-based fighting mechanics of a game like Yu-Gi-Oh! Create a gameplay loop that structures your game. A gameplay loop involves the order of actions in your game and dictates how your game is played. Come up with a structured system that defines how each player makes decisions during the game and how they use their cards.

A well-structred and ordered game helps make the gameplay smoother. It can also be helpful to look at the gameplay loops of other trading card games to use as models for your own. Allow players to build their own decks to encourage trading.

Let players choose which cards they want to play during the phases of your gameplay loop. For instance, if your game involves magic and creatures like elves and orcs, you can have a player who likes to use healing magic and fire arrows, so they can craft a deck that suits their needs by trading with other players. Use your notebook to write down hard and fast rules that you create for your game. Come up with a solid list of abilities and rules that players need to follow. Prohibited actions are important too.

Include aspects that encourage players to interact with each other. Add actions and items that motivate players to work together or fight one another in order to advance in the game or improve their chances of winning. Add rules like forcing a player to perform at least 1 attack each round so they have to interact with another player. Add a catch-up feature to help players falling behind. Consider adding cards to your game that are designed to help out players who are losing or at a major disadvantage.

Use rules that prevent 1 player from dominating other players too easily to make the game for fun and challenging. Part 3. Trace the outline of a playing card on paper to make a template. Take a standard playing card or a card from a game that you want to copy for your own game. Place the card on your notebook or a sheet of paper and use a pencil to trace the outline. Use the outline as a template as you design your cards.

Draw the templates in your notebook so you have everything organized. Create a box in the center and add the art of the card. Draw a square box in the center of your card. The art of the cards can really make your game look good, so spend some time coming up with unique designs. Add a text box at the bottom and write a card description. Beneath the art box in the center of the card, draw a rectangular text box.

Write a description of the character, item, or whatever the card represents in the box. Include info about what the card does, when it can be played, and any other special rules about it. Place the title of the card at the top of the card.

Just above the art box in the center of the card, draw a small, rectangular box. Use colors or symbols to help identify card types. If you have different types of characters, actions, items, creatures, or any other types of cards, choosing specific colors for each type can help make them easier to differentiate.

Use something like a sword symbol for fighting cards or a heart symbol for healing or magic cards. Add colors to your cards to make them pop and enhance the art as well. Create a single design for the back of all of your cards.

Come up with a design for the back of your cards that fits the theme of your game. Include the name of the game on the back of the card. Use the same design for the back of all of your cards.

As an example, if your game involves medieval knights or warfare, you could choose a wood or leather-looking design for the back of your card to suit the theme. You could also use a logo or symbol instead of the name on the back of the cards. Make your own cards by drawing and cutting them out of paper.

Draw more card templates on paper or cardstock and add the outlines for the art box, text box, and title. Write the title and add any additional artwork and colors to complete the card.

Make multiple cards at once by drawing a row of templates on a sheet of paper or cardstock and filling them out. Upload your cards to an online card maker for an easy option. If you want to print your cards or have a digital copy of them, scan your drawn version and save it to your computer. Upload your images to an online card maker and pay to have them printed professionally. The Game Crafter is a popular online trading card maker.