Resource escalation

I responded recently to a post asking about cards being used as resources and, while this is a viable form of resource management, I believe this mechanic only provides a band-aid to the real issue: resource escalation.

This mechanic is found in many...many card games. Magic: The Gathering was the first to really introduce this; the bigger creatures require more resources, which really felt like they were worth it when you finally were able to get the resources to field them. Yu-Gi-Oh uses a system where smaller creatures can bring out larger creatures...but the smaller creatures have to be out first. Pokemon uses this resource to fuel Pokemon abilities...with the more powerful abilities costing more energy and the bigger Pokemon required the pre-evolution Pokemon out to play. Legend of the Five Rings, Doomtown: Reloaded, My Little Pony, virtually every LCG...all have this trait in some way shape or form.

But there's an inherent problem with this system: resource acquiring. Unless you have the right resources and the right units in your hand on the first turn, you're just sitting there like a sitting duck.

And not realistic. Sports games always start with a balance of power on both sides. Armies always have their men ready, not waiting for some resource to bring them out, and early fighting games started with both players at full life and all the tricks at their immediate disposal.

Let's face it, waiting for resources is just not fun. Many times the pace of the whole game is based on the first few turns and if you're stuck on those turns, you're just waiting for the game to end.

Let me suggest a different method: Static acquisition of resources. Every turn you get X resources, no more, no less. Maybe you can increase that during the game, but you now put the choice of resource management BACK to the player. Ultimately, it's the player that needs to make the choice. If your game gives a player a card they can't use until turn 6 or 7, you've essentially forced the player into a strategy they have no control over, and that's bad for a player because their hands are tied; that card is a dead card.

But what about those big monsters? A player needs to feel like they can summon or bring out powerful creatures...at least that's what a designer thinks a player needs. If there's a set amount of resources every turn and that player's monster card is in their hand at the beginning of the game that costs the maximum amount of resources, then why can't a player bring out the biggest monster at turn 1? Doesn't that make it over powered?

It can be, but what about assigning a condition to this monster? If you have that monster in hand at the beginning of the game, why can't the monster have a bonus to its power for every creature already on the field when it comes out? That way, you can still summon that monster on turn 1 and not make it too overpowered. You still give the choice to the player without having to force the strategy by making that a dead card in hand; they can freely summon the monster, but there's a consequence. The choice is now back on the player.

Some may argue that acquiring resources over time increases the tension in a game and promotes this idea of growth. True, but it's a growth brought about by luck and as Magic players know, you can have the best deck, but if you Mana Flood early game (pull all resources at the beginning of the game), or Mana Starve (pull all spells and no resources to put down) you're screwed. Games like Serpent's Tongue and Mage Wars use a spell book system where the order in which the spells come out are determined by the player. It's the battle that should have the increasing tension, not the rate on which you acquire that power.

But the trend seems to be that you can use a card in hand to put facedown as a resource every turn. But this still has a problem in that you are still funneled into a strategy where you have to hold on to high cost cards until the turn you can play them. It severely limits the choices a player can make. Unfortunately, this is the inherent issue with Hearthstone. I'm not saying it's a bad game, I'm just saying that it's highly dependent on how many cards that are available to use in your hand during the game and if you have high cost cards as an opening hand, it's pretty much over.

What I'm saying is that we can think of better ways to bring out armies and resolve conflicts without going to a rescue escalation system and I think we are stuck on it because that's what we've always known. Of course any new system has to be play tested for viability, but there are mechanics out there we haven't even explored.

I believe that.