So I've been working on the concept of card games for quite some time now and I think I've got something pretty coherent to finally share here.
The basic ideas for this game borrow pretty heavily from my experiences with collectible card games like Magic, Yugioh, and Pokemon. I've set up some basic design rules for myself to follow to try to eliminate some things I didn't like about other card games.
Design rules:
All players have equal access to all available cards
No additional components necessary to play the game (no dice, tokens, health counters)
After I knew these basics about what I want to design I have a few other things I wanted to avoid while making this game for my own sake. No tapping cards to use abilities or to attack, no land cards or energies, and no health on either cards or for each player. I also want to avoid using a fantasy theme because I think it's been done to death, I'd like to keep it as abstract as possible.
How the game will work I've got somewhat figured out, all the details are likely to change once I make a prototype and start to play with it.
Basically you have a set of every card in the game with enough copies for both players.
You each build a deck out of these cards to battle each other.
The objective of the game is a bit fuzzy because you could have multiple goals in a given duel as the cards themselves can change the objectives.
I want to avoid using a life counter so attacking your opponent directly isn't an option.
Combat is a bit tricky as well because I don't want to use counters or tapping like other games have before, so it boils down to a Rock-Paper-Scissors mechanic for determining the winner when creatures fight.
You can play other cards that are not creatures to modify rules of the game or do some specific task like drawing additional cards.
All cards have a cost to play them and also act as a resource so that I don't have to include additional cards or other pieces.
A few issues I have so far would be how many card types are necessary for a game like this (spells, monsters, items)
Whether or not colors and types should be used to avoid throwing in all the optimal cards when building a deck.
Trying to improve the combat in the game to make it interesting for the players without adding too much complexity, or if it's even possible to remove combat entirely while keeping the interaction between players.
Any thoughts or criticism are helpful :)
Thanks for taking the time to read through all my craziness! I looked at the Epic game that you mentioned and I really like the way they put it together. The game play seems a bit shallow and you're right too close to MTG for a standalone game but that might improve as they add more into it.
The rock-paper-scissors thing is found in tons of games for sure, but it seemed like an elegant solution to the problem in the design. Each monster needs to be unique and yet fit under a simple umbrella that is easy for new players to understand and creates interesting combat choices. Of course I'll put my own spin on it and test it out with a prototype to see how well it works.
I looked at the Yomi game you mentioned and I think it's actually some good news for me! I like their mechanic and obviously it works for there game so I'm hoping my version can also work without bringing the combat down to a crawl.
I don't believe it's difficult to bring something new to the two player card game at all. In fact it seems like it hasn't been explored thoroughly enough. Obviously a fantasy theme works great! And we all know combat between monsters is a great way to create interaction between players and keep them engaged even on their opponents turn. What happens when we explore other themes or don't use combat between monsters at all? Then you have something totally different. The conventions have only just been established in this genre of game and yes MTG has blazed a trail for us, but we still have tons of options to look into in my opinion.
It's not our job to convince other players that out games are different or special, that's up to the players to decide for themselves. Yugioh and Magic work with some similar conventions sure, but they are very different games that appeal to very different players.
I also think you're right on the button with bringing something new to card games. I wouldn't bother to make a card game at all if it wasn't different to the other games out there. I don't want to play a weaker version of yugioh or magic. I want to be surprised and intrigued by how different mechanics fit into the game. I want to learn something new, and challenge conventions that are established. I want to see different players that never got into these games getting something out of it.
After looking at your mechanics I really like the time idea and using the full rotation of the cards. This is something that I've only seen explored a little bit in other games. Tapping is an obvious one, as well as status effects in pokemon. I'm sure there are tons of other uses for that idea as well that we haven't even begun to think about!
Anyways, thanks again for responding to my idea and bringing up some valid points. It's great to have someone to bounce ideas off of before I spend any time prototyping, which I find very time-consuming and tedious. It's my least favorite part of working on games. Your game sounds really cool too can't wait to try it out!
I know how unlikely it is for a game to be successful, especially a card game and specifically combat card games. Luckily for me this is all about fun and I don't intend to make a single penny from this at all. I just want to make a fun simple game that can be replayed over and over with enough depth to keep it interesting for many years to come.