Hey guys!
It's been a while since I've posted a new game design idea, but I must say giving myself serious time to mull over and condense my ideas has been hugely beneficial.
Attached I have a ruleset for my latest design, Crystal Clash. It's easily my most condensed and simplest effort so far, and most successful. I know that the values are pretty unbalanced, but I would really appreciate some feedback on it, especially regarding these questions:
1) Is the skill tree too complicated? I was thinking spending crystal shards on permanent benefits was an interesting contrast to the potentially risky benefits of minions. My other concept for a skill tree is far more passive - the more crystals you have, the more gained skills your hero has. This would incentivize NOT summoning minions and instead hoarding crystals. Luckily the way it's currently implemented it's easy to modify without interrupting other aspects. Or does the game even need a skill tree?
2) What are your thoughts on dominance? I introduced it, and other concepts, to have the game move towards a conclusion. I thought this was important since crystal shards are both currency and victory points.
3) Does there feel like something is missing?
4) Does there feel like there's too much?
5) Does this concept interest you?
I also have a PnP available if you'd like to give it a shot. That would be pretty fracking sweet.
All in all, thanks for taking the time to check out my work. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!
I don't think I properly explained how Crystal Clash plays in my original post.
Crystal Clash is a two-player card game where each player selects a unique hero to battle their opponent's. You'll summon minions for dominance, collect crystal shards to summon those minions...or hoard them for unique benefits! Turns occur simultaneously, creating constant tension between players. Will my opponent try to drain this turn's crystal shard...or perform a scary signature move?!
Players win by either:
1) Reducing the opposing hero's hit points to zero, or
2) Collecting 10 crystal shards (that's right, in-game currency also acts as victory points, making each decision that much trickier!)
----o----
Now that that's been cleared up, I playtested the previous draft with my brother and he broke it immediately! My RPS circle wasn't properly weighted, making the "Drain" option incredibly inferior to the rest. However, I was able to rectify it by giving crystal shards more room to shine as well as replace skill trees with something that ties into the rest of the game's mechanics quite nicely.
With all that said, here are links to the revised ruleset. Feel free to PM me as well for the cards if you're interested in playtesting. I'd love to get some new eyes on this concept!
Rules:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pEIxySyrO5Ogg9yZBIenT8IMkCVV5-ucJk7W...
Thanks for reading!