So I just purchased the rules for Battlesworn: Bid for Victory.
They are very cool. If you like tabletop war games, I highly recommend this one. $8 from Ganesha Games.
Anyway, the bidding system in that game inspired an idea for a card game.
The Concept.
There are two types of cards, Active and Passive.
Active cards are the primary cards used to bring you closer to victory.
Passive cards provide support to your overall goal.
Every card costs some amount of energy to play.
Each round, players bid a number between 1 and 6.
Players simultaneously reveal their bids and gain 'energy' equal to the amount they bid.
The lowest bidding player has moved quicker and wins the bid. They 'gain the momentum' and may play one active OR passive card.
The higher bidding player has moved slower, they may play one passive card.
In the case of a tie, the player 'with the momentum' wins the bid.
Players each draw back up to their starting hand size and the next round begins.
Play would continue like this, with players having to choose how aggressive or defensive they should be, trying to keep the momentum but not run out of energy.
Are there any games I should take a look at for more inspiration?
I'm not sure where to go with what the actual cards would do, I'd just like the actual gameplay to vastly differ from the standard CCG.
My current idea is to make active cards attacks that damage the opponent's life. Passive cards could be either blocks/dodges, or power-ups. I'd like to do something a little more clever though.
Thanks for reading!
I had another thought after sleeping on this one.
A card system combining elements of UFS and Middle Earth Quest could work well here.
After bidding, players both double-blind select a card from their hand. The winning player is still the only one that can select an 'active' card.
There would exist different zones of attacks (for instance is an attack striking up high, low to the ground, or in the middle?) and different types of blocks corresponding to those zones.
Some cards will grant bonuses to different zones, leading to incentivized double-blind selection.
There could also exist card types, such as ranged or close combat (or elements).
Some cards might dodge moves of one type, or be weak against another type.
As the game progresses, players will begin leaning more and more to certain zones and/or types of moves, So you must out-guess your opponent.
Perhaps I should turn this into a Game Journal, as that is what it is starting to feel like.