I've been developing a card game on and off for a number of months, but I've realised I'm making it for me.
That's not an issue as I'm not doing it for the money, but what do you look for when choosing a card game to play?
Personally I enjoy the shorter games, but I play a few longer ones. I can enjoy longer games if they're simple to learn. I don't like anything that requires me to read a huge manual before I even put a card down.
My main criteria is this: I already own Magic. If the card game is basically Magic then I don't want it. If it has ridiculous fantasy/scifi names like "Nartwyt the Bamboozler" or "Sefsylstred Spellslinger" who live in places like the Grand Hall of Nizzlebunk or some Grand Galactic Empirethen my interest is about at zero. I'm not going to take another lesson in fantasy geography. Most gamers write very boring and derivative fluff. Also, I don't want to die a little inside when I say the name of the card I'm playing, like "Deathmaw Bloodgorger." Games Workshop doing it is bad enough.
That's not an issue as I'm not doing it for the money, but what do you look for when choosing a card game to play?
Personally I enjoy the shorter games, but I play a few longer ones. I can enjoy longer games if they're simple to learn. I don't like anything that requires me to read a huge manual before I even put a card down.
Easy to learn, hard to master.
It's not that I won't play "harder" games, it's just that I get into games that appear simple, but have a very deep level of complexity.
In think in a lot of ways, we create games that we want to play. The problem lies in whether or not OTHER people want to play it too. Of course that lies in testing.
The way I look at creating a card game is that I look for a mechanic that's fairly "unique" that I can apply to a game and then I create a theme that I think works and I'd want to play.
That sounds like a name I'd come up with heh :( Names and theme are not my forte.
Card Games is a very broad genre. Honestly my two favorite card games are Love Letter and Magic: The Gathering, which besides being card games are entirely unalike.
I think the essence of a card game is it's portability and ease of use. All you need is usually the deck itself, and most of the cards have their rules written right on them. So keeping that in mind, I'd say an ideal card game would be pretty short, though it would take longer for more experienced players, and with minimal setup rules. I'd say Fluxx is a good example of the quintessential card game, though personally I dislike it's tendency to abruptly change direction mid-game.
I think the essence of a card game is it's portability and ease of use. All you need is usually the deck itself, and most of the cards have their rules written right on them. So keeping that in mind, I'd say an ideal card game would be pretty short, though it would take longer for more experienced players, and with minimal setup rules. I'd say Fluxx is a good example of the quintessential card game, though personally I dislike it's tendency to abruptly change direction mid-game.
I actually disagree with card games being, in essence, portable. There are many card games like Dominion, Xenoshyft, Thunderstone, and Imperial Settlers that are quite "fumbly" if you're planning on taking them on a trip (not to mention its expansions). Not that they are bad games, but portable is hardly a word I'd use for card games...I'd like portability as a very strong quality, but it's certainly not its essence.
That is an excellent point. Compactness is an element of portability. What does it matter if the game fits inside a matchbook if the play space occupies a pool table? I would like to see more games that can be played on the scale of a game of poker without a dozen chits or play zones.
I guess what I mean by portable is that by nature a card game (usually) doesn't need a board or player pieces or dice, meaning that they are very good at being able to just... play. Occasionally you need a big space, but setup usually just involves separating out card types and shuffling.
I agree with Soulfinger that Poker-sized games, both in terms of play area and time, is a good standard. The multiple, short rounds also makes it easy to quit playing whenever it's convenient.
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Portability is something I've never really thought about.
What play area would you consider portable?
A game I'm developing uses 4 cards dealt face up by each player. A deck contains at least 8 cards.