So for my passion project I decided to make a card game, and throughout the year my plans changed and evolved a lot. So, here I will take you through the still evolving development of this game.
THE EXPOSISTION
So the first question that should be asked is, why a card game? Well, there are a few different reasons for why I chose to do this. For one I have always had an interest in game design since I was in grade 4 back in 2017, and in the time since then I have been learning more about principles of video game design. So what does this have to do with card games? well many principles from designing a digital games can be translated to a physical board game or in our case a card game. This was a good choice as I was still able to design a game while not needing to learn an entire program to be able to make one. Another reason I wanted to make a card game was due to the increased interest in combat based card games such as Pokémon cards and the video game inscription which you could definitely see some inspiration from in my game. So that is a lengthy explanation for why I chose to make this card game; Now we can get into the game it’s self.
THE RISING ACTION
So I believe I went over a lot of this is my mid year recap video, so I can try to further elaborate on what was said in that. So my original idea idea was to make a game where players could have a large amount of customizability things like the look of the cards, damage and health values, and ability’s of the cards as well as being able to control the story and gameplay of the play session; much like something like DnD. I would accomplish this by having the cards be wooden with a white board on the front for drawing what ever the player wants, as well as magnets for modulating the damage and health values of each card by adding numbers to them, and having somebody have the story preset and lead the players through it (Again like a dungeon master from DnD). I did make a bit of progress on this concept, making a laser cut wooden card and looking into white board prices. unfortunately after a while it became clear I had no clear plan to this game nor the proper resources to make it, so I came to the concussion that I would need to pivot.
THE CLIMAX
So after my decision to pivot I needed to decide on something to do that will still fit my time frame and I would enjoy working on. I still wanted to stick with a combat based card game, but making it easier to develop. So I began with a simple idea that I could develop further as I went along. The idea I started with was that each player can have four cards in play at once, and can choose to either attack an opponents card or the card in the center. If the card in the center is knocked out, the player who dealt the final blow gets to add that card to their hand. The game ends when there is only one player with cards left. As for the original concept, while I would like to revisit the idea some day, it would be in a digital format; not a physical card game.
THE FALLING ACTION
So since the pivot I’ve made about 20 cards, abilities, and player buffs. There isn’t a lot to discuss here as most things are on the more recent end.
THE RESOLOTION
so at the time of writing this It’s may 17 and I have 2 months to finish this. With the remaining time I plan on making some form of CNC router cut board with laser engraving, and some 3D printed game pieces, as well as maybe a instruction video on you tube. In the end I should hopefully have a completed game with at least 20 cards.
GALERY
The 15 test cards made so far
The original card