TCG Design Talk 101 - What I've Learned Working On Homemade Card Games

[@ankyloinc.]

Wow, thank you all for the support on this video, I mean this is the best-liked video on my channel! I really appreciate all your enthusiasm about card games! I really didn't think this video would do this well, especially because I feel there are so many better videos covering this topic already on KZbin! Thank you all again, I really mean it!!!

[@rlwarner777]

I think the hardest thing here is not wholesale copying another game's rules.

[@ankyloinc.]

Yeah, trying to take aspects and mechanics from games you like, while adding your own ideas can be challenging. Especially when you need to trial and error, what works and compliments each other.

[@revimfadli4666]

"hm, to make this more interesting I need to add this and that, oh wait now it's just that game with some changes"

[@solsystem1342]

One thing that I've found really useful as a creative exercise is to set a goal for yourself. For instance I once tried to make a game with a limited resource as the main currency. It failed horribly but I learned a lot about how tcg card design worked in the process. I needed a complex system of other resources to hold back players from spamming out a bunch of inefficient cards that only cost the limited resource and using that to run over their enemy (which would have lead to aggro being super dominant). In the end trying to slow down that rapid deployment broke the game by excessive complexity. I'm sure I could have done better but it definitely taught me a lot. On the other hand my main projects I've found it much easier to branch out as I've gotten better. I even accidentally stumbled into tcg like card collection for my game wayfinders as a way to reward exploration because finding a new card after successfully killing a new enemy or scaling a mountain feels way cooler than unlocking a huge amount of anything else would over time. A new fringe ability might feel disappointing but, a new marginal card can open up or strengthen decks you didn't have as much support for before.

[@the7569]

This is something that accidentally happens to me a lot. I will borrow one or two concepts that I think are fun and try and make them more unique. And then as I iron out the issues with those systems and whatnot, after a little while It just ends up with me accidentally coming to the exact same conclusions the game developers did for the game I borrowed concepts from lol

[@revimfadli4666]

@@the7569 that's why I often try to fix the obvious flaws in established concepts instead

[@icesultan]

I really wished the HTCG community had more videos in this style of editing. Splendid work lad!

[@ankyloinc.]

Thank you, im glad you liked it, that really means a lot to me!!!

[@MusicMenaceInHD-nt9od]

Awesome content! I’m hoping to make a dev vlog for my project soon, and you are great inspiration to get going on it for real. Best wishes!

[@ankyloinc.]

@@MusicMenaceInHD-nt9od Thanks, that really means a ton!!! Its always fun to watch and see how other people design games, and card game devlogs are rare, so good luck with your project!

[@levelwithme8535]

Thank you for sharing this video. That game with the three arrows pointing up looked interesting. I haven't seen many tcgs that have you occupying your opponent's field. I recommend experimenting with color contrast a bit more on some of your cards.

[@jamesmarlowe57]

I would recommend looking up stormbound. Seems to be a combination of stormbound (pc or mobile), and duels.

[@ankyloinc.]

Yeah, stormbound was the primary inspiration for that game. Didn't get to far with it, but maybe I'll come back to the idea.

[@MagicApocalypseTCG]

This is my first trading game I am working and make it into a channel I believe wasn't good idea but I am still working on it even if it's flaw who knows people might still like it.

[@ankyloinc.]

I made a channel about my first "real" atempt at a card game and it failed. Thats not a bad thing, however, with failure comes learning. And I learned so much from my first game. I wish you nothing but luck and fortune, but dont fear failure. Fear learning nothing from your failures.

[@MagicApocalypseTCG]

@@ankyloinc. Well, my game haven't failed yet but I expecting it to fail since it's my first game and I am ready to learn what will go wrong. Thank you sir have a nice day.

[@carllindegaard2231]

Cool video, would love to hear more from you, seems like you have a lot of interesting stuff to say! A few tips: 1. You can easily talk much more concretely about this stuff. I feel like you are talking very broadly and generally and I'm sure you have much more insight than you show, if you use more examples from your own games. 2. Adjust your microphone input level so it doesn't clip. The audio quality is horrible and even though you might not have a good microphone you can fix some of it by adjusting your input level in whatever software you use to record. 3. Keep making videos and best of luck with your cards games!

[@ankyloinc.]

Thanks for the audio tip, the clipping is due to me recording in my video editor, filmora, which i usually do when i need to replace or add a small audio clip. Unfortunatly it causes a tonal disconnect. I will try messing with settings in the future and see if i can "improve" it! 😁

[@DreadgateTCG]

Excellent advice, thank you.

[@bamweasel]

I've been working on a game where there's a central life bar that competing players both work to whittle down, the winner being the one that finally reduces it to zero. I haven't made enough test cards to even play the game yet because I don't really know how to design around this idea. How easy should I make it to deal damage to this centralized health bar? Should I make a bunch of cards that deal damage frequently towards whittling down a big number, or should there be complicated conditions to deal smaller numbers against a life bar of like 10 or 20?

[@ankyloinc.]

Alright, so at first glance this seems like a very interesting idea. So a few questions to figure out are length and player interaction. You should base your abilities around how long you want the game to be, so if you want a longer game, make defense and blocking abilities more abundant than aggressive direct abilities. Or, you could make disruption a core mechanic, like removing cards from your opponent's hand or field to hinder them? This ties into player interaction, which is very important to nail down right. If you don't have enough abilities that play off your Opponent, then you essentially have 2 players playing separate single-player games with a shared win condition. My advice would be to look at Slay the Spire for inspiration. Slay the Spire has you the player whittling down a "central" life bar. so finding a way to make it two-play with plenty of interactions would be a good start. This seems like a really interesting concept, and I hope this helps lead you in a good direction! Feel free to ask me to clarify anything else you may need. My two sense might not always be helpful but I'll try my best :p

[@bamweasel]

@@ankyloinc. I think you've just reflavored the whole game for me in a way that fits the thing I'm adapting even better. I'm now designing a new card class called Side Quests, which are functionally counters, but flavored in a way that is logical in a game where the competing players share a goal.

[@ankyloinc.]

@@bamweasel Glad I could be of assistance! I wish you luck with your game and hope you have fun with this unique idea! 😄

[@mk-v4660]

Your vid got recomended to me while searchin for things for my LCG I am working on. Great video +jesus how many different card games did you use.

[@ankyloinc.]

🤣 Thanks for the support! I figured the more official card games i used, it would make my points more believable or something... btw whats an LCG, i dont think ive seen that acronym before

[@mk-v4660]

@@ankyloinc.LCG: Living Card Game. Basicaly precon only card games.

[@ankyloinc.]

Gotcha, so like legacy's allure

[@psigreen3864]

​@@mk-v4660another (non-trademarked) term I've seen for it is ECG, which just means Expandable Card Game

[@MoreBeesThanNecessary]

Hey my dude. Mind if i get a chance to talk to you at some point to run by the idea of my game? I want to get someone else's expert opinion on it. Thank you for making such an interesting topic!

[@ankyloinc.]

yeah, sure! I'd be more than happy to help in any way I can!

[@MoreBeesThanNecessary]

​@ankyloinc. Thanks my guy! Im on shift rn, but do you have a discord or similar that i can add you on?

[@ankyloinc.]

yeah, my discord tag is ankylojoe, so just send me friend invite and when can chat there.

[@maze._]

High quality video, and I love the art style of (I think?) your game. Liked, probably won't subscribe because I'm more interested in game design than specific HTCG content, but I wish you the best!

[@postgenregenres]

what is this software that you're importing your cards into for virtual table-top testing?

[@ankyloinc.]

Tabletop simulator, highly recommend!