In Game Design Deep Dive: Trading and Collectible Card Games, game design analyst Joshua Bycer is back to discuss the deck-building genre, from the original success of Magic: The Gathering to today’s market with online card games like Hearthstone and Gwent. The design and philosophy of deck builders and tabletop games can be and have been applied to many genres.
- Looks at the history of popular tabletop card games and collectible card games
- Discusses how to design and balance your game with low numbers
- Examines the application of card-based design in other genres
Perfect for students and designers to learn about designing deck builders and card-based games.
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Social Media Contacts
Additional Books
- What is the Goal of Game Design Deep Dive Deck Builders?
1. Introduction
2. What is this book about?
- The Major Names of TCG
- Magic: The Gathering
- Pokémon the Trading Card Game
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
- Where are TCGs Today?
- What is TCG Design
- The General Structure of Play
- Low Number Design Philosophy
- Creating Card Dynamics
- The Popularity of Deck Builders
- The Mind Games of Cards
- How to Start Building a TCG/CCG
- The Arrival of CCGs
- CCG vs. TCG
- Hearthstone
- Shadowverse
- Gwent
- A Brief History of CCGs
- How Monetization Works
- Microtransactions
- Boosters and Expansions
- The Second-Hand Market
- The Logistics of TCGs
- Designing Cards
- The Basic Template
- Creating Keywords
- Kinds of Cards
- The Impact of Rarity
- Creating Expansion Sets
- Be Creative
- How TCGS/CCGs Influenced Game Design
- Deck Builders and Roguelikes
- Customization and Decks
- The Limitations of Card-Based Design
- Balancing The Present and Future of Your Game
- Designing Decks
- Resource Systems
- Designing Exclusive Powers
- The Balancing Act of Card Design
- The Deck Builder Design Differences
- Long-Term Support
- Banning Cards
- The Work Outside the Game
- A Development Checklist
- What are Formats
- Battling the Meta
- Quality of Life Design
- The TCG/CCG Market
1. The Pros and Cons of Making a TCG/CCG
2. The Impact of a Digital Market
- Conclusion
Biography
Joshua Bycer is a Game Design Critic with more than 7 years of experience critically analyzing game design and the industry itself. In that time through Game-Wisdom.com, he has interviewed hundreds of game developers and members of the industry about what it means to design video games.
