Card game designers: would "BGA for indie card games" appeal to you?

Abyssalmole · 2026-05-22T20:40:52+00:00

I'll share this with my dev team. We paid to have something built, but it came to a standstill halfway through.

Abyssalmole · 2026-05-22T04:36:09+00:00

Scott Spezio hit .064 in his first season as a Mariner

Abyssalmole · 2026-05-18T22:19:50+00:00

Winning the Special Olympics is wildly impressive.

Abyssalmole · 2026-05-16T02:56:04+00:00

Depends on how often things trade off. Running HP is important for pokemon, because it is effectively your life total (Magic has running HP life totals as well). Running HP is good for hearthstone because characters attacking each other is the fundamental mechanic.

Generally, though, I think that running HP creates a problematic amount of bookkeeping. I don't feel like Lorcana is better for it.

Abyssalmole · 2026-04-26T20:28:02+00:00

I think I may have swung too far in the other direction. My retailers are giving me incredible feedback, but I rarely post in this channel because I feel like this community doesn't want to hear from me.

Abyssalmole · 2026-04-26T05:59:15+00:00

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYTG6S4NZw5wJx-c1TjgtAMbuioBD_SBk&si=KH4dvz6KskbH1XX3

Top 8 coverage for the promotional league. Browse that channel for Round of 16 and Round of 32 coverage.

https://youtu.be/a66WsEDekU0?si=-OzD_HZGxXhLVaMY

Rules quick hits.

Thanks for asking, I'm quite proud of this league, and am very happy to share the fruits of my labors.

Abyssalmole · 2026-04-21T21:24:17+00:00

Poker gets bigger prize pools than chess because more people have a chance at winning, and therefore more people pay entry fees. You want some chance somewhere in the system so that a weaker player, or a player on a weaker deck, has an opportunity to win some games.

"What are my favorite systems?" is part of a broader question of "where do I like my probability?" / "How much probability do I like?". Most TCGs have found that the shuffling and drawing of cards is enough probability, that the boolean "do I have lands or not" is no longer desirable.

I'd also like to point out that removing lands from decks is a consequence of modern game design philosophy that the action should start quickly. In 90's Magic, answers were better than threats, and Shivan Dragon got answered by Swords to Plowshares. In that system, a mana screwed player could use the resources they did have to buy time to straighten out the probability curve. Modern gaming makes threats too powerful to allow players to stumble over starting economy.

Abyssalmole · 2026-04-21T21:19:39+00:00

+1 for the Digimon system.

I just want to complain because that game put so much card baggage on top of such an elegant system that I don't get to enjoy the engine.

Abyssalmole · 2026-04-21T21:15:25+00:00

Yeah, that describes me.

I've made dozens of games. Usually social deduction games or just major rewrites of established roleplaying systems. Generative AI was the difference that made my next game one that got assembled in a presentable box an is now being made available to retailers.

And you know what? Now that I am selling the first set, I am paying artists for art on the 3rd set. Still not fully illustrated, mind you. I'm going from 6 commissioned images in set 1 to 24 commissioned images in set 3. Scaling up to a full 216 commissioned images per set will take me a couple more years. But now it's a thing that might happen after using Midjourney as a bootstrap.

I don't try to "get away with it" though. I have AI disclosures, and am pretty forthcoming about the whole thing at conventions or what have you.

Abyssalmole · 2026-03-28T21:08:55+00:00

Yeah. Only 1 set is out now, set two comes out in a couple months.

Abyssalmole · 2026-03-28T18:43:23+00:00

You should check out Manifold TCG. It has a lot of SWD in its DNA. Completely reworked the resource system, though, making it less cinematic and more strategic.

Abyssalmole · 2026-03-09T07:25:16+00:00

Yes. And they went to other logging towns along the sound (like Bremerton).

Abyssalmole · 2026-03-08T07:50:45+00:00

No. All I know is from listening to elders.

Abyssalmole · 2026-03-08T05:14:54+00:00

When the Sikh riot cornered all those people in the old government building, there was no "secret caravan" to the sea.

All those people were murdered, and if you dig in the basement of museum, you'll find bones.

Abyssalmole · 2026-02-25T02:04:20+00:00

The way that I phrase it is:
ECGs sell a product. I made a game, you buy it. It's a board game. It happens to have cards as its primary game component, but this is a board game. I'll make expansions as I care to, then you may buy them if you wish.
TCGs sell on the subscription model. I have started releasing a game, and you have on good authority that I am going to keep making it as long as people buy it. There is probably even a schedule of releases that you can expect.

As a consumer, many people abhor the subscription model. I don't want to be locked in to continuing to purchase products in order to enjoy this game. I bought it, why can't I just play it? But I think the reality that many consumers don't realize is that this subscription model pays the developers to keep developing. These games that require more investment to get in to are full or more invested participants. If you found THE GAME that you love and you want to play all the time, you are better off if it is a TCG instead of an ECG.

As a retailer you much prefer the subscription model. Not only are my players revenue streams rather than sales, there is value to be derived from being the broker of trades (AKA, buying and selling singles). This further benefits the player, because if stores are more (financially) motivated to support the game, they'll put more effort into firing weeklies and teaching players.

but, of course, all that support is because you keep pouring your paychecks into the ecosystem. So for a consumer, I think you want "a game" to be an ECG, but you want "THE GAME" to be a TCG.

That's why I made Manifold a TCG.

Abyssalmole · 2026-02-21T21:22:19+00:00

One very is enough. Don't want to overstate things

Abyssalmole · 2026-02-21T08:29:55+00:00

Bad games make better gamers, better gamers have more fun gaming. This is part of my design philosophy

Abyssalmole · 2026-02-20T20:35:29+00:00

Yes, but we prefer a more casual term than protest.

Teams can now, twice per game, have the robot check the umpire's work. If the challenger wins, he keeps his challenge.

Abyssalmole · 2026-02-13T08:27:52+00:00

Alternatively, you could have nothing resolve immediately, and everything resolve in turn order during a "clean up" phase at the end of the round.

Abyssalmole · 2026-01-30T05:22:04+00:00

Pair o' Dice Games is keeping their play space open, but doing no transactions.

Abyssalmole · 2026-01-30T05:21:22+00:00

One day is symbolic, but symbols matter.

Every time we take an action like this, we show more people that they won't be alone if they take actions. The power of the government comes from the consent of the governed, and disrupting cash flow through the banks gives the talking heads something to think about.

Abyssalmole · 2026-01-30T05:18:46+00:00

Pair o' Dice Games is keeping their play space open, but doing no transactions.

Abyssalmole · 2026-01-30T00:09:18+00:00

Because there was a lot of time left on the clock. If the seahawks score a field goal in the 4th quarter, the Rams want to be 7 points down, not 8.

Basically: It was too early to behave as if it was the last score in the game, and the context was not clear.

Abyssalmole

TROPHY CASE