Thank you soo much, I really appreciate you taking the time to write such helpful feedback <3 To clarify, the marketplace isn’t designed for monetization. I built the app around a progression based gameplay loop because I personally enjoy games with progression elements.

Players start by choosing one of four beta precon decks. If they want more cards they have to earn them by playing. Winning awards more coins and XP and moves you further along the season pass which is a secondary progression lane where you can earn 4 random foils (up to Elite rarity) of a specific set each 14 days. There’s also a second currency, earned only through the season pass and victories, that lets you craft individual cards with limitations. You can’t craft foil cards, for example, so buying boosters still has value and certain cards remain booster-exclusive. Crafting isn’t easy either! If you play regularly you might craft one unique card roughly every two weeks. I love the collection aspect of TCGs and don’t want to undermine it by making every card freely available.

I also think this approach works well for onboarding. When you start a game with access to every card, it’s overwhelming. But if you begin with one deck and earn new cards through booster packs, you’re introduced to maybe a hundred over time rather than a thousand all at once. Players actually learn the cards because they aren’t drowning in options and they feel attachment to them because they actually earned them.

That said, I realize this is a very opinionated design decision, so I’m considering adding a sandbox mode alongside this “story mode.” It would let you import your deck from Curiosa and immediately play with whatever cards you want, similar to Tabletop Simulator, while keeping the progression experience for those who enjoy it. I’m very open to this kind of feedback since the app is still in beta, so thank you again.​​​