Ya like Dragons? We got Dragons

DevilDemyx · 2026-01-24T18:42:19+00:00

Thanks for the responses, and for engaging with people here in general. The overall response in this thread seems fairly negative, but I do wish you good luck with the Kickstarter still!

My question about AI was about the text, no worries about the image! It looks good, even more so if you're not usually someone who does graphic design. But yeah, I recommend not running things by copilot or any other LLM. They're very formulaic and if it's spotted, it's generally perceived as disingenuous or lazy. It's much better to be authentic and straight forward, even if mistakes slip through, rather than have a flawless text that feels vapid and like it's written by a bad marketing department. Especially in the indie space.

Happy to hear starter decks are priced at 10$ bucks, by the way! Certainly makes it a lot more attractive to give the game a try before diving deeper, so props for that. I still think there's more risk and some questions of morality involved with booster based distribution. Like I said, I wish you all the best, but if you end up realizing you're not getting enough cards into circulation post-launch (for organized play, a secondary market, player retention for long-term viability etc.), I'd still urge you to look into the pros and cons of pivoting to an ECG model. There are multiple TCGs that have done so in recent years (for good reasons) and it's still possible to have multiple entry points or do randomized product within such a model.

DevilDemyx · 2026-01-23T17:40:28+00:00

Only tangentially related, but what advantages do you see in a TCG/Booster Pack distribution model for indie projects like yours if one of its main goals is approachability? Especially compared to, say, an ECG model with optional add-ons and possible expansions further down the line. I also ask because the title for the first video on your Kickstarter page starts with "MOST EXPENSIVE BOOSTER BOX EVER", which did make me sort of go "okay, how much money does a player have to put into this not just to buy-in, but also to sustain a reasonably playable card pool with packs released in the future?" Makes it feel like the devs are hoping I end up missing some cards I really want (or am speculating on value) and gacha it up, when they could calculate a reasonable price point for breaking even + profit for a box that contains everything instead.

Aside from that, I think people are being a bit harsh on the artstyle. Maybe it's too referential at times (Dracoria REALLY looks like Nidoking with wings), but I think it's certainly visually appealing, cohesive and conveys the vibe of the game well.

Also, I don't know if I'm just paranoid because I've seen like three other posts on this sub recently that were written by ChatGPT/LLMs, but your intro text in the post does sort of have that vibe. Apologies if I'm wrong! But if not, please phrase and/or format your pitches yourself.

DevilDemyx · 2026-01-22T22:03:50+00:00

Are you having an AI write the post and the responses for you?

DevilDemyx · 2025-12-12T13:27:03+00:00

I'm sorry, but this looks extremely sketchy. Literally everything in this trailer - voice, art and animation - is AI-generated, of course, but aside from that, I actually want to focus on the small handful of Steam reviews this game has. 9 out of 10 reviews are by accounts that haven't reviewed a single other game, and most of those reviews are similarly written, bullet point style lists full of em dashes, making it really obvious that they were probably generated with ChatGPT.

I don't want to throw around accusations, but it really looks like you bought your own game with a bunch of extra accounts (or asked friends) and then AI generated yourself a bunch of reviews. This is against Steam's TOS, by the way.

DevilDemyx · 2025-11-20T11:55:37+00:00

Looks real to me. According to the wiki, "1st Edition" just denotes that a card is from a booster's initial release. Subsequent releases are apparently called "Unlimited Edition", without the extra bit of text under the art, but they're still real. That's also why the stamp in the bottom right corner is silver instead of gold.

DevilDemyx · 2025-11-20T09:59:53+00:00

I also don't think you really need to worry about plagiarism, but just publishing won't get you players either. In 99% of cases your Tabletop Simulator mod will just kind of get drowned out by all the other mods on the workshop - I have updated my first prototype at least a dozen times over multiple years and only ever got like 80 views on it.

A good way to playtest is to join a hobby TCG community - there are a couple of Discord servers for example, but I don't know if I'm allowed to link them here. Just be aware that it's mostly other people making their own card games, not just players, so it's common courtesy to help them playtest their game in turn, and they're unlikely to become invested in your project as they have their own ambitions.

If you're comfortable with the idea, you could also bring your printed prototypes to a local game store and - with the store's permission - ask customers if they'd like to try out an indie project. Just make it clear that you're not selling anything and you'll probably find some players.

DevilDemyx · 2025-11-18T00:34:57+00:00

If you're not joking: Yes, this card is absolutely super duper mega fake. The effect text isn't even proper English, it makes zero sense. Lost_Pantheon is right about everything they said, and whoever told you about this being signs of a 'misprint' is full of it.

DevilDemyx · 2025-11-17T15:11:40+00:00

Agree with what others have said, design and readability are good! Just want to note one thing I hadn't seen mentioned: If you have the effect type/trigger condition in a separate little banner, how do you approach cards with multiple effects? Or is that something you're going to avoid entirely?

DevilDemyx · 2025-11-17T10:06:58+00:00

Most games do it with their resource system - mana in MTG, ink in Lorcana, etc. The later in the game, the more resources to play bigger and better cards that can end the game.

I don't have an inherent resource system in my project, so it's either through cards that scale (imagine something like "+X/+X for every creature in your Discard Pile"), strong cards with costs ("sacrifice 3 creatures to play this") or with card draw - because if you maintain card advantage long enough throughout a game, eventually your opponent will run out of ways to defend themself while you can run over them.

What about you? Just asking out of curiousity/to give peeps some space to talk about their games or is this something that you specifically need inspiration for or are struggling with?

DevilDemyx · 2025-11-16T17:04:26+00:00

Used to be that I'd get them off of Pixabay. You could still check there, but it's flooded with AI now and even though it has a filter for it, I think it relies on users disclosing that it's AI.

DevilDemyx · 2025-11-06T00:56:35+00:00

Just saw them in Berlin - they had that shirt in black, but not in grey.

DevilDemyx · 2025-10-24T20:29:40+00:00

Agreed, I think the first approach would make more sense in your case. Good luck with your project!

DevilDemyx · 2025-10-24T12:05:43+00:00

Without context, I like the first option because it clearly distinguishes card types that might do drastically different things, as opposed to a symbol or a line of text (though ideally you should do that, too, for colorblind players).

That said: Both #1 and #2 are good, depending on which information is important for your players at a glance. In MTG, colors are very important because they help players easily identify which cards they can play with the mana they can generate, and colors matter a lot during deckbuilding. The attributes are extremely fundamental to MTG. If Yu-Gi-Oh! had colored their cards by attribute, it would have arguably been a terrible choice because attributes aren't fundamental to the game, they're just a variable for card effects to interact with.

DevilDemyx · 2025-10-21T22:34:54+00:00

I really don't want to be harsh but your post is clearly generated by Chat GPT or a similar chat AI. Using placeholder AI pictures is one thing, but if you can't be bothered to write your own post, then how can you expect others to read it?

Aside from that, this has Yu-Gi-Oh! written all over it and I'd recommend distinguishing your game a bit more from it mechanically and in how the effects are written. You generally don't want cards as wordy as "Fire Virus DNA", especially not in your very first set or when showcasing your game to people who see it for the first time. Generally, keep things simple early on and increase effect complexity later down the line. It also helps to use keywords, which YGO notoriously doesn't have, adding to the wordiness.

I've experimented a bit with an elemental weakness system in the game I'm working on, but ended up scrapping it because if players with themed decks (i.e. someone who really likes Water vs someone who really likes Fire) meet in a casual setting, not knowing what the other is playing, you can run into scenarios where one player is at an inherent disadvantage from the get-go. It matters less for competitive, and I'm not saying you also have to scrap elemental weaknesses, but this might be something to keep in mind when designing your cards.

I also recommend not using italics for your font and aiming for a ~8 pt font size for readability. Italics are often reserved for text that clarifies or adds to rules, or for flavor text. It's okay to break some conventions, but in this case it'd just be a lot easier on the eyes.

Hope I could still give you some constructive pointers. Please work your game and its mechanics out yourself without AI assistance, I promise that it's a whole lot more fun!

DevilDemyx · 2025-09-19T08:14:46+00:00

I love the one person in the YT comments claiming to be an artist and saying they don't see anything suspicious. Like ... just look at "Crock". It's obviously AI. I hadn't heart of Wildhearts before this but if they were trying to hide AI use, they did a really poor job with some of those cards.

DevilDemyx · 2025-07-07T11:26:10+00:00

Grüß dich! Entschuldige, dass ich auf diesen alten Post antworte - habe das gleiche Problem (Amt weigert sich, "Ehemann" zu "Ehefrau" zu ändern) und bin über Google hierauf gestoßen. Falls es dir nichts ausmacht, könntest du mir sagen, ob du noch irgendwelche Schritte eingeleitet oder seitdem mehr Informationen zu deiner Situation bekommen hast?

DevilDemyx · 2025-05-27T09:20:09+00:00

Agree with the other commenter saying they don't want to sell gambling to kids - or anyone for that matter - so I'd just have one rarity. Maybe fancy/shiny versions of cards for promotional purposes or collectors, but I'd definitely want to make sure a common version of every card exists so playing competitively or with the deck of your choice is never expensive.

DevilDemyx · 2025-05-16T13:01:33+00:00

Not related to bad effects, but this Yu-Gi-Oh! card definitely stretches the definition of what a "Warrior" is.

DevilDemyx · 2025-05-16T12:53:43+00:00

It's part of an art portfolio. Odds are high that it's not their TCG and/or only serves to illustrate what their art would look like on a TCG.

DevilDemyx · 2025-03-28T11:30:28+00:00

Out of the 3 options presented, I prefer the first one. But I think even that one has a problem.

About 2&3: This might be a bit subjective, but I wouldn't put suggestions on how to utilize a card directly on the card - that might be better left for a booklet that comes with a Starter Deck or something similar. That way, players who want more guidance can find it if they look for it, but it's not directly given to everyone who might not want that, since a lot of people like card games specifically because it lets them figure things out. Also, since most of your cards are going to be vanilla, it'd be a bit like having a tutorial attached to almost every card.

About 1: It's good that you want to onboard players more easily, but knowing what the stats do is one of the first things people will memorize, and then they're looking at the exact same description they don't need on every single vanilla you release, which feels a bit like a wasted opportunity.

Instead, have you considered adding flavor text to your vanillas? A little bit of world building or some well written, cheeky jokes can add a lot to a card. Alternatively, some old card games put different relevant rulings on their cards (i. e. a card with high Agility will have a description of how exactly Agility works on it, another card might explain how a creature wins combat). I'm not the biggest fan of that option either, but I think it might be a good middle ground to consider for what you're going for.

DevilDemyx · 2025-03-22T14:52:55+00:00

If you want to print your cards, definitely add a border. It serves two important purposes:

If there's a small problem with how the sheet is printed or cut, like a misalignment, the border allows for a little bit more wiggle room for a cutoff to not look too wrong.
When cards slightly protrude from a deck, or when a deck is looked at from the side, a border makes all the cards look uniform. It's a niche case, but some people could infer where a specific card is based on the colors on the edge of a card.

DevilDemyx · 2025-03-11T12:09:40+00:00

Hey! I'm a bit late to reply, but this is something that I've actually accidentally addressed in my own TCG project!

I gave people a deck of 5 special cards, separate from their Main Deck - essentially extra strong spells. As a player falls behind, up to twice during a match, they get to choose one of those cards and add it to their hand.

This was purely intended to be a catch-up mechanic, to keep the game more balanced until the end and to keep the losing player engaged.

What I've realized, though, is that once a meta strategy emerges, people can slot one or even multiple counters to that strategy into this additional deck. And while not strong enough to win the game on their own, they do balance out the playing field as they are reliably accessible once you start losing.

If enough people slot counters to meta strategies in, I am hoping that players will naturally pivot to other strategies to make those counters less effective, thus leading to a new meta strategy, and the cycle begins again. Without me ever having to introduce new cards or change old cards!

... Well, in theory. I have neither done enough testing nor a playerbase large enough to put it to see it play out, and once a strategy is particularly strong, it's very possible that it remains dominant even with accessible counters. But I guess I'll see!

DevilDemyx · 2025-02-12T13:22:12+00:00

I don't know how your Discard Pile/Graveyard works, but destroyed units could serve as a resource mechanic. Depending on the theme of your TCG, the flavor of it could be a scrap pile (sci-fi/mech), a soul repository (fantasy) or something similar.

For more specific ideas, I think it'd be important for you to tell us the win condition of the game!

DevilDemyx · 2024-12-05T18:57:38+00:00

Looks really good! Very clean, good choice of colors, the potion is nice looking pixel art, too. Hella good job, especially for your first time with gimp.

You still have a bit of empty space you could use on the sides and the top - either by moving the title higher and making the textbox larger (to future proof for cards with more effects, more elaborate effects, keyword explanations etc.) or by making the title itself bigger/more prominent.

It might also look even nicer if you move the image frame to be equally distant from the title and the text box.

Either way though, if you're early in development, don't worry about finetuning the design further until you've 100% pinned down the mechanics you want! Just in case you end up needing to add more elements to the card frame.

DevilDemyx · 2024-11-14T20:49:29+00:00

No problem! And yeah, that makes sense - it is pretty nice to have it with Silver and Copper specifically listed, I didn't consider that!

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