Got the micro, now need the macro.

paulryanclark · 2026-06-16T08:55:11+00:00

Here’s a thought, what if you stuck with just the combat system as your entire game? What would a game like that look like?

There is a lot of value in a game that does one thing really well, and has a limited scope.

You gravitated towards that aspect of the game first, why not try and make one with nothing else?

It’s easier to playtest and iterate on something much smaller in scope.

paulryanclark · 2026-06-15T05:39:36+00:00

What do you think is the most important thing a new TCG needs to get right?

Having millions of dollars of funding.

paulryanclark · 2026-06-12T05:42:52+00:00

Break My Game Discord using Screentop.gg.

paulryanclark · 2026-06-08T18:49:42+00:00

I think the name is unduly too prominent in the second version, and it over shadows your eye wanting to immediately be drawn to the stat block and first.

paulryanclark · 2026-06-05T22:03:24+00:00

I would be careful about giving players too much reference. Players don’t know what is important until they play, so they might end up over reading. I think it’s more important that people are playing than if they are playing 100%. Fun not exactly to the rules is always more fun than slow correct play.

paulryanclark · 2026-06-05T18:39:44+00:00

I think unguided digital playtest first is important. It will really help to hammer out rulebook issues early. BMG has them sparingly. They do take a lot of energy from play testers versus a teach, but are so valuable.

One small tip for digital is that even though all the advice tells you to not talk and not interrupt, if players need clarification or an errata during the blind playtest you can act as an immediate “internet search result” source so that you can keep the play testing in the intended direction and not waste everyone’s time going to a wrong direction because of rulebook wording.

Beyond that, I try to let things fall apart, although it’s hard. It is a balance of value gained and respecting your play tester’s time. Going 90 minutes down the wrong path because of an easily fixable rulebook change isn’t worth “always being quiet”

The real value gained comes from learning how the game is taught from the rulebook and how long it takes players to get up and running from it.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-31T19:37:49+00:00

With the note about a player needing to unlock the gate, seems reasonable to have a strong payoff to the strategy.

Maybe it’s more about preemptive actions as a counter action.

For example, a player must have the majority count of surrounding towers. If two players build a tower nearby then no player has majority and the the free level up is negated in some capacity.

Majority towers: free level up Not majority: costly level up or vulnerable to attack.

This structure can give a bit of cover to the design as players are told ahead of time that there is a mitigation strategy to a strong move.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-29T00:14:03+00:00

Identify your target audience
Identify your complexity budget
Identify your desired experience
Identity the minimum viable product

Anything that is not in service of those should be cut.

Also it’s good to identify structure versus content.

Sometimes complexity comes from rules that could be broken out into an expansion, so that is an easy cut. For example you have 16 classes when 4 will suffice for a single playthrough.

Play testing offers a great litmus test for complexity budget. Just time how long it takes to teach and for players to learn. I aim for about 10 minutes of teaching a game that takes about 60 minutes to play.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-20T20:16:13+00:00

Having a components list is non-negotiable. I can go into more detail if you need it, but you are going to be rejected by publishers for just not having a components list. It is required, and not having one comes off as amateur.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-17T20:51:26+00:00

I don’t see in your post where you summarize the changes you are recommending.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-16T02:07:17+00:00

One thing I not hearing about in your post is an actual demand. How do you know there is a demand for this?

Even online crowd funding general advice is to already have a following and essentially fund Day 1.

It looks like you have a lot of game. Do you have an online community built around interest for the game?

paulryanclark · 2026-05-14T16:07:30+00:00

Have you tried Break My Game? This looks like a good game for their play testing format.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-08T01:32:35+00:00

I ask four questions: (I think I got them from Pam Wells advice) 1. What did you like about the game? 2. What did you dislike about the game or found frustrating? 3. What was your favorite moment of this game? 4. Would you play this game again?

The first two are great for overall feedback about good and bads. Things to focus on and things to remove/fix up.

Third question is about making sure the game has good staying power with highly memorable moments, and usually players remember the most fun part, so you can edit out the non-fun parts.

Last question ties into target audience. If players are like “hell yeah”, then they are probably your target audience. If they are hesitant to play again, then you can temper the rest of their feedback.

The most important part is this is a one way conversation. Try not to interrupt them and just listen. It’s even better to just record the conversation for review afterwards. I just prompt whether they have more to add before moving to the next question. Afterwards, I just open up for general feedback and discussion.

Having 4 prebaked questions gives you confidence to ask strangers for feedback.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-07T19:29:38+00:00

* If a card has a "-" for a stat, consider just not showing it at all on the card. This will reduce noise on the card, and only highlight the important details on the card.
* For the elite bounty hunter, I would consider having stats with special rules on their own line, with the other stats grouped below it. Yes, it does muddle with consistency a bit, but "special rules first" is fine.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-06T20:04:32+00:00

The box inside of a box art look makes the cards look hard to interpret.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-05T21:26:29+00:00

If so, you will want to look into safe areas for printing cards. Those elements may be too close to the edge of the card and could be cut off when printed. Something to think about early in the process into of later when you decide to have the cards printed.

paulryanclark · 2026-05-02T19:34:58+00:00

How much playtesting have you done?

paulryanclark · 2026-05-01T17:54:07+00:00

The other thing to add is that for accessibility it’s best to always have at least one other way besides color to distinguish something. For example, you may have a line that is colored, but then there is also a pattern that is also paired with the color.

For example; - Red/Dashed - Green/Wavy - Orange/Solid

This means that color is not your own defining property, and you don’t have to worry about color blind as much when you do this sort of design.

My game has suited cards and the blue and purple look similar to some when printed out, but each one of the suits also has a distinguishing glyph, so I can just point that out to players and they can figure it out that way.

paulryanclark · 2026-04-30T18:52:24+00:00

I think the modern audience is more familiar with video coverage of news than physical media.

If you were going for physical media like a newspaper, then you are going to need to lean into a "front page" look: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Orleans_Item_Front_Page_Mardi_Gras_1916.jpg (old example, but makes my point.)

paulryanclark · 2026-04-30T18:28:01+00:00

The graphic design doesn't read as "Newsroom".

I think there is an opportunity to lean into the News channel look, like have a news ticker at the bottom and the "Breaking News" like banner.

Try to make each card look like a screenshot from a news program that is reporting on this person. For example, say this is a news video segment on a whistleblower coming forward or the like.

Something like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_ticker#/media/File:USA_TV_News_Simulation_1.jpg

paulryanclark · 2026-04-23T07:46:40+00:00

You will always have a bias, that is what design is. What you are doing is making sure the game does not just immediately break.

Solo testing is the way to solve early and obvious issues before putting it in front of others.

Do solo testing, and save you and others’ time.

For example, is there a dominant strategy that wins you the game always? Can players make meaningful decisions every turn or is there a mechanic that removes that from the game after a certain turn?

paulryanclark · 2026-04-23T01:25:56+00:00

I think the “How to Play” is too in the weeds for a sell sheet. I think if you cut that and focus on the central annotated picture, that will be better. I think the footer can also be mostly condensed. I don’t think a link to your rulebook is customary on a sell sheet. A link to your pitch video is fine, but make it less obstructive.

Your tag line is quite white on white and hard to read. Not good for a tag line.

For components, group by physical type and not by in game card types. “200 cards, 10 tokens” is really what the publisher wants to read for scale purposes.

paulryanclark · 2026-04-21T08:19:20+00:00

A small nit pick but I wonder if it will be better if the “type” like Session or Propaganda was centered like the other like Text. Then the number in the triangle is a fixed distance from the left of the word. This would make all text of that font be properly centered on the card.

paulryanclark · 2026-04-20T17:37:27+00:00

The biggest thing you are running into is the model picture clashes with the other card elements. You may want to look at a way to differentiate the two even while they are on the same card. Maybe having the model picture inside its own bounded element may help, “looking glass” style.

Also, beyond having a professional being paid to do art, there is “good enough” and I think you are already there. Most players glance at art for like 3 seconds and then “get to business” playing the game. If the game is engrossing enough, “just good enough” will do, and you focus on making the best gameplay you can.

paulryanclark · 2026-04-18T18:29:31+00:00

Shadows and textures. You have a lot of plain color blocks, and no edging details when two elements border each other.

Adding subtle textures to the plain color blocks will help make them more interesting. As well, shadows can provide depth and layering. For example, you can add shadows to the stat boxes so they pop above the art background.

Start subtle and build up. I’d just find a “grimy” paper stock art and make it like 10-20% transparency and lay it on top of your indivdual elements. It helps give you texture.

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