Playtest Quest II: Companions & Supplies
Session time: 1 Hour
Game design is a human centered practice. When we design a game we should think of the player, what they want, how able they are to understand rules complexities, what other games they play, etc.
Describe your player
How do they play card games? How often do they play? Online or off? Who do they play with? What’s their view on card games and what they want from them? Write a short blurb answering these questions and whatever else you think of.
Here are some sample player personas. Feel free to use them as is or as a starting point for your own personas.
Serious Sidney
Plays to win and accomplish goals no matter what. Usually plays only 1 game. Tournament gamer.
Favorite Games: Magic: The Gathering, Starcraft, Agricola
Preferred Player Experience: Challenge, Lifestyle, Competition
Pain Points: Broken Gameplay, Ranking and Tournament Structure
Delving Dana
Plays as a form of self-expression. Loves customization. Loves mish-mash of mechanics. Large game collection. Loves Combos.
Favorite Games: Arkham Horror: The Card Game, flavor of the week, 1000 Blank White Cards
Types of Fun: Expression, Discovery, Narrative
Pain Points: Looking to branch out, Wants novel mechanics and variety
Friendly Flynn
Games for the camaraderie. Not as hardcore, if their friends changed hobbies they would too. Loves big effects and short fun games. Intro Gamer. Loves expansions.
Favorite Games: MtG Commander , Munchkin, King of Tokyo
Types of Fun: Fellowship, Fantasy
Pain Points: Uneven win streaks, Player count scaling
Box Back Design
Imagine your game is done. Your prospective player picks up the box and reads about it. What does that box say? This is a thought experiment that will help you imagine your finished game and work backwards toward it.
Refer back to the category of TCG you are making. (Hack, Mod, Narrative or Construction) You won’t solve your whole game here. This is a hypothesis. Write something down and keep going.
Basic Gameplay
What do players do every turn? What is the interesting decision players will have to make every turn? How do the other rules make this decision interesting?
Win Condition
How do players win the game?
Factions
TCGs often have different groups of cards that have unique mechanical and flavor identities. What are yours?
Card Types
Usually there are cards that stay in play and cards that are used once. Do you need further types? How are they different from one another and what is their role in your game?
Resources
TCGs often have an arch during the game. They don’t allow the most powerful cards to be played until later. How does this work in your game?
That’s it for this session. Nice work. Next time, you’ll start creating your core mechanic.