For instance, if your game involves magic or spells, think about the type of characters that exist in your game as well, such as elves, wizards, or orcs. You could have a fighting trading card game that involves different types of characters such as ninjas, samurai, and commandos. If your game is about warriors and monsters from Greek mythology, you could name it something like “Olympus” or “Argonaut” so it suits the theme and concept of the game.
For example, maybe one of your characters is an exiled king who hopes to reclaim his throne, or maybe there’s an assassin character looking for revenge. The larger world of your game could be a place that just survived a major flood or maybe there was a recent zombie outbreak that wiped out most of the people.
If you’re making a fighting game, your goal could be to simply defeat your opponent by playing cards that beat theirs. Adding goals to your game can also force players to strategize how they want to play their cards, which can make your game more fun and engaging.
For instance, if you’re making a game with wood elves, you could include an archery ability and create a point system for arrow damage. Try to balance the rules and character abilities so the gameplay is relatively even. It wouldn’t be much fun, for instance, if there’s one group of characters who always win in fights.
Jot down rules and ideas that you like from other games in your handy notebook. For instance, you could borrow the turn-based fighting mechanics of a game like Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokemon to help create your own system.
For instance, a simple gameplay loop could look like this: first you choose a character card, then you choose an action or attack card for that character, then you choose a healing or repair item card, and then you end your turn. A well-structred and ordered game helps make the gameplay smoother. It can also be helpful to look at the gameplay loops of other trading card games to use as models for your own.
Letting players choose their own cards encourages them to build decks that suit their strategies and personalities. For instance, if your game involves magic and creatures like elves and orcs, you can have a player who likes to use healing magic and fire arrows, so they can craft a deck that suits their needs by trading with other players.
For instance, you can write down the actions a player can do during their turn, such as attacking an opponent, trading a card, or healing one of their characters. Prohibited actions are important too. For example, if playing a potion card right after playing a magic card gives an unfair advantage, you can make a rule that a player can’t play them back to back.
For example, you could add a card that allows players to steal a card from their opponent. Add rules like forcing a player to perform at least 1 attack each round so they have to interact with another player.
For instance, you could add a card to the game that can only be played when a player is about to lose, like a “Nuclear Bomb” card that can help them get back at another player beating them. Add a rule that keeps a player from winning too easily, like the rule in the game Uno that forces a player to say “Uno!” when they’re on their last card so other players know to target them.
You can make multiple outlines to use as templates or draw them as you need them. Draw the templates in your notebook so you have everything organized.
For instance, you can draw your Warrior characters as well as items such as potions or creatures like dragons in the box. The art of the cards can really make your game look good, so spend some time coming up with unique designs.
For instance, for a Blue Wizard card, you could have a description like, “The Blue Wizard specializes in ice magic and be played to fight other wizards or heal a character damaged by fire. ”
For example, you could write a specific character’s name such as “Denelok, King of the Orcs” or the name of an item or special ability such as “Healing Potion” or “Dual-Blade Attack. ”
For instance, you could have all of the items cards be red, all magic cards blue, and all character cards gold. Use something like a sword symbol for fighting cards or a heart symbol for healing or magic cards. Add colors to your cards to make them pop and enhance the art as well.
You can also use colors that are prominent in your cards for the back. For instance, if there’s a lot of green or red in your character cards, you could use that in your design. As an example, if your game involves medieval knights or warfare, you could choose a wood or leather-looking design for the back of your card to suit the theme. You could also use a logo or symbol instead of the name on the back of the cards.
You can draw the back design on the back of the card when you’re finished. Make multiple cards at once by drawing a row of templates on a sheet of paper or cardstock and filling them out.
You can also upload the back design image so it’s added to each of your cards. The Game Crafter is a popular online trading card maker. You can visit their site here: https://www. thegamecrafter. com/.
