Help me in creating a card game

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I don't know if this is a stupid idea, I have never played Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon TCG or others, but I'd like to create my own battle card game. So I need your advice on how to make a balanced one.

I'm planning that each card has 1-6 HP (wich is either written on paper or indicated somehow) and 1-6 or perhaps 0-6 attack. When your attack is smaller than the opponent's, you lose the same number of HP that is the difference. Or I don't know if it should be just the number of opponent's attack.

Each card has 1 or 2 types or no type at all, and they are based on the elements in Chinese philosophy. The types are Tree, Fire, Earth, Water, Metal and non-elemental.

Of course a card with 6 attack is unbeatable unless it has a type disadvantage, which will add 1 to opponent's attack and perhaps reduce 1 from your attack, too. Here are the type connections:

Tree beats Fire
Fire beats Earth
Earth beats Water
Water beats Fire
Fire beats Metal
Metal beats Tree

EDIT:

Tree beats Earth
Earth beats Water
Water beats Fire
Fire beats Metal
Metal beats Tree

Thanks in advance.

[mr_pikachu]

Question: Are you sure the first line shouldn't be "Tree beats Earth"? The first two lines just seem a little weird to me, particularly since it gives Fire two strengths and two weaknesses (one of which makes very little sense).

I assume there would be some way of strategically increasing a given card's attack/HP, whether using evolution/sacrifice (like the Pokemon and YGO TCGs) or power-up cards/effects. Otherwise it would be a fairly stagnant game, with everyone just stacking their decks with 6/6 cards.

As for "a card with 6 attack is unbeatable," that could be a little dangerous. You could probably make good use of cards that weaken other cards; otherwise, barring an unlikely type disadvantage against a fellow 6-attack card, the game would pretty much be over.

For the time being, you might consider one other thing: what is the object of the game? Is it like War, where you simply want to defeat all your opponent's cards? Is there a limit on how many cards you can play, or some benefit from eradicating your opponent's cards? Gameplay obviously involves defeating your opponent's creatures, but how does a player claim victory?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Thanks for the tips, I'll think about them.

I'm sorry, it seems I was in a hurry when I typed that, the real advantages are:

Tree beats Earth
Earth beats Water
Water beats Fire
Fire beats Metal
Metal beats Tree

This is based on Daoism, I think. It's from a book called "Merkkien valtakunta", "The Realm of Characters" in English.

I forgot to mention, each card has also special attributes like a girl in one card named Henko (the cards represent people and monsters) has more HP when in the same hand as Minko and Minko has more attack when in the same hand as Henko. And a girl named Aome lets you attack with two cards next turn. I'll do also male cards, but the game is far from ready right now.

I thought the cards should be selected randomly, you cannot choose the cards you begin with at least. And there will be 40 different cards in the game.

We already played some simplified (?) games with my mother and the winner was who defeats all the opponennt's cards. I don't know if another goal would be better.

[starjake]

Seems like a combination of Magic: the Gathering, Pokemon, and War, with a Chinese twist (the concept of the Five Elements reaches back much further than Daoism; they're actually a part of ancient Chinese myth).

The cycle of elements you referred to is known as the Destruction Cycle.

Fire melts Metal
Metal splits Wood
Wood breaks Earth
Earth swallows Water
Water quenches Fire

However, there is no Destruction without Creation, so there must also be a Creation Cycle; together, these are the two Cycles of Balance.

Fire creates Earth
Earth hardens into Metal
Metal structures Water
Water nourishes Wood
Wood feeds Fire

(There are actually also two Cycles of Imbalance, called Overacting and Insulting, but those are a little weirder).

Whether you want to use this information for your game depends entirely upon how heavily Element-based you want it to be. It's your card game; you could create an entirely new set of 'checks and balances', so to speak.

But, enough with the Chinese myth lecture.

We've established that the main goal is to destroy all your opponent's creatures. We've also established that the way to do this is through making your creatures strong enough to overpower their creatures.

First question: how do you get your creatures on the playing field so they can battle? Is there a resource / cost system (see mana in MtG, or Energy in Pokemon)? Or is there a limit to the number of creatures you can play in a turn (like YGO)?

We've established that your creatures have stats based around Attack power (ATK) and Hit Points (HP).

Second question: If the main goal is too overpower your opponent's creatures, how do you plan on powering up your own? Is the game entirely creature-based (so the creatures each have their own unique effects), or are there Spells you can cast or Traps you can catch your opponent off-guard with (and, back to the first question, are these being used through a resource system or limitation system)?

Maybe if you took notes on one of those simplified games you've played and then posted them here, it would be easier to understand what the game is all about. Keep us in the loop on your progress, though; I, for one, am very interested!

[mr_pikachu]

Judging by your earlier comments, Mikachu, I'm guessing that you're not planning on including Magic/Trap/Field/Equip/whatever cards (or at least not many); rather, you're focusing on the battling creatures themselves. Like I said before, without some careful planning you could end up with players easily locking others with one of those 6-attack creatures.

This is just a wild thought, but you could impose a weakening effect to keep the game in flux. For instance, you might say that for each turn a monster is "in play" it loses 1 attack. (As if it's using it's energy in battle and tiring... or something.) Sure, it would be highly advantageous for a player to use a 6-attack creature and blast through the opponent, but you couldn't completely rely on that; a few turns and that being would be highly vulnerable without some backup.

Again, these are just ideas to be posed; it's your game, after all. Avoiding unbreakable locks, however, is usually a good idea, so I figured I'd mention that idea.

I'd also be very interested to see your notes. Thus far it sounds sort of like that one "Feng Shui Dragon" game early in the YGO manga, but yours could have far more replay value if crafted well. I hope that the game development is proceeding smoothly!

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I think there is a limit on how many cards you can play. We played a game where both of us had 5 cards and a game where both of us had 3 cards. In the simplified version we played, there was a total of only 10 cards. There was some confusion, I hadn't decided how the game should go so we did the following. I doubt it would work in a real game.

1. we shuffled the cards and dealed them face down in rows.
2. we started battling by turning them in turns, one at a time unless indicated otherwise.
3. when all of our cards were face up, we battled the cards in many different orders, based on how they were placed in the rows.
4. we also took the cards at some points in our hands and held them so that we could see only our own cards' faces and then freely chose them.

The game is creature-based, I think. There are no Spell cards etc. but the creatures have special abilities which have either major or minor influence on the game. I'm very interested in the subject of 'Traps' though, but couldn't it be executed through the creatures' abilities?

About 6-attack cards, the problem is that if I decide that max attack is 5, then the we have trouble with 5-attack cards, not 6-attack. And I think losing attack points 'in play' would make 1-attack cards go down too easily. But on the other hand, if the cards are selected randomly, of course there's virtually no problem with one player accidentially getting 'too much' overpowered cards, the victory is, of course, easier then. However, I'm considering putting some great weaknesses in 6-attack cards' special abilities.

I have read only the first volume of Yu-Gi-Oh! in English, not Finnish but have ordered volumes 2-5 to a bookshop. I hope they got them should be in English as well. I don't know if they are there yet right now, the shop is located in another town.