Li came up with a very reasonable playing design: 18 cards, 3 heroes (each with a skill), 2 skill cards, 2 defensive cards and 3 attack cards. This is the basic element commonly used in battle cards. For specific instructions on how to play, you can click on this document:
| 18 Cards Game – Samuel & Yanis |
| Concept: A 2-player dual game with 3 champions and 15 skill cards to draw and play Designers:Bangguo “Samuel” Li, Yanci “Yanis” Zhang. Design Support Group:Bangguo Li, Yanci Zhang, Zhuo Zhu, Ya Gao, Hanyu Chen, Renhui Tang Player Numbers: 2 Goal: To defeat you opponent with champion ability and cards with different functionsSetup: 1. Put all cards on the table with back side on top. 2. Divide cards by 3 “champion” and 15 “skill card” 2. Put 3 health and 3 shield in front of each player. 3. Players randomly choose 1 champion out of deck, with front side on top. 4. Players randomly draw 6 skill cards out of deck to start the gamewith back side to their opponent. (To be decided) Afterwards, one of the 3 skill cards deck will be revealed to all Rounds: 1.There are 5 rounds of each game(To be decided) Before the first round, players can discuss to exchange card (s) 2.In each round, every player should simutaneously put 0-2 card(s) on the boardand then decide whether he/she will use the champion ability 3.After the cards on the table and champion ability casted,both player should reveal their card(s) 4.Cast each skill card’s function with sequence: control>Defense>Attack 5.Discard all skill cards on the borad. Switch back to step 2. End of the game: Compare each player’s health, less one loses. If health’s equal, compare each player’s shield, less one loses. If shield’s equal, compare each player’s hand, less one loses. If all’s equal, it’s a draw game. Glossary: Champion ability : Use when player put 0-2 skill card(s) on deck and before revealing them Can only use once in a game. |
| Cards |
| Champions Odin Discard 1 card on board, restore 1 health. If health is full, restore 1 shield instead Loki Discard 2 cards on board, cast any card’s function once Thor Caster’s Thunder & Mist card deal 1 damage Skill Cards (2)Thunder: if caster’s opponent have attack card(s) on board, Play Rock Paper Scissor once. If caster wins, invalidate opponent’s attack card(s). (3)Mist: if caster’s opponent have attack card(s) on board Play Rock Paper Scissor twice. If caster wins all, invaildate opponent’s attack card(s) and cast back to him/her *IF CASTER HAVE NO ATTACK CARD IN HAND Play Rock Paper Scissor only once. Defense (2)Magic Shield if caster’s opponent have control card(s) on board, invaildate it(them). If caster’s opponent wins all the Rock Paper Scissor caster will restore 1 health. Attack (3)Basic Attack deal 1 damage to caster’s opponent (2)Shield Attack deal 2 damage only to caster’s opponent’s shield (1)Ragnorok deal 1 damage to caster’s opponent’s healthand 1 damage to caster’s opponent’s shield (2)Strike Back if caster receive any kind of damage deal twice the amount of each kind to caster’s opponent. The term “kind” contains: damage to health and damage to shield |
If you want to think more about how to play, please visit li’s blog to see his thinking process.
About background setting
We set three heroes with different skills. From the card types (attack, shield attack, counterattack, fog, lightning strike …), I think this is more suitable for a Nordic Shinhwa setting. We have also considered using the story of China’s Three Kingdoms as the background. But this is too similar to the setting of card game Three Kingdoms Kill. I think we will be influenced too much by our inherent thinking in the design process (because the Three Kingdoms Kill is a well-known card game)
Game experiment
Li and I made an online simulation demonstration. The first experience was surprisingly good. The time of a game is controlled in three to four minutes, which is very in line with our expectations. We can experience enough changes and fun from a round of games. I think there are three reasons:
- The blind guess mechanism makes this game full of unpredictability, which requires players to gamble and infer.
- Heroes bring a skill and are randomly selected. If your skill cards match your hero skills very well, you can try to play a set of skill combinations with outstanding effects. This kind of game experience is very refreshing.
- The game time is very short. I think playing time is a very important factor. Tight playing time can make players feel fun and less anxious. For example, when your opponent makes a perfect attack and you know you can’t resist, you don’t have to wait too long to start the next game immediately.
- The rules of the game and the contents of the cards are very easy to understand.
Artistic conception
If we take northern Europe and Shinhwa as the background. Odin, Saul and Loki are very suitable heroes. We designed each person’s skills according to their personality characteristics.
- Odin is the brave king of kings, and his skill should be an all-round skill with both attack power and defensive ability.
- Rocky’s is more interesting. As the king of tricks, his skill is to change the attributes of a card.
- Thor is like a God of war with a strong desire to attack. He can use the skill cards of thunder and fog to do more damage.
I set a theme color for each hero, which is helpful to distinguish the image of each hero, and the color can bring people different feelings. Odin is yellow, which accords with his image in the story-golden armor, and yellow is also a symbol of powerful and sacred light. Rocky I chose green, because green gives people a mysterious feeling, and most of the film and television works also focus on the image of Rocky. Thor uses blue, which can represent lightning.
There are many art styles that we can choose from. At present, we have imagined three styles:
- Cartoon style
- American comic style
- 3d model
Personally, I prefer 2 and 3.
First of all, this is the style we are good at, and it is more in line with the overall atmosphere of our game. This is a fast-paced competition card game, and we hope it looks cool and authentic. Cartoon style seems to be too entertaining and lovely, which is not in line with our setting.
I found some information and materials and my preliminary conception of characters:
