The Game Design Round Table #281 Diving into Cards as a Simplifier
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Sep 1, 2022 Game designer Aran Koning discusses his digital card game, Stacklands, and how cards drive its mechanics. Topics include pack-buying mechanics, progression surprises, and balancing theme and playability. The podcast also explores the versatility of cards in game design and discusses the business side of being part of the indie design team Sokpop Collective.
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Cards As A Universal Simplifier
- Aran Koning designed Stacklands as a village builder where every interaction is card stacking, simplifying complex systems into uniform components.
- Making all entities the same card size reduced art and mechanic complexity while enabling emergent combinations.
Use Packs To Control Tech Growth
- Use card-selling and purchasable packs to expand content without forcing all progression from starting cards.
- Run expected-value checks and add zero-value items to prevent exploitable infinite loops.
Guide Players With Quests And Banked Ideas
- Teach players via simple quests and unlockable packs rather than verbose tooltips.
- Persist 'idea' discoveries between runs so learning becomes meta-progression and reduces early confusion.