For anyone interested in the development of this game. This is a preliminary design document that gives some early thoughts on how this game will play. This is all subject to change and will likely evolve as time goes by. At the present time I have a basic UI for the game complete. Only minimal coding has occurred at this point. I’m currently creating all the various cards for the game (creature cards and attack and defence cards). I anticipate it will take several months to create all the required cards (360 creature cards – 120 normal cards, 120 more powerful holographic cards, and 120 of the most powerful legendary cards). There will also be approximately 200 attack and defence cards, there may be many more than this, that’s just an estimated total at this point. At any rate, once I have completed all the game assets I will begin writing code. This game will be an iPad only game as I need more screen real estate than an iPhone can deliver. At this point I’m not anticipating a release until some point in 2025.
Card Packs
- 3 packs to start the game.
- Free packs will consist of 6 cards. 1 creature card and 5 assorted attack and defence cards.
- Paid packs will contain 2 creature cards at the appropriate level (normal, holographic, legendary) and 8 attack and defence cards.
- A single free pack will be given after the conclusion of a battle.
- Free packs can be at the normal, holographic or legendary levels. The level of pack awarded will be determined randomly. There will be a 90% chance of getting a normal pack, a 7% chance of getting a holographic pack, and a 3% chance of getting a legendary pack.
- Players will not be able to get duplicate creature cards. The card pack will be generated automatically when a player opens a pack they have been given or purchased. If the player is given a creature card that they already have, then the duplicate will be deleted when it is added to the deck and the original card will have all three characteristics incremented by 1 point.
- Duplicate attack and defence cards will be allowed.
- The card deck of each player will show all cards in the game. They will be greyed out but visible if not held, but shown in full colour if held. Attack and defence cards will have an indicator of how many of each card are held.
Card Strength and Attacks
- The strength of any of the creature card characteristics (strength, magic, stealth) will be used as a force multiplier for any given attack card.
- Each attack card will have a category that corresponds to the categories on creature cards – ie. there will be strength based weapons, magic based weapons, and stealth based weapons.
- The force multiplier used for each attack card will be the corresponding characteristic on the creature card – ie. a creature card with 15 strength points using a strength based weapon will do damage of 15 * the card power level – eg. 15 * 1 = 15 damage, 15 * 3 = 45 damage etc.
- Attack cards (defence cards as well) will have a power level of between 1 and 5.
- If a creature card with a 0 point value for any characteristic plays an attack card associated with that 0 point value then the damage done will be 0 * the power value of the attack card – ie. 0 * 3 = 0 damage. This adds a strategic element to the game. The higher the characteristic value, the more damage will be done.
- There will likely be a modifier for both attack and defence cards to add an element of luck into the game. This modifier will be randomly generated and will vary between 0.8 and 1.2. Damage would thus be calculated as the characteristic value (15) * the attack card power value (2) * the luck modifier (0.95). So the damage with these figures would be: 15 * 2 * 0.95 = 28.5 damage rather than the expected damage of 30. This luck modifier will be invisible to the player (?).
- Damage will be shown on the creature health bar appearing above each creature card.
General Game Play
- Prior to any battle a player will need to select a creature card and 5 attack and defence cards from his deck.
- Play will proceed in a turn based manner.
- The player taking their turn will be able to initiate an attack by tapping on an attack card. This card will then be displayed in between the two battling creature cards for the duration of the attack.
- An attack will display an animation effect and play a sound effect. The animation will likely occur over the attack card. A corresponding damage effect will be shown on the attacked card. The card will likely turn red or flash red or something similar.
- Once an attack has been initiated the opponent can tap on 1 or more defence cards. These will be played sequentially to mitigate the damage done by an attack. A mini defence card may be shown over the attacked creature. An animation and sound effect will also be played.
- The creature health bar of the opponent will update prior to play being passed to the opponent for their attack phase.
- Play will continue passing from player to opponent until all attack cards are used.
- If there is a mismatch in attack card numbers selected – ie. one player has more attack cards than their opponent – ie. player 1 – 2 attack cards, player 2 – 4 attack cards then once player 1 has played all their attack cards play will remain with player 2 who can then sequentially play all remaining attack cards.
- Once all attack and defence cards have been played the player with the highest health remaining will win the battle.
- Once a winner has been determined the losing players health bar will visibly drain to zero and text will be flashed up over the player – either “You Win” or “You Lose”.
- The winning player will have the value of characteristics on their creature card upgraded. This may occur automatically – ie. 1 point added to each characteristic, or players may potentially be given the opportunity to distribute 3 points to whichever characteristics they wish to upgrade (I like this latter idea).
- Upgraded points will be saved to the card. Both players will get given a free card pack and then they can play another battle after opening the new card pack and having the cards added to their deck.
