Making my own trading card game

[moo]

Recently I decided that I wanted to try to make my own trading card game... (A trading card game is a game like Magic: The Gathering, I'm sure almost anyone heard of it...) I have most of the rules in mind, some good ideas... but thats about it. I understand that this is going to be a long project and I'm willing to give alot of efforts in it.

I'm only 17, will have my DES soon and played/read about alot of TCG in the past, but thats about it, I have no idea how to proceed, or even, if its possible to make one for me...

I thought I could start by writing the rules, find 2-3 peoples interested in the project(friends/people I know), create about 500 cards (that would look like real cards, except for the art, which would be really basic) and balance/adjust the game as needed.

But once thats all done, what do I do? I obviously don't have money to hire artists/marketing/distribute ect... Is there a solution or am I just day-dreaming and can't make a game unless I study in that and find a job in that departement?(if that even exist...)

[Keith]

Start. Put the thing together and playtest like you suggested. Once you've set the ball rolling, you'll probably develop a clearer idea of what resources you'd need and develop some ideas on how to get them. Don't wait until you have the answers before you start, 'cos often you can't see them until you're partway down the road.

Plus you get to play a fun game in the interim.

BTW, when you get into the testing, remember to test the edge cases. Obscure combinations of cards might have effects you haven't anticipated.

[moo]

Yeah I understand what your saying, make sense. But theres one big awnser I absolutely need to know before starting : Is it possible?

Because I fear to invest alot of time into it, having a good product in the end, but theres nothing I can do from there afterwards .

Also, good tips on the testing , I quited ygo (which was my all-time favorite past time) when they started banning cards... Wouldnt like to do it to other peoples :/.

[SamBeaven]

I'd say don't worry about flavour text or artwork at this stage - jam together soemthing basic on index cards and playtest with that, since you'd be able to prototype stuff much more quickly.

[Doku]

I agree. Just write the rules, and use index cards. Or if you want to get more fancy, get the small blank flashcards which have thicker paper, and are un-lined.

Once you get into the playtest state, and things seem to be somewhat ok, go to a local mom and pop game shop. They will likely have a section of local games. Talk with the shop owner and see if those game authors are part of a group, or if he would give you the contact info for the authors, or give your info to the authors. (Yes, the mom and pop game shops know the creators of the local games.)

Once you get that info, talk with the authors of those games, and get advice on how to start marketing it. They will be happy to share the info with you. In the game world, there are really no markets to protect, just ideas. Your card game is not going to force their puzzle game or board game or ... out of business, but the marketing/legal info is nearly identical. People, in general, are helpful.

good luck!

[Brutha]

Take Magic Workstation and playtest with it. You can have online tournements and everything.
When the game gets popular online you might get some publisher to agree to work with you.
You could find fans that do your artwork.

Also, good tips on the testing , I quited ygo (which was my all-time favorite past time) when they started banning cards... Wouldnt like to do it to other peoples :/.

Banning cards is necessary to have a healty game, because the interactions of cards get to complicated to fully understand them when enough cards are printed.

[Freelancer]

Originally Posted by moo

Yeah I understand what your saying, make sense. But theres one big awnser I absolutely need to know before starting : Is it possible?

Because I fear to invest alot of time into it, having a good product in the end, but theres nothing I can do from there afterwards .

Also, good tips on the testing , I quited ygo (which was my all-time favorite past time) when they started banning cards... Wouldnt like to do it to other peoples :/.

Bad news;
It will take a lot of time, effort and energy to get this done.
The odds of massive success are very low.

Good news;
Its possible
You can do it...
If massive success comes around the corner than a massive pay out is very possible...

My advice;
Don't worry about selling the product/marketing/drawings/marketing plan/company etc. but just focus on creating a relatively simple rules system that requires deep strategic thinking. Test these systems and cards, slowly build up a baseline of cards untill you have sufficient to build several types of 'decks'. Test these among friends/family and refine the cards further untill your absolutely satisfied with it, go for top quality. This entire stage should be FUN and ENTERTAINING, NOT work. If you don't enjoy designing a new card game and refining it all the time than you will never succeed.

If you have that part done and you 'perfected' the game than you can start thinking about the next step and probably create a new post here. See ya in 2 years.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by moo

Because I fear to invest a lot of time into it, having a good product in the end, but there's nothing I can do from there afterwards .

What else were you planning to do with the time? If this would take time out from your anti-cancer research, that's one thing, but if you were just planning to bum around watching TV and playing computer games is spending time on this really 'wasting' it?

I think you could potentially pull it off, but even if you don't, it seems like you'd learn a lot more from making the effort than from not making it. Remember Bill Gates' multi-billion dollar company Traf-O-Data. Oh no, wait - Traf-O-Data flopped. And with the lessons learnt, Bill founded Microsoft...

[Addict]

Whoa. This is really wierd! A few of my friends and I have recently gotten back into Magic the Gathering (we used to play several years ago). Just in the last week we started brainstorming ideas for a new TCG. I'm really excited about it too.

I too wonder about what it would require to turn it into a real business venture. I think it would either work by selling your game to a publishing company or financing the manufacturing yourself.

My advice would be just to start working on rules and cards (no art) for now. At the very least you'll have some good experience if you want to go into any sort of game design and you'll also have a pretty cool game for you and your friends. Good luck.

[Love]

I think it would be awesome if you could do it. Imagine, turning your own idea into a real game! Sounds nice to me, and it sounds like you know the basics of how to get started.

Good luck!

[falcan]

Hey, no experience on card games here, but computer games, which are "friends" I recognized all the stages - prototypes, art, maybe publishing company etc. Yeah, it is possible, I've started with nothing few years ago, now I'm finishing a promising game with a publisher and basically already live off from it now. Believe me, go for it and stick to it no matter what. Even if it won't be "success" it will learn you A TON and for your next project you will be much more pro and 100% closer to success - and eventually get into the business. If you stick with it for few years, you become an expert..it's that simple..you just have to stick with it more than 99% of other people;-)Ah, and get to know people from the game cards field that are sucessfull-now! It's very important to know the basic tricks and just to get in that state of mind that there are people that make money off it(=that it is "normal", not impossible). You will then believe even more.