Cardinomicon (Systems Design)

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A head-to-head card battler between bored Necromancers looking for something to do after taking over the world. Summon eccentric undead creatures and cast whimsical spells in this competitive strategy game that blends Magic: the Gathering with Chess.

Genre
Strategy

Engine
Unity

Student Team Name
Fuzzy Dream

Project Type
Student Project

Year
2025

Team Size
6

My Roles

Lead Designer

  • Creator

  • Playtest lead

  • More

  • Later

Systems Designer

  • Spreadsheets

  • Rules

  • More

  • Later

  • Dream it.

  • Build it.

  • Grow it.

  • Sell it.

Process

  • Core systems

    • Card value = mana cost

    • Balance monster health, movement, and attack damage in spreadsheets

  • Paper prototyping

    • Note cards written in pencil as cards

    • Simple board game components to track mana and health

    • Chessboard

  • Playtesting

    • Add a new mechanic => playtest it on the board => and then adjust it in the spreadsheet if necessary.

    • This leads to new rules

      • Stuck with no card draw = burn a mana and a card to draw one

      • Losing badly = summon a monster in a defensive zone; they can act immediately

      • Negating first-player advantage = free mana token for the second player that can be redeemed at any time and plus-one card to their starting hand

  • Spreadsheets

What I Learned

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