As mentioned in a previous post, I would like to design a game that’s played using blank index cards and pens (and maybe other convenient implements). I love games like Mao and 1000 Blank White Cards that are wildly unique every time because the players create the content and build the rules as they play.
On the other hand, I like having a real objective and a chance to win, in which case I think Rumble may be the holy grail: Players create content and may create rules, but the foundational rules of the game keep things focused and an auction system prevents the creation of overpowered rules.
As a third point, I like storytelling and games that develop in tension and challenge as the game proceeds. Werewolf has got this potential in spades, but mostly because it has a single storyteller. I would settle for a game with resources that run low toward the end.
Fourth, games that play cooperatively or just create unusual/asymmetric player roles are interesting to me. The Lord of the Rings TCG jumps to mind, where on a given player’s turn they are the good guys, and all the other players cooperatively run the forces of evil.
Finally, I’m kinda hooked on the idea of players building a map or board with the index cards as they play.
So, mechanics to consider:
- Custom content created by players on index cards, pre-game or in certain phases, as in Dvorak or Rumble
- An auction system like the one in Rumble or the optional one in Tikal, to balance content creation. Note: Does this require that the game be essentially competitive? It also requires something quantitative for players to sacrifice: points, health, money.
- A resource that runs dry over the course of the game, like the hexes in Tikal or cards in Island of D 2. Maybe a fixed number of cards? Maybe falling HP?
Conversely, if a cooperative-competitive mechanic like LotR TCG is implemented, giving increased resources to the opposition would work too. In LotR TCG this is a property of the location cards. For this trend to be present in a player-created game, it must be part of the core mechanic. - Hand management? Only in the case of a game with a persistent (constantly revised) deck, like 1KBWC, which takes more setup… and is probably impractical, given that a board-building mechanic probably dictates having different “types” of cards.
- Map building: I’m quickly realizing this might be the most complicated bit. The random map needs to have a significant impact on play, somehow, and it needs to be made up of player-created cards. Most random-map games work because there are only a few kinds of map tiles: All tiles are resources in Catan, everything’s temple, treasure or jungle in Tikal, and all the Carcassonne tiles are made up of castles, roads, fields and monasteries. So option A is to put severe limitations on what a map card can contain.
Option B looks to card games for inspiration; LotR TCG or others for a single-location system, the Decipher Star Wars CCG for a line of connected locations, or maybe Island of D 2 for a grid. In these games, the relative position of locations is not much of a concern. Instead, locations have special actions or properties, and can even create the core mechanic of the game. This seems like a more suitable canvas for player-created content, but also that much more difficult to balance.
So, ideas:
- Dungeon Crawl: Players each create a character and then shuffle and assign, or auction. Players then create locations with specified challenges and rewards at the beginning of the game (say, four apiece). Players select locations by auction or shuffle. On a player’s turn, his opponents compete for the opportunity to place a location. The player then directs his character through the ‘dungeon,’ gathering as much gold as possible. Last player standing or player with the most gold when all locations are placed, wins.
- Towers: Instead of having the players build a typical top-down map, they are building a side view of a tower or skyscraper. You could give everyone a game piece and somehow challenge them to climb the tower. That creates an easy paradigm within which the players can create location cards, and could make relative positioning important. To determine: how players move up the tower, and how they impede one another’s progress.
Just an initial brainstorm. More to come…
Hey Bradley,
I’m a random guy studying computer science in Utah, and I’ve been working on rules for a TCG where the players create their own cards on index cards. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of problems that are difficult to avoid with such a game. It’s taken a while, but I’m finally getting to the point where the game is pretty well balanced. I’ve been scouring the internet recently for ideas, when I came across this post of yours. I’ve since found this website to be a goldmine of unique little paper & dice games. Although it’s been a hot sec since you created this post, I thought I’d leave this comment just in case. Anyways, here’s the rules of the game so far:
# Dubious: The Card Making Game
These rules describe a trading card game in which the players make the cards by hand. Players can make as many cards as they want, but they may not put those cards in a deck until the cards have been signed. To play the game, 2-5 players will each use their own deck of 5 previously signed cards, and they’ll start the game by agreeing on an unsigned card to use as a trophy. When the game ends, everyone will sign the back of the trophy card, and it will be awarded to the winner. However before that happens, one of the losers will be chosen at random to be the Judge. The Judge will have the opportunity to punish a card that they think was unfair or frustrating. When punished for the second time, a card is ripped in half.
## Setup
The players agree on a prototype card (an unsigned card) to use as the trophy. The players each select 5 of their own cards to use as their deck. All their cards start in their hand. Each player also starts with five mana tokens (the same thing as land cards in _Magic: The Gathering_). Choose a player randomly to start the game. The first player starts their first turn with two mana tokens tapped, and the second player starts their first turn with one mana token tapped.
## Each Turn
Divide each player’s turn into the following:
* Recharge step (untap your cards and mana tokens)
* Start phase (in this order):
* trigger card effects
* opponents may activate card abilities if the abilities specify they can
* Main phase, you may:
* activate card abilities
* play cards from your hand
* buy VP (3 mana = 1 VP)
* End phase (in this order):
* opponents may activate card abilities
* trigger card effects
* Draw step (move a card from your discard pile to your hand)
* Increase mana cap (if you choose to announce this phase, each player adds a new expended mana token to their playing field)
## Winning the game
Each player starts the game with 0 VP. They cannot be reduced below 0 VP. If a player starts their turn with 10 VP or reaches 10 VP while taking their turn, then they win. Cards can give VP to players, but players can also purchase VP on their turn at the base rate of 3 mana for 1 VP. A player can buy as many VP as they can afford, and they can buy VP at any time on their turn so long as it’s during their main phase.
## When the game ends
Two things happen:
1. One of the players who lost is selected at random to be the Judge (rock paper scissors?). The Judge then chooses to punish a card from the deck of another player. They do this by marking the card by filling in the star on the back. If it’s already filled in, they rip the card in half instead. If they don’t feel like any card deserves to be punished, they may choose to skip this step.
4. The Judge draws a star on the back of the trophy card, everybody signs the back of the trophy card with their own unique symbol. The trophy card is now an official card. Everyone except for the Winner and the Judge may leave now.
5. One card is selected at random from the Judge’s deck, and two cards are selected at random from the Winner’s deck. The Judge takes one of these three cards. The Winner takes the other two, and the trophy card.
## The cards
Each card is preferably made from a blank 3×5 index card, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Each card should be blank on the back, and have the following on the front:
* It’s title
* A description of its effects and abilities
* An optional picture and flavor text
* It’s mana cost
![[dubious v2 card front.jpg]]
## Clarifications
– Unless otherwise specified, all passive effects that a card has are only effective while the card is on the playing field, and is untapped.
– It is assumed that card abilities can only be activated during the main phase of the card owner’s turn. The only exception to this is when a card ability specifies one or more situations in which it can be activated outside of the owner’s main phase. The situations a card is able to specify for itself are the start of other’s turns, the end of other’s turns, and in response to another effect or event.
– When a card ability is activated in response to another card ability, the payments of the ability costs are resolved in the order the abilities were activated, then the ability effects are resolved in the reverse order with the effects of the most recently activated ability being resolved first.
– Under no circumstances may a card influence meta-game elements such as the process of punishing cards, or the ownership of cards. They must also avoid targeting specific players or cards by name. Targeting players based on gender, ethnicity, clothing, or similar attributes is also highly discouraged.
– Unless otherwise specified by a card, players must play cards to their own playing field. If a card can be played on other people, then it will say so. If and when the card is sacrificed or destroyed, it returns to the owner’s discard pile.
– If a player is discovered to have more than 5 cards in their deck, they are immediately kicked from the game, and all their cards are sacrificed (to trigger possible effects), then removed from play.
## Coming soon
– I want to start compiling a list of keywords, definitions of those keywords, and clarifications concerning those keywords. When a keyword is used on a card, it should be underlined.
– I will be putting together a card-making guide that will outline some of the dos and don’ts of card-making.
– I want to start collecting a gallery of cards made by myself and others. Such a gallery would help new players get their creative juices flowing.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing. On first read, what you’ve got feels like it falls somewhere between 1kbwc and the somewhat more structured Rumble but I love how you’re adding the TCG element; feels like something that could really take off on a college campus.