Balanced cardgame system

Table of contents

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Problem definition
   1. Research question
   2. Scope
4. Base system
5. Game balancing method
   1. Cost
   2. Efficiency
   3. Exclusivity
6. Playtesting
   1. Playtest one
   2. Playtest two
7. Conclusion
8. References
9. Recommendations

Abstract

This paper is about attempting to balance and design a card game system that allows players to build their own decks and feels balanced. Going into balancing methods and playtesting methods and seeing what types are the best for this exercise. Further more it will explore playtesting and it’s results that led to the conclusion. The conclusion to this paper is that balancing resources is the optimal way to balance cards for such a limited timeframe. Setting base values for effects seems to have a positive effect on development and balancing allowing for better iterative testing because values are easier changed. Recommendations for further research include how weapons could affect the games balance and research on more different heroes and how broader range of possible enemies could affect enemies.

Introduction

In this article I will go into my process of designing and balancing a cardgame system meant to be used in a PvP scenario. I will highlight what method of balancing I decided to use and how I applied that to the game. I will also go into detail on the playtests I have done and how those affected the progress and direction of this project. After reading this article you will hopefully have new insights into balancing a cardgame and what playtesting these types of games is like.

Problem definition

I want to design a cardgame system that is balanced for player versus player to get a better understanding of how it works. I also hope to get more insights on how a surrounding system factors into that. My goal is to use these insights to create a helpful article for other developers to use in making a cardgame system.

Research question

What is a good way to balance a Player versus Player card game system, where deckbuilding is a central aspect?

Scope

For this project I want to make a full set of cards for two classes that can be used to make decks that feel distinct. I want one set for a character to have 25 unique cards and 2 heroes. My goal is to have the deck building feel balanced and that the wins come down to the players understanding of the game and how to build their deck.

Base system

For people to build decks and have cards there should first be a system in place. I want my game to have a main hero similar to the flesh and blood TCG and the one piece TCG. Meaning that the hero defines things like your HP and cards you have access to. It also usually has an ability that can be activated. The reason for this is that I want people to have a pillar to build their decks around. I also want to have an original resource system that sets this game apart from others while still inspired. I found that there are three different types of resource systems[1]: Manual, automatic and banking. Manual is when when resource increases aren’t guaranteed and usually are part of deckbuilding. The best example of this is lands in magic the gathering. You usually can only play one “land” per turn but if you don’t have one in your hand that becomes difficult. This means the amount of lands also becomes a deckbuilding restriction. The other is automatic, popularized by Heartstone where players get one “mana crystal” every turn and they don’t have to worry about it when building their deck. Lastly banking means giving up cards to get energy every turn. You still give up cards like magic but it simply happens every turn. After reading into different iterations of these systems and considering the impact on the deckbuilding I decided to go with an automatic system inspired by legends of runeterra. Players will get energy every turn even on their opponents and unspent mana gets saved up to a maximum of six. On their own turn they get 2 energy and 1 on their opponents. The reason I went with this is to encourage players to play the game on their own turn but keep their opponent’s in mind. Giving them a one resource bonus allows them to play the game on both turns. Another big part of TCGs is starting hand size. As explained in a video by tcgAcademia[4]. I decided on a 5 card starting hand, then drawing a card at the start of your turn. This is because 5 is a sweet spot between enough options and not being too overwhelming. It also helps that the highest current cost is 3 all hands will have at least some playable cards to start with.

Game balancing method

I will now go into detail for my strategy of balancing the game. What I want for the game is for both the players to have agency and feel powerful in some capacity. Of course I don’t want either class to have a innate advantage over the other by having a stronger cardpool. Some of the ways I want to do that are by focusing on cost, efficiency and exclusivity. This is an example of balancing resources as shown here[1] under the header balancing resources. On this site there are also other examples listed for balancing cards, but they seemed not great to implement. The reason I decided managing resources would be the best way to balance was because it allows for easier balance changes by either changing how much a card costs or the effects. Another reason is that it has a strong effect in card games is because everything is a resource in these types of games: life, cards in hand, energy, knowledge on your opponents cards etc.

Cost

Things that can change the cost of certain cards include: a downside like discarding cards, being able to do it as a fast action, having an additional effect and class identity. What I mean with class identity is that for example the occultist would be more focused on card draw and attacking. So class specific cards focused on that will be more cost efficient. The stalwart on the other hand wants to defend and put up shield so their cards will focus on that.

Things that can change the cost of certain cards include: a downside like discarding cards, being able to do it as a fast action, doing something else and class identity. What I mean with class identity is that for example the occultist would be more focused on card draw and attacking. So class specific cards focused on that will be more cost efficient. The stalwart on the other hand wants to defend and put up shield so their cards will focus on that.

Efficiency

What I mean with efficiency is how much a card does and how much of a restriction it is on deckbuilding. Examples of this are cards that serve multiple purposes in a deck. For example the card unholy research serves two purposes in the deck seeing that it both draws cards and discards a card. Which is something the occultist wants to do. Another example is the stalwarts knights bulwark. Which defends and puts up shield. These types of cards are good for characters to have, but not too many as that will bloat the power level of decks. So an efficient card should have a downside, cost more or be split into two cards. It is also important to note that the secondary effect can be a cost or optional effect. A more creative the secondary effect will prevent the power level from rising too much.

Exclusivity

Exclusivity means that whether or not a card serves a purpose that can’t be found on another card or in another class. Exclusive effects should be higher priced to support more powerful effects that allow for a strong class identity to develop. My idea is that a strong, expensive and exclusive effect is good to have as long as all classes have an equally strong, expensive and exclusive effect. For a first set it is good to decide one mechanic for a class and flesh that out with many different cards and different ways to support it. A good way to see this is the color pie in magic the gathering[5] which showcases different mechanics for certain colors well. It also shows how overlap with certain colors can lead to unique mechanical interactions.

Playtesting

For the playtests I did some research into how other games playtest their games. Magic the gathering designer Mark Rosewater has a interesting blog series called nuts & bolts[3] where he talks about the design process of a set. I decided that I wanted to follow that process since it aligned the best with my goals. For card designs they use this five step process:

1. Make very basic cards that help reach the archetype’s goal.
2. Playtest those cards.
3. Take notes from the playtest.
4. Change cards based on those notes, sometimes making new cards altogether.
5. Go back to step 2. For the actual playtest I wanted to establish my goal. I want the game to be fun and balanced, below I have written down what that means to me.

• An active game with actions being taking and players always moving towards a victory
• Players getting to use their hero effect regularly
• Players win and lose by their own hand, minimizing losing because of randomness

Playtest one

During playtest one I noticed that one of the two classes clearly overshadowed the other. The stalwart was able to win most games with relative ease. So my goal for the next playtest is to equalize the playing field. From the feedback I gathered most people agree on the fact that the occultist should be buffed and some parts of the stalwart should be nerfed. People who played the occultist expressed that they felt underpowered rather than that the stalwart was too good. I also noticed that games died down later on in the game. The reason for this was that people were left at the whim of card draw later on. If you didn’t draw you couldn’t do anything. The way I want to solve this is possibly by adding weapons that you can activate once per turn at a cost. This would grant people more agency and give them more options.

Playtest results

In the table below you can see the results of the first playtest. I decided the questions based on my goal for the playtests and how I thought I would get the best information. The first four questions are for the winner and the five questions after that are for the loser. Then finally there are some generic questions for all players. The reason that I have more information on winners is because I played against most people and lost a bunch of those matches.

Playtest two

In this playtest my goal was to test the deckbuilding aspect of my game and how people interact with it. When I play test for people who haven’t played before play a shorter round with unchanged deck and then ask them to switch out cards that they want to play with then have them play a full match. I want to keep track of the cards they switch out and later ask why they chose to do that. Of course all the other goals from the first playtest still apply due to the fact balance is still the main goal of this test. During this playtest I noticed that players seemed to enjoy themselves more, being able to make more active choices and change their deck if need be. Being able to change the decklist allowed people to express themselves more and modify the deck to fit their own goals. Most cards seem balanced enough to a point where they can definitely use changes but matches are not as lobsided as during the first playtest.

Playtest results

During this playtest I noticed that players seemed to enjoy themselves more, being able to make more active choices and change their deck if need be. Being able to change the decklist allowed people to express themselves more and modify the deck to fit their own goals. Most cards seem balanced enough to a point where they can definitely use changes but matches are not as lobsided as during the first playtest. Below you can see the cards that the players changed for their decks.

After this match the players expressed that they felt the games were a lot more fun, and matches were pretty close. Allowing the players to build their own decks gave them the means to remove aspects from their decks they did not like or felt were too weak.

Conclusion

What is a good way to balance a Player versus Player card game system, where deckbuilding is a central aspect? From my research I was able to draw the conclusion that when trying to make and balance a card game system in a short timeframe balancing the resources is the best way. This is due to the fact that its easier to tweak between playtests. Altering values for base costs also allows for easier changes. Deciding on base values for effects is recommended in general, it is a good way to streamline card designs because it gives you a jump off point. It takes some experimenting but when you get them right designing new cards becomes easier. It also helps that players get to build their own decks. Compared to the first playtest matches became a lot closer after players changed their decks. It seems to have a positive effect on the gameplay and players get to express themselves more.

Recommendations

My recommendations for further research would be: How weapons would change card advantage, how adding new heroes could affect balance and how counter picking could affect play and how to better organize larger playtests with more people. In general playtests are very important for a project like this so think about how you would want to playtest before you start your project.

References

[1] O. Suwen, “Resource Systems in TCGs - Otto Suwen - Medium,” Medium, Sep. 24, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://medium.com/@ottosuwennft/resource-systems-in-tcgs-6d87d4397a4d
[2] A. Brazie, “Video game Balance: A Definitive guide,” Game Design Skills, Sep. 28, 2024. https://gamedesignskills.com/game-design/game-balance/#h.7grgfvqck0w3
[3] M. Rosewater, “Nuts & Bolts #5: Initial playtesting,” MAGIC: THE GATHERING, Feb. 28, 2024. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/nuts-bolts-initial-playtesting-2013-02-11
[4] tcgAcademia, “Theory 306 - Essential Elements of TCG Design - Card economy,” YouTube. Oct. 20, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jCt-DY9aAU
[5] M. Rosewater, �Mechanical Color Pie 2021,� MAGIC: THE GATHERING, Nov. 16, 2022. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/mechanical-color-pie-2021