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Build your own TCG 2 – Online tools
Is there anything you can’t do online nowadays? Websites were, in part, created to share information and publically (or privately) document the knowledge and opinions of others. In an age where you can literally run a company sitting on your cell phone in a coffee shop, we turn to the World Wide Web for guidance. This case is no different and I was happy I did so. Which online tools are best for creating your very own TCG? Saving you some time, I’ve gone ahead and disseminating the best of the best. Well, by no means is this list the best of all time, but they are the best out of 10+ tools I’ve found and tested.
With the many online TCG creators out there it’s hard to pick one … UNLESS you know exactly what you’re looking for. If your game takes nods from YuGiOh or Pokémon, or even Magic, then it’s probably best to use card makers with a fixed style. If, however, your card game is completely custom, then I would suggest an open style maker like Deckromancy. Anyway, let’s tool up!
Online tools
MTG Cardsmith – (FREEware)
An online tool for creating your own custom MTG (Magic) or MTG like trading cards. This is just one of a couple MTG online tools out there. They all pretty much to the same thing so I didn’t list them all. This site requires you to register, as it saves your custom cards and decks and has a community based around it. It has a lot of customization related to the types and styles of existing MTG cards. A definite for the MTG fan or user of the MTG card format.
Card Maker – (FREEware)
The second of a few MTG card makers out there. This card maker is actually at it’s core a TCG/CCG creator, as it also offers Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh formats. This was the second online card maker I’d ever used and I loved it. The online tools may seem a bit restrictive in its formatting as it uses a fixed style format. You’re locked into the placement and sizing of common elements though. If that’s right up your design alley (or you’re just not picky), these group of tools get the job done.
Deckromancy Web – (FREEware)
Yes, you read correctly. Deckromany also provides on online card design tool so you can create and print your custom TCG cards without the cost. What’s the catch? They watermark all their cards with “Edited online at Deckromancy.com/web. The online creator is just as robust as the stand alone and it even provides users with pre-designed templates (SKIN files) to load up and modify. They even have a HearthStone card generator.
WOW Card Creator – (FREEware)
And speaking of HearthStone, looking to create a CCG/TCG with the World of Warcraft look? Or maybe you designed custom WOW decks that you’d like to play with friends. Welcome to the WOW card creator. All cards are fixed styles of existing types of cards and all you do is modify the Tribe, Class, Vitals, Rarity Text and costs. Plus add your own custom image for that authentic WOW card look and feel. Though it is freeware, the site does take donations and creators should register so they can save their cards and decks for later access and printing. The presentation is very stylized and professional, but keep in mind the creators of this card generator are not affiliated with Blizzard.
My Pokémon Card Creator – (FREEware)
Another tool in a long list of Pokémon card makers I had come across online. They all pretty much provide you with the same style of cards, assuming you’re creating your own pocket monsters for the existing popular game format. Or even if you just like their card setup. Great thing about this one, and what makes it standout in the sea of Poké-card generators, is that it also supports 5 languages; English, French, Spanish, Polish and Japanese. It watermarks every card with a “-fake card-” in the footer where artists’ credits would normally be found, taking responsibility for not supplying cheaters with faux cards. Also, the quality of the JPG raster image is degraded so that there is no way to fake a custom card that can be used in tournament play anyway.
Trading Card Creator – (FREEware)
Originally created as a online tool for students, this webware can still provide you with some essential elements for creating trading cards. The software is very nice and easy to use. I came across this tool sometime after working with 3 other online card generators. It’s clearly designed to be a flip card generator for educational purposes, but with some simple design creativity this could be used to create game cards and basic TCGs. It’s a stretch, but it does work.
There are a plethora of online tools to design and generate cards. So much so that it might be beneficial to give 2 or 3 of the aforementioned options a good run through. Based on what you prefer versus what works best may be a matter of trial and error. If web access is an issue and you’d like to keep your cards save locally, then a desktop program might be best. Just be ready to fork over some cash. Who knows. You may already be using a graphic program to generate artwork for use with these online tools. Almost all the online tools are free, but one catch is your stuff is saved in the clouds. Plus, you must consider print resolution and flexibility.
Find all the links to the whole series right here. And for any tools and services that you feel are worthy to mention, please let me know in the comments below.
- Part 1 – Desktop publishing
- Part 2 – Online tools
- Part 3 – Handcrafting
- Part 4 – Printing
Build your own TCG 1 – Desktop publishing
Since before the insatiable itch of trading card games (TCG) hit me, I have always wanted to design and play my own battle card game. Now card games have come a long way and have several classifications, like CCG (collectible card game) and LCG (living card game). After the introduction of Pokémon — which I was a casual collector of the cards but never actually played against anyone — I was hooked on the battle card concept. Now TCGs have evolved and come a long way.
Adventure and dungeon crawling games have been created, real-time fighting games, as well as live action card games have come to the forefront. As many card games have come and gone, I’ve started to notice the pattern. I was beginning to understand more about the core mechanics that make up a balanced card game. I was open to a lot more variety of card games. Mix in chance with strategy and offer a plethora of cards which allow for unimaginable combinations and you have a barn burner. It doesn’t hurt to have a popular animated series to tie in the culture and lessons. For a little history on Collectable Card Games pop on over to Wikipedia and get your dose or foundational fibre. It does a creative mind good.
Recently after a month of browsing the web for any kind of tool and resource for creating my own cards, I’ve compiled a short list of what I consider the best. I’ve done this hunt several times over the last several years and not much has changed in the landscape of producing your own stuff. More tools, more tutes, more resources, but the game’s still the same. I’ve used most, if not all of these in some degree and found my own comfort zone. What works best for me may not work for others, hence the list. Experiment with each one when you are ready to start creating your own TCG. You may find your creative comfort zone in a mix ‘n match of desktop, online and manual options. So, you still want to make a TCG? Well, let’s get to it!
Desktop publishing tools
Windows or Mac based programs that can help you create that custom card game you’ve been wanting to build.
Deckromancy – (FREE / Paid)
A great program that is both flexible and easy to use. Works on WIN and MAC OS as well as your iOS and Android devices. For the price of the software you get freedom to build and manage your custom decks. Setting up templates, customizing layouts and colours, and adding your own icons makes this one of the best I’ve used. It’s more than worth the price tag. It goes by a few other names online but they are all the same tool.
nanDECK – (FREEware)
Another good tool, nanDECK is very flexible, but that comes at a cost… coding. If you’re more of a visual learner and prefer to drag-n-drop, double click and type your way to a custom deck, then this program is not for you. It’s not to say it’s any harder than the others. Quite the contrary. It’s MAC OS, WIN and LINUX friendly, and from what I gather its primary focus is to build and manage decks based on scripts; referencing images, colours and text through lines of code. Systematically it generates a full deck of cards within mere seconds. nanDECK is great for prototyping (where you don’t require heavy graphic design) and want to generate a functioning deck that can be edited without the time consuming graphical edits. I used it, I love it for prototyping.
CCG Maker – (FREEware)
This tool was the second piece of software I ever tried when I first started my search for desktop card creators. It’s simple and to the point, very customizable, and allows you to save and print your cards. The saved cards can be re-edited if needed but the print resolution JPG is poor for high quality output. It’s primarily for online or digital presentation. You can create and save up to 10 of your own templates for manna symbols, set symbols or cards. The application has a feature which allows you to import or export different symbols. You can add, remove or position your own set symbols to this program.
Magic Set Editor – (FREEware)
This piece of software allows you to design your own cards for popular TCGs. MSE can then generate images of those cards so that you can print or upload them to the internet. One great thing about this tool that the others don’t have is the ability to export it to an HTML file so that you can import it to Apprentice or LackeyCCG and play with your own cards online against others.
Adobe CS/CC – (30 day trial / Paid )
Adobe suite tool provide tons of power for designers and developers. I’ve been using Photoshop since 5.5 so my design instinct is to draft on paper, then create digital version. With Photoshop you can build a single card, then build a sheets and edit them all in one shot. Set up a print document, set up your measurements and create your template. Then fill in the blanks. Adobe also offers programs like InDesign and Illustrator that give your more design and layout power, the former of which can automate text on your cards through data merge. All in all, if you’re looking to go right to the visual presentation out of the gate this is the tool for you.
GIMP / Inkscape – (FREEware)
An alternative to the paid Adobe CS tools is GIMP and Inkscape. Both are all-OS friendly, being open-source, and very well respected photo editing and vector tool respectively. For TCG creation they can do pretty much do everything you’d possibly need creatively. From templates to designs, typography and manipulation – your creativity is the limit. GIMP is a freeware program that boasts great tool sets which rival such applications like Photoshop and CorelDraw. Inkscape, with it’s flexible drawing tools, wide range of format compatibility and powerful text tools, make you are no lesser a force than any other designer with paid software. If you’re strapped for cash or just looking to dabble with full-featured editing/design tools, these are your answer.
Other digital tools – (FREE / Paid)
Depending on how technical or creative (or in some cases just bull headed) you are, you can really develop TCG cards with any program you can type and import artwork to. I’ve seen people using MS Word or OpenOffice Docs to design cards. Some really talented folks have created cards in PowerPoint, MS Paint/Paint.NET (both of which are free and default with Windows), Pages (which is a OEM program on Mac OSX), and many other no graphic design software. Snicker if you want, but a veteran MS Excel user could probably write a macro or two to automate a whole deck in a matter of hours, artwork and all.
The bottom line is if you have some type of digital software that you can draw, erase, type and import you have the tool(s) to create your very own card game or supporting cards for a board game.
Find all the links to the whole series right here. And for any tools and services that you feel are worthy to mention, please let me know in the comments below.
- Part 1 – Desktop publishing
- Part 2 – Online tools
- Part 3 – Handcrafting
- Part 4 – Printing
Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater
Is it your responsibility as a game designer to create a system where it is difficult to cheat?
This conversation has people flip flopping depending on which side they sympathize with, the player or the designer. But since this post is directed at designers there should be no defensive stance on this. I will say this loud and clear for all to hear;
“It is your duty to limit (eliminate) confusion, complication and misuse of your game and its mechanics.” — cK Leach
Bottom line. There will always be cheaters and liars and the more tightly sealed your game is the more apparent cheating will be.
Math = Power
Math is the answer. Whether it’s a mechanism or a player that checks and balances, mathematical deduction usually produces any back handed actions to be visible. I’ve found that if you as a designer found ways to exploit your own game, fix it. If not, play testers will exploit it for you. In that case, fix it! That is the point. If there is a hole and fixing it will break your mechanism(s), then you didn’t really work out all the wrinkles. It’s just sloppy game design. No game is really cheat-proof, don’t get me wrong, but making cheating visible is a lot easier than people think. Isolating scenarios that are too perfect is one way to do it, which often leads to pigeon-holing. Another way is to have there be exception. Exception in gaming, as well in our world’s set of rules, is how we’ve come to understand the limitation of said system and how it’s patched to water tight for the most part. I use the word exploit specifically because an exploit isn’t always a cheat. Though the two words seem to be synonymously they are not the same. One can exploit a hole in a game to better their outcome. This isn’t always cheating. Cheating seems to lean more towards breaking or bending the rules/confines of an given environment to better the outcome …. see what I did there. I know the argument and I hear you loud and clear. Look at it this way. If there is rule that allows for a player to take advantage of or access a certain criteria, and it’s within the confines of the games’ law, then by all means it’s not cheating. At least not to the designer. They designed the game that way, so that’s how it’s played. If it’s used over and over again or incites rage from other players because it ruins the balance of the game, then yes, I can see an exploit becoming more of a cheat or a cheap. That’s why my argument about using math to isolate said scenarios is so important.
For more ways on how to exploit games just search YouTube
For instance, any game where numbers are involved, there is always some variable that cannot be used to acquire a desired outcome. If that outcome is too frequent or non existent in theory and then shows up to be a game changer, cheating/exploiting is definitely a factor. I like to believe the more complex anything is the easier it is to have gaps. Now there are times when a perfect storm would arise, a moment when all the planets would align and even the developer with hundreds of thousands of hours play testing with thousands upon thousands of people may not have calculate. It could happen. I’m not saying that. But when the developer knows, and for the most part any serious player knows when a moment like that comes up it’s due to a miscount, a missed card, a missed action or a sly act, it’s flagged right away. Then it becomes a situation of back tracking to find out where the miscalculation was and who was to blame, intentional or not. Errors should be easy to track because at the end of the day it comes down to numbers and numbers can be easily controlled by math. Math is the answer.
Solving = Cheating
Is counting and “solving” games considered cheating? This, I suspect, is a sub-set to this conversation and personally I don’t think so. In a perfect-information game cheating doesn’t exist without it being blatantly apparent. It’s more so the responsibility of all players to be conscious of the game play and possibilities. Does the blame directly lie with the game designer? I don’t think so, nor should it. The act of cheating should be marginalized to the point it breaks the game. There a lot of solved games out there. And technically any game can be solved if you know all the variables regardless if they are visible at the time. Perfect play and all that jazz. It’s almost like both players are playing at the same time but they are not necessarily playing against each other. A lot of solitaire games with fixed starting points and simple movements can be solved via reverse engineering. I’ve played my share of puzzle games and it has always come back to order. How can you arrange pieces/number/men/cards in the order they need to be to get expected result. I may be rambling a bit but there is a science to design. Deduction, strategy, tactics, it’s all about calculating probability and maximizing that chance of an expected outcome. Or minimizing the risk of unknown factors. Math. Math is the answer.
At the end of the day we, as designers, have to do our best to lock down the possibility of cheating. And no matter how hard we try it’s a long, arduous battle to try and keep a game streamline and not have it susceptible to being solved or exploited. The more complicated the games gets the greater the chance of grey areas going unseen by both sides. These grey regions are where the mathematically inclined like to work their magic. Card games in general are notorious for cheaters and we all know someone who knows a way to beat cheat at a card game. The funny thing is, if those conditions are known then it’s easy to point out. I’d hate to have been in a game for 2hrs where someone’s been skimming the whole time and eventually edge me out just because of some exploit AFTER all the numbers are tallied. Math …. *shaking fist* Math is the answer.
Winning = Respect
To turn the tides from designers to players just for a moment. It’s obviously clear that no matter how hard one designs a game with iron clad rules and almost impossible loopholes, a designer cannot get around human nature and the almost innate need to best the system. Systems, like rules, are too regimented at times leaving those involved and invested restricted in their freedoms. And when it comes to the human factor in a game, that is something even the most rigid of game mechanics can’t ignore. I had recently read a post about how players are finding new ways to cheat in games. Similarly to how casinos have not tried to eliminate/limit the dealer (human factor) as much as possible there is still the factor of the player. There have been card sharps (card sharks) since poker and other card games have been invented. Unless the game has changed or the rules have changed, little will help card sharps or mathematicians from besting others by playing the best hand, or making the best play, or using the best route to success. Even if it means a little underhandedness.
You’d think that if a human went up against a computer in any game the human would lose. This is not always the case. We’ve seen humans beat computers in all types of board and card game challenges. This has only proven how masterful the human mind works and how it can deduce probable outcomes from the information it’s provided. The computer, though many, many times faster does the exact same thing. So now you have people playing people online and using another tab or their phone to calculate moves based on the current game’s information. As you will read in the article I’ve linked above it even happens at Master Level events. Local tournaments are one thing, but at an international level people are still trying to finagle a way to best their opponent. It’s not like they’ve solved the game. It’s more like they’ve pulled a thread in the tightly woven rules and weaseled their way through. All for fame and riches? All for accolades and a place in history? Scary. Even among the local friendlies, players still use sly tactics to get the upper hand their opponents. And it’s all just bragging rights. Doesn’t make sense, right? Well, to humans it does and that’s why mathematicians have found ways to help combat this strain of short-handed success by creating programs that recognize patterns. Matching player patters to that of a computer program has helped tournaments keep a close eye on not just the winners, but how the winners are winning. Because it’s all numbers there is a finite amount of options any player has at any one time. And if the quickest way to success is evident by a machine and can be matched up to a human player, it may be more than just coincidence or skill that has this player walking through to the finals. And in the end it’s all math. Math is the answer.
So developers, fix your games and players, stop your shit. The lesson of the day is don’t cheat because it ruins it for everyone, including math.
The fusion of two minds – Game evolution
The evolution of mind — Funny, when you’re designing a game (or anything really) and you get stuck, your mind happens to spawn new ideas from the road block. There have been several times where I’ve found myself at a fork in the road, having to pick one direction and sticking it out to the end. The benefit; explore an opportunity to it’s fullest, pouring in all brain power to bring it to fruition. The catch; seeing it fall short of some due to unforeseen complications. Results; more work, more time, more refined way of identifying success.
Roadblocks breed evolution
Case in point, I’ve been working on Axia on and off for some time now. I’d had a couple ideas that really worked for mechanics but the player engagement was poor, therefore the experience was weak. When I change the Axia game board from the Double Diamond to the circular (orbit style) format, I felt that was the breakthrough I’ve been waiting for, the one thing that was needed better this game’s experience. I liked where this new evolution was going and how the movement on the board helped players to strategically choose who moves when and where. Now, I’ve let the game sit for such a long time and never really got back to it because I felt that it should have more for some reason. Something else was missing and I wasn’t comfortable with where it was. By no means was it bad, but it wasn’t exciting either.
That little something extra
Tonight I was flipping through some old notes for a trading card game I was designing called Spin Driver. Reading through my hand drawn drafts and notes, all the ideas I had and the plans for the game somehow fired up the creative engine in my head. I put Spin Driver back on the shelf to pick up another design idea and read through that. Then another, and yet another. After about 5 or 6 game drafts I came across my King of the Hill (KotH) game. This game was meant to be a classic style game where two players use 4 discs to circle around a board and make it to the center, the winner being the first to have all 4 of their discs on the hill.
I was upstairs packing some stuff and found my old Axia board laying on the bookshelf under a bunch of other docs and folders. I thought to myself “Hey self! This circular board idea would work for KotH” seeing as I was trying to design something with concentric movements. The board design lends itself to a myriad of specific gaming mechanics. Why reinvent the wheel. I took the board and added a few more spaces to it, keeping most of the original movement rules and mechanisms that were created for Axia. I broke out some backgammon pieces and stacked them on the board. Thus began the evolution.
Using the basic roll-n-move mechanic, I had a functioning game designed in under 2 hours. I played 2 full games and after 5 test rounds of weeding out the functions, to my delight, it worked. The ideas I had for Axia, the foundation for movement and capture mechanic, confirmed to be ideal for KotH. Now, what do I do with the Axia game you ask? KotH may very well be the final evolution of Axia. The destination I could not picture, and somehow in another skin was able to materialize. There are few other little ideas I have now that I’m at this new level of design, but for the most part it’s a working game. I couldn’t be more excited.
The board’s mechanics are specific to the KotH and weren’t really conducive to the original Axia concept (seeing as the mechanics were built for the double-diamond board) as the game was created with that in mind. In a weird way I had to build another game to prove that the original Axia concept didn’t fit… or at least, I couldn’t get it to fit. I think I know now where I got stuck with the double diamond, so with this orbit style board, the Axia name may live on.
Throw it to the ground
Yes! You literally collect them then throw them, but not in the bin. Welcome the world of Menko, the game where players collect card with art printed on them. Prints range from anime and manga characters, comic book heroes, baseball players, samurais and ninjas, and just about anything worth collecting. The cards themselves are a thick stock, usually in the 40-50 pt range and come in 2 popular shapes, rectangle or circle. The premise of the game is to throw down a card, trying to flip the other player’s card with a gust of wind or by striking his card against the other card. If you succeeds, you takes both cards. The player who takes all the cards, or the one with the most cards at the game’s end, wins the game. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Anyone who grew up with Pokémon and Crazybones should also be familiar with the other collector fad know as POGs. Though menko existed centuries before this 90s fad, POGs have been around for some time. According to facts the game originated in Hawaii sometime in the ’20-’30s and were originally the cardboard inserts in the cap of a POG drink — POG standing for the drink’s ingredients of passion fruit, orange and guava.
The variety of menko out there in the world is unfathomable. Just like CCGs of anything really, millions upon millions of them were printed and that’s just the licensed vendors. Anything popular usually gets a a few noted knockoffs and if you were a collector, there were always the inferior quality, not as sharply printed versions floating around. Heck! I remember buying sheets and sheets of bootleg POGs from the convenience story and flea market where I lived. I have a good collection of Officially licensed World POG Federation POGs, but all the cool slammers and reflective/hologram pogs came from the terribly produced knockoffs. Even the knockoffs followed a code of production, designing lines of characters that were popular among the lesser brands printing them. But more about menko.
In Japan, menko cards we popularized by the times. During the 17th and 18th century, menko sets were designed around samurai and ninja. Before WWII fighter planes and military were popular, in the ’80s and ’90s baseball players, eventually making it’s way to manga and anime being the favoured print style. Going through images of old menko cards that predate my birth really fills me happiness. Happiness in the way of art and characters from my anime and manga, and the fact that such a rudimentary mechanic played pivotal to many generations of gamers and collectors. I collected CCGs but never really played them competitively. Same goes for POGs but I’ve never owned any official or bootleg menko. I think now is the time to get my hands on a piece of history and relive (regardless how brief) the simple joys of smashing chipboard cards onto each other, risking both loss and damage of my beloved Astro Boy or Sailor Moon menko. If you’d like to see how menko is played in Japan, give this short video a watch. It’s entertainment at it’s most basic level, but you know what? It’s still a bloody challenge.
[youtube id_video=”ePMY_Lxc6hU” autoplay=”false” ]
Well, if I end up buying bootlegs – as we all know they are out there – then I guess it’s not that big of a deal. The internet is littered with them, plus who’s stopping me from printing my own. Hm… Yeah. My own!
I can’t escape responsibilities?
Yeah! 🙁
It’s been a rough couple of months for me and it’s all coming to a head. I’m moving! That’s the big news. My family’s been preparing for this day since we got back from March break and it’s coming up fast. In two weeks we’ll be listing our house and in about 30-60 days we’ll be in a new one. I’m currently burning the midnight oil getting the house show worthy for next week and there’s been a lot of mini reno and tidy tasks that have kept me busy for weeks on end.
So what about the game designs, you say. Well, that too had to take a back seat to the everyday. I’m currently backing up my project harddrive and I’ve also been involved in casually working on a vlog. It’s for a channel I created on YouTube called AutoRoboto. There, you will find a variety of auto related videos; daily commute vlog, gaming, sketch segments and other randomly generated content. It’s a way for me to keep compiling content and keep creative while being on the road.
Yes I’m still Thinkering & Tinkering with ideas for games almost every other night. My AquaNotes note pad in the shower is filled with fun ideas that need a proper think through to validate whether or not I should roll it onto the development shelves. Those shelves, by the way, are pretty packed as it is so new ideas have be logged to a waiting list – no matter how simple or light they may be everyone knows if it’s worth heavy thinkering then it’s worth heavy tinkering. And tinker-time is almost non existent at the moment.
This has just been a friendly note to those who find the little time in the day to ready my site and enjoy the little things that this hobby game designer does. As always, there is more to come.
Want free games?
Well, it’s a lot easier than one thinks. The trick to acquiring anything in life is knowledge. You don’t need to have a large budget to procure a variety of fun and exciting games. I would even recommend buying used games online if you’re a casual gamer and want to try a variety of styles, but we’re talking free here people. FREE! A lot of game designers provide Print & Play games as a way to get the public to test games without the heavy manufacturing costs. It’s also a great way to generate feedback on game ideas you are working on. So without further ado, here are a few resources I found that provide Print & Play downloads for free.
Canonical list of Free Print & Play Games