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Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 14: Codex (Patreon)

Published:
2016-02-09 21:46:12
Imported:
2026-06

Content

http://www.sirlin.net/posts/sirlin-on-game-design-ep-14-codex

This covers some reasons why Codex is designed the way it is and what advantages that has. I also discuss some of the history of the design, and how it got to be where it is today.


Thank you to all patrons for your support!

Comments

sirlin

The problem you're talking about there is a clash of cultures I think. Like imagine I told you I had a new fighting game, and it was filled with 7-3 and 8-2 matchups. Not like a few, but tons of them. Then I told you how GREAT that is because it allows you to really metagame. That would be totally ridiculous. Of course you should want to start the round on as even footing as possible, not as UNFAIR as possible. But somehow in the card game world this is usually spun as DESIRABLE to have a bunch of unfair matchups, because it adds "metagame". In other words, it subtracts importance from gameplay and helps the game be more and more decided before you sit down to the table. I think the reason this has become the culturally accepted thing in card games is that there just hasn't been another way. Having tons of wildly unfair matchups that are unfixable is the consequence of full customizability. So it's not really in anyone's head there there is even something to be done about it. But now that something has been done about it, I wonder if more people will think the non-card-way and say "Hmm, maybe this is a real problem that isn't fixed by simply calling the problem 'metagame'? Maybe we should want a system that creates way more close matchups for all decks?"

Anonymous

I was watching Brian Kibler's opinions about the new Standard format in Hearthstone earlier. They were pretty good opinions! But on some tangent he mentioned that a lot of the reason he likes to play card games like Magic is so that he can do his research ahead of time and outplay all of his opponents before they even see him lol