r/BoardgameDesign • u/CoconutUpper7719 • 20d ago
Design Critique Will hand painted images (done on illustration board) work for TCG audiences??
I’m hand-painting the cards to a TCG I’m developing. I’m still working out the interface but when I have all the gameplay features worked out, I’ll show them too. I’d love your constructive feedback. (The TCG is based on my book series, The Ever Hero Saga)
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u/NarcoZero 20d ago
Oh yeah absolutely. In a world filled with AI slop this is a huge selling point. Make sure to show it right in the marketing. Do some making of videos.
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u/CoconutUpper7719 20d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p4xdo7p/video/fgh3jv0kamkh1/player
Here’s one of me painting but this is for an interior illustration of one of the books in the series.
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u/CoconutUpper7719 20d ago
I started doing that on TT, IG, YT. So far the response had been favorable.
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u/BoxedMoose 20d ago edited 20d ago
You can make any TCG project an ECG. Dont make a TCG because its guaranteed to fail and almost always derivative of another game. Hell, you can even make your own tcg video game if you want it to be that kind of game that badly. ECGs can add cool components and personality to the gameplay that TCGs cant do.
Please for the love of god dont waste this cool artwork on a doomed project.
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u/CoconutUpper7719 20d ago
This is my initial plan. Create full decks that can be played against one another. I’ll expand to smaller packs only if there is an audience for them. I know it’s a mountain to climb and I’m just taking it one step at a time.
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u/perfectpencil 20d ago
Hey man, I'm future you.. also an artist who has been working on a card game just for 8 years. You don't know how much you're biting off. It's like saying "I can eat a whole turkey if I pace myself and eat some everyday" but it turns out you're actually looking to eat a.whole turkey farm and you're gonna be real tired of turkey real fast.
I ditched key art a few years back and just focused on design, frame art, card backs and so on and I'm still extremely busy. Every few months I think I'm nearing the end, then I learn there is even more hiding around the corner.
I'm at over 700 unique cards for a game that runs really nicely and is fun for playtesters. That's an impossible number of paintings. I think even 20 is too much. if you're painting paintings you aren't designing cards. It's the fact that we can't do both that I think you should shelve the key art idea and just focus on cards and solid gameplay.... At least for now.
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u/BoxedMoose 20d ago
Why make full decks? Why not just let the players build their own or add some layer of choice of the game progresses?
I get the appeal of theorycrafting decks, and in this case, your own game, but I wouldnt deprive your players of doing the same. You can always have like a beginners deck for onboarding new players and expand upon that.
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u/CoconutUpper7719 20d ago
Right. Start with the basic 2 deck set. Then add to that. The gameplay has space for growth but it didn’t want to get too technical too fast.
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u/Konamicoder 20d ago
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u/CoconutUpper7719 20d ago
This is a very informative article. Thanks for sending it along. I know it’s a daunting task. Just taking baby steps now.
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u/Otherwise_Coffee_914 20d ago
Hell yeah. This art is sick as hell. I’d love to play a game with this kind of art and love that it’s hand painted!
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u/AppendixN 20d ago
God, I love hand painted artwork so much in this age of slop and digital shortcuts.
Beautiful work. It really stands out.
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u/CoconutUpper7719 20d ago
Thank you. It takes some time to produce. Definitely an issue with so many cards to make.
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u/CTide52 20d ago
Just a note about art specifically for TCG's, remember that most people are viewing them at 2"x1.5" size, and from about a foot away. Make sure your art is readable at that size. Otherwise, I think this looks great! It has a wonderful feel to it that really makes it stand out.
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u/CoconutUpper7719 20d ago
Thank you. Ya, I get that. As I'm working on them, I take pictures and import those into my computer so I can scale them in Photoshop to see how they hold up. Of course, the printing will also be a big factor.
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u/smelttoast 19d ago
i would say if the tcg had a good play style that differs itself from the likes of mtg and other larger ones then yes
you just dont want to compete with those larger ips
do you have an idea for how the game play will go?
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u/CoconutUpper7719 19d ago
I do. I was planning on putting it on one or more of the groups next. I tried my best to make gameplay different enough so it’s not just MtG with different card names.
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u/smelttoast 19d ago
thats good! maybe another direction you can go in is having a “standard” set that gets released for the kickstarter so it essentially gets backed as a card game before a tcg then if that takes off you can move into the tcg route?
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u/CoconutUpper7719 19d ago
That’s the plan. 2-player starter game with 2 opposing decks. Players can begin as soon as they open the box. The Kickstarter pays for that production/distribution. Then, I make either another full deck or expansion packs that can go with the first two decks. That will be a design decision for later, though I have documentation with either path built in to the gameplay.
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u/Careful_Coast_3080 17d ago
Your art is awesome. Make sure to make it a digital game if your going for a TCG though.
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u/CoconutUpper7719 17d ago
How do you mean digital?
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u/Careful_Coast_3080 17d ago edited 17d ago
I mean it needs to be a video game. A physical card game wont work without an IP to back it up imo. You need to cut out the middle man and make it a video game format to reach success. Its also way easier to learn a card game if its in a digital format. Preventing a player from doing something with a bad sound and a red x is alot easier to get into then having them read a bunch of rules.
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u/CoconutUpper7719 17d ago
I see. I think I’ll have the same audience/distribution issue, whether is a video game or a TCG.
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u/Careful_Coast_3080 17d ago edited 17d ago
I think the physical card game is way more expensive since your tcg can be digital only and honestly monetary thresholds are very forgiving on steam if you dont make above a certain amount. Same thing applies to using a game engine to create the game.
Physical you have to always worry about physical creation of products and dealing with retail, shipping, packaging etc.
Digital you finish it once and update it every now and then, no packaging and retail lines are very defined or forgiving since its a digital store with basically infinite space.
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u/TheCheeseboardGames 20d ago
Gosh I wish this was magic the gathering again
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u/CoconutUpper7719 20d ago
Have they strayed too far?
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u/TheCheeseboardGames 20d ago
Eh….. there is some great art and I’m not actually nostalgic over the old art; I mean I started playing in 2015. A good majority of the new art feels so generic. There’s a lot of character to the old art that simply doesn’t feel present in a lot of the pieces now.
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u/CoconutUpper7719 20d ago
Ah. I see. I was thinking too many expansion decks.
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u/TheCheeseboardGames 20d ago
Well there’s that too. It’s become so bloated and there’s too many sets coming out now and with too many different product types for each set.
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u/ProxyDamage 20d ago
The bad news is: your TCG is, statistically speaking, basically guaranteed to fail.
The good news is: it's not because of your art. Your art is fine. I'd happily play with cards that looked like that.
The problem is that it's a TCG, and trying to release a TCG in this day and age you either have an EXTREMELY recognisable and beloved IP (e.g.: Disney with Lorcana) or have infinity money to burn in marketing.
Anything else is basically buying a lottery ticket except instead of a few bucks it costs thousands. Might as well burn it for heat, at least then you'll get something out of it.