10/10 no notes

Super Intelligence got me actin' like a villain over heuh

Late night thought but what if I made a free online client for playing Duel Master? I've tried getting my hands on a way to play the game, but it seems out of reach for an English speaking audience.

Wow, Mina the Hollower shows you how good it is and never lets up. From the intro cinematic and smooth transitions into the game, to figuring out your weapon and killing the boss, they really made a 2D Legend of Zelda mixed with Dark Souls.

New Shiny Copper post looking at one of my favorite common damage spells, Riddle of Lightning! bricksandcantrips.com/2026/05/23/a...

Leveling up as a game designer every day. Bought a new printer! And now to put my new printer to use, I needed a framework to support all the prototypes I'm going to make! bricksandcantrips.com/2026/05/16/s...

Checking out the Pokemon Center website and found this cool product from a few years ago. Anyone get their hands on it? Worth it, or overhyped? Seems cool, but at $400 USD seems pricy too. www.pokemoncenter.com/product/290-...

hell yeah dude

Got a new printer! Should be easier to make prototypes for games at home now. Printed my fiancée a coloring page book too. A museum has pages from artworks! www.artic.edu/visit-us-vir...

Sometimes you gotta kill your darlings

Turns out I love this lil guy

Looking around for card games I haven't played before. I had heard stories of Keyforge but assumed it had run its course. Lo and behold, it's still going strong! And has an intro product with a mix of classic cards. Anyone have any experience playing? keyforging.com/products/key...

This is the best card I've seen in my life. Credit to d20eater on /r/HellsCube www.reddit.com/r/HellsCube/...

Went to a game design workshop and got the advice to "shut up and playtest." So that's what I did! Here are the notes from my latest playtest of my light strategy game, Monster Kitchen. bricksandcantrips.com/2026/05/02/s...

What if you took the Pokemon model (Red/Blue/Yellow) and had variants of your game sold? Inspired a bit by the Mood Swings released by Mark Rosewater / WotC but instead of rarity and randomness, you can sell three defined varieties of your game.

Trading in Trading Card Games lets people organize, meet up, and make a community in a game that has stakes for the players. It can also edge out people who can't participate economically and invites scalpers. Wonder how we can make games that people are invested in without a literal investment.

Playtest of Monster Kitchen today went well. Ideas for different gameplay mechanics running through my head, but design so far for this game has started small, then adding in details in between the lines. Think that's a good sign!

One of my favorite group of common cards.

Lots of thoughts on the Mood Swings announcement and still processing. What I can say is that if you think Mood Swings looks interesting as a light card game, I would recommend any of the following games: - Love Letter - Brightcast - Side Effects - Skull - Jaipur

As a gamer who moved into game design, I always thought Mechanics came first. Gotta admit that the more I design and the more I put my designs in front of people, I believe that Theme comes first. Not to say the Mechanics aren’t important, but they should serve the overall game experience.

A thought in the back of my mind is that the Trading of TCGs is a large part of community and organized play, but can have a lot of downsides. What other models could we use to have a game you’re invested in and can play at your LGS without gambling elements?

Worth noting the card design and layout in TCGs coming out of Japan. - Full Art - Info in Top Left and Top Right - Badges/Tags for Ability Triggers - Title and Type on Bottom of Card On their own, the design might seem unique, but when you put cards next to each other, a broader trend emerges.

Anyone going to MagicCon and able to share MaRo’s new game? 👀 www.tumblr.com/markrosewate...

This card slaps. Anti Typal tech piece that's flexible enough to go against any deck, but then falls apart if you are against a multi type deck.

Hell yeah dude

Just had the most epic game of SOS Draft. Up against #46. Blowing all my creatures out of the water. Suddenly -- Wisdom of Ages. *Gulp* My opponent now has 10+ removal spells in hand. What can I do? I pass go. They pass go. Hm. Before I know it, they've drawn their last card. What a game!

Magic: The Gathering Arena team unionizes at Wizards of the Coast aftermath.site/magic-the-gath...

Wrapping up the week with a What I'm Playing List - Magic Secrets of Strixhaven Draft Tons of spellslinging is just what I like. - Brightcast Lots of strategy in a small box. - My Card Is Better Than Your Card! A nostalgic deckbuilder roguelike where you craft each card.

There's no rule that says you can't post pictures of cats on the internet.

Don't think this is mentioned in all the Magic the Gathering changes but gotta say I wish 5 draft archetypes wasn't the new norm. Seems okay for a format every once in a while, but with four of the five draft sets being 5 archetypes over 10 (SPM, ECL, TMT, SOS), it's starting to wear thin.

Here's a little gift for ya -- feel free to save it for later when someone's being rude.

Have you ever played a game and noticed an overpowered strategy? It probably stunk to be on the receiving end. Today, I'm giving you tools to make sure that your players don't feel the same way about the games that you make! bricksandcantrips.com/2026/04/25/a...

Getting my copy of The Rules We Break by Eric Zimmerman today! Had the opportunity to attend a workshop with the author earlier this week. We all went through exercises in balancing game systems from the book. Everyone was excited and passionate and finding different solutions.

Ultra Rare Resume Drop

Turns out "shut up and playtest" really is the best advice you can give any game designer.

Last night, went to a great game design workshop around balancing. One takeaway was having a ”pivot point“ that stays constant so you can balance other cards around that card. It reminded me of this post by @improphilo.bsky.social about Goblin Piker. www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2020/12/desi...

On face, Tome Blast seems underwhelming. It’s an overpriced Shock with an even more expensive Flashback. Turns out two expensive Shocks on one card is pretty good if you can afford it! Used this to generate a lot of card advantage in SOS limited. Or even close out the game by going face.

For my first Sorcery constructed deck, thinking about going Necromancer Undead kindred and do the Undead things

In the YuGiOh universe, a train is as powerful as Blue Eyes White Dragon.

First Sorcery TCG draft tonight! Will be playing Gothic limited. Think I might go for a more mid range game. Also want to pick up this lil fella

This would be an example of ludonarrative harmony. It makes sense that a rising air current would make wind monsters more powerfil.

"Ludonarrative harmony" is a phrase meaning that the story of a game matches the mechanics. In comparison, "ludonarrative dissonance" means that the story of a game clashes with the mechanics. Machina Sniper is a classic example of ludonarrative dissonance. Why is a sniper acting like a tank?

Gem Blenders TCG may be the frontrunner for "Cards I Stick In My Phonecase For The Aesthetic"

I've been having a blast playing Sorcery: Contested Realm. With a few tweaks to Magic the Gathering, they're able to open up some awesome design space that makes for new gameplay. bricksandcantrips.com/2026/04/18/s...

Holy moly, it’s Friday!

It would be cool to have a way to play Duel Masters here in the US. I think I had a copy of Bolshack Dragon back in the day. Would be fun to see how it's held up.

One thing I love about cards is that they are a vehicle to deliver art. Another thing I love is fireballs. Avatar of Fire provides both art and fireballs. Good card.

Random thought but why haven’t more established card games like Magic, Flesh and Blood, etc, tried to develop single player roguelike games with their systems? Hearthstone has plenty of solo adventures, and I still play their roguelike Kobold and Catacombs.

Perfect card, no notes

Not knocking the Cyberpunk TCG til I try it. But something about an $8k tier, and an average purchase price of $640 per customer for a game that no one has played, rubs me the wrong way.