Creating a card game isn’t easy. It’s been over 2 years since I started creating my game. Sometimes I would work on it constantly designing and playtesting. Other times, I let life takeover and took a break (sometimes for months). At this point, I feel like I am “mostly” done.

So where is my game now?

My game has changed considerably from what it started from. What turned out to be simple pick up and play action changed dramatically. In order to “fish” for cards you roll two dice and each face has the corresponding fish you can take. However, you only win these fish if you don’t end up busting on your roll. If you do bust, you return them back to the “sea”.  Once you have your fish collected and/or cards. You can decide to play any action card or play the market by exchanging fish for the combination cards laid out. Each combination card has a group of different sized fish you need and the corresponding coin reward. The “take that” action cards can either enhance your chances for winning or wreck things for other players. The first person to win 10 coins is declared the winner.

What have I learned so far?

I find the process of designing a very finicky venture.  I find ideas to slip in and out quickly and often morph into other directions. I think its important to recognize and pin down what you think is a solid idea while you have it and work on that as a framework to build from. Also, patience and singular drive is needed to stick to a project for the long haul.

Where do ideas come from?

I think idea creation is very much like daydreaming. A lot of is like clouds floating in the ether of your subconscious. I didn’t know I had a game until the market idea came into fruition. I was resting one day tired of brainstorming to no avail when I was struck by the idea of a market mechanic where you can exchange fish for coins and inversely exchange coins for fish. This give and trade mechanic is the cornerstone of Something Fishy.

Since then, I ended up tweaking by adding action cards and the dice mechanic to make the play more dynamic and interesting.

Am I still thinking of making changes?

Yes, but I am not sure if I will change much at all at this point.

I had hired an illustrator friend and he has started working on my art. And so now I’m in a gear shift of focusing on illustration.