Practical Game Design

Iteration – step 6

With the problems of the first play in mind, the iterative process of improving the prototype started: we tweaked the numbers, added a combo system, and switched some of the cards (for example, we removed all the healing cards from a hero that was supposed to be more focused on attacking).

By continuing to play the prototype, two other flaws emerged. Some battles were dragging on for too long in a sort of stall, so we added a damage crescendo after a certain number of turns passed. We also found that the combo was hard to line up and a bit unsatisfactory, so we decided on an extreme solution: lining up a combo means instant-killing the target hero. This little change spiced up the entire combat a lot, giving a great reward ...