Hi there!
We are excited to start a series of posts about deck-building in Deck of Ashes! So let's dive right in!
First, let's get the basics out of the way.
What is your Battle Deck? Why build a deck at all?
You fight monsters by playing cards. At the very beginning of the game, you have a starting Battle Deck, consisting of basic cards. It’s weak and unlikely to get you far. You can strengthen the deck by adding powerful cards to it. And that's where the deck-building part comes to light!
When talking about building a deck, probably the first question that pops into one's mind is 'How do we get cards to build a deck from?' And that's exactly the topic of today's discussion.
How do you get cards in Deck of Ashes?
Well, the short and vague answer would be 'You don't get cards at all'. (Wait, what?!)
'Well, it's not the cards you get. You get recipes for cards.' (Wait-wait-wait, it doesn't clarify the matter at all!)
Okay, okay. A card recipe is a consumable item required to craft a single copy of a card. So, you want to add a card that you like to your deck. You have found its recipe and have the necessary resources - you are all set, craft the card and add it to your deck!
Why go with recipes? Why not simply give a card?
We tried many things (and will continue in Early Access) to get the deck-building mechanic just right in Deck of Ashes. And the main design principle we get across was 'You are the Master of your Deck'.
Our objective here was:
- to reward people for smart deck-building
- to give people time to test and refine their deck
- to give people a reliable way to remove cards from the deck that didn't work for them
- to give people great options when they add cards to their deck
- to enable people to set their own goals and hunt for the cards they want for their deck
The recipes served us really well in achieving the objectives above. They give you the power to pursue and build just the deck you want!
In most other deck-building games, sometimes you get a particular card as an option to add to your deck, and you love the card, but your deck doesn't have cards that work with this card at all. So you have two options, both unfun in their own way.
Option 1: you are adding the dead card to your deck hoping to get the cards that work with it later. But if you don't, it remains the dead card and hurts you every time you draw it in battle.
Option 2: you pick something else and just wait for the stars to align next time. It's a bummer that you were forced to do something opposite of what you really wanted.
That's one of the reasons we offer you recipes instead of cards. Just take the recipe of the desired card and hunt for recipes other cards that work with it.
Recipes are also great for another huge reason. They give you options. Say, you have resources to craft only a single card. And you want to make sure it's the best card available. And you've got 5 recipes to choose from! Assess every possibility and make a choice. Making choices is fun, and we felt like the recipes are a great fit for the game for this reason.
Next time we'll talk about how to get the recipes, and the card hunt!
TL;DR
In Deck of Ashes, you don't get cards. You get recipes that allow you to craft specific cards and grant great flexibility in how to build your deck.
Cheers!