Hi everyone, Ding here.
TCG Card Shop Simulator was made because I was bored out of my mind after burning out from solo mobile game development back in 2023. I felt aimless and wasn't sure what to do with my life.
I'm not sure if I hit some kind of boredom limit, but one day I thought to myself, "Let's see if I can publish a PC game on Steam and make some cool Steam Trading Cards, always wanted to try it. And it would be nice if I can open an infinite amount of TCG card packs in the game, real ones are so expensive!". And what's more fitting than the TCG tycoon game I already had on mobile? I just needed to make it work for the PC platform.
From then on, I was a madman. I worked on it everyday and spent at least 90 hours every week for 6 months. And on 15 September 2024, I managed to launch TCG Card Shop Simulator on Steam Early Access, a month earlier than what I've planned. I had no big expectations or plans for it other than making the Steam Trading Cards work, but I would have been really happy if it sold 100,000 copies in a year (it somehow sold that amount in just 3 days!)
The roadmap was something for me to aim for after the Early Access launch, so I wouldn't suddenly stop without any direction. I had no idea if I can actually finish everything because I didn't have a clear plan for how the features actually work. That's why I didn't put specific dates on it or promise that I would definitely make everything happen.
Halfway through development, things got difficult and I had no idea how to implement many of the features, such as card grading and the playable TCG. I often thought about giving up and stopping development. After all, I can walk away any time. But I told myself to take it slow and take it one step at a time to not overwhelm myself. In the end, almost two years later, I actually completed most of the roadmap and I still cannot believe TCG Card Shop Simulator is actually going 1.0 on Steam and launching on all console platforms!
And here, I would like to thank everyone who made 1.0 possible:
Thank you General Arcade for porting TCG Card Shop Simulator to all the console platforms!
Thank you Goldpact Goblins for the marketing, business support and community management!
Thank you Big Thursday Creative for creating those awesome launch trailers!
Thank you Bad Moon Art Studio, GiganticBrush, Hide and Seeds, ThunderRoar Studio, and Kudaman for the amazing Ascension card artworks!
Thank you to the Community Art Contest participants with your awesome artwork! (Added all as posters in game, everyone is a winner)
Thank you to my wife for being there for me everyday, your love and support is what helped me through many difficult times in life!
And finally, a big THANK YOU to every player who played TCG Card Shop Simulator. Your support made this entire journey possible!
Completed roadmap from Early Access to 1.0:
From 77 > 111 items to unlock and sell
From 21 > 43 furniture types
From 2714 > 4436 cards to collect
273 decoration options
55 community fan art posters
Can sell old shelf
Customer review app
Customer trade cards
More shop product types
More shelf & table types
More shop space expansions
Shop decoration
Grading card
Scanner order
Workers improvement
Organize tournament
New card expansion
Playable TCG
Many QOL updates, bug fixes, collaborations
Playable TCG
The biggest feature is finally here! Tetramon TCG is a quick 3-5 minutes match that you can play with any lone customer that is waiting at the play table, while the shop continues to operate. To join the game, approach the play table with a waiting customer and press RMB or gamepad right face button.
TCG Rulebook
You can read the full rulebook at the Workbench to learn how to play the TCG. Note that Workbench is unlocked at shop level 7 so you might not be able to access this and the playable TCG at the beginning.
Create Your Deck
Deck can be created or modified at the Workbench as well. Create your 50 cards deck and prepare for battle! Select your deckbox and playmat based on the license you have unlocked. You can easily share your deck by copying it and sending the output list to your friend. And if you're really rich, maybe you can try blinging out your entire deck with full art foils 🤩
Join Your Own Tournament
With the addition of playable TCG, you can now join the tournament you hosted! Based on your ranking at the end of the tournament, you can keep the prizes for yourself if you win :)
Community Art Contest
I decided to add all the artworks created by Discord members during the contest period because they all look great! Thank you so much for participating and for your love and support for TCG Simulator/Tetramons. It means the world to me!
New Ascension Cards
Ascension card packs are added and that comes with a total of 1452 new cards to collect! It will feature new artwork with fully illustrated Tetramons and background. Again, a big shout out to all the art studios and artists involved! It's a massive project that took more than 6 months to complete, but it's well worth it to see these lovely card illustrations come to life!
1.0 Changelist
Added all Community Art Contest artworks in game as posters (55 total)
Added playable TCG, you can now play against customer when they are waiting at the play table
Added Playable TCG Rulebook in game, view it at the Workbench
Added function to edit deck at the Workbench
Added gift pack from customers when player plays the TCG
Added Ascension card pack and total of 1452 new cards
Added function for you to join the tournament and play against the tournament customers
Added 5 new Steam achievements
Fix bug - save load issue of tournament customer data which causes naked customer
Fix bug - save load issue of tournament customer going missing
Fix bug - worker skill level lost if fired and then save game
Fix bug - when holding certain items, it is too close to camera
Fix bug - some areas of wall/ceiling texture are not seamless
Fix bug - customer stuck in shop lot B that is not yet unlocked
Adjusted deco wall, floor, ceiling material color
Adjusted Tetramon card stats
Updated Tetramon stat icons
Updated Tetramon "Play Effect" text
Updated localization text
New BGM for TCG battle
Optimized models and textures for improved performance
Reduced overall memory usage
Version 1.0 is a major milestone, but it is not the end of development. I will continue to support the game with future updates, bug fixes, and new content. Thank you for being part of this journey from Early Access to 1.0. I hope you will continue to enjoy running your card shop, collecting cards, and playing the Tetramon Card Game. More to come!
P.S. These cards look amazing IRL! I couldn't resist printing them out and putting them in an album 😆
Build 1.01 - Bug Fixes
Added RMB to skip entire graded card opening sequence
At the end of graded card opening, you will now hold all the graded cards
Fix bug - gamepad selection UI still showing after TCG match is done
Fix bug - tournament match for player haven't start but unable to join
Turn on tooltip by default at game start