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I'm sketching out the basics of a fighting card game. All comments and critiques are welcome.

Preamble

The intent of this game is to mimic traditional fighting games as closely as possible, while also being fun and engaging.

Winning the Game

Each player begins the game with 100 HP (The maximum you can have). The goal of the game is to reduce your opponent's HP to 0 or below.

Setup

This game is played between two players, with prebuilt decks of 50 cards each. The movement area, called the "stage", consists of 5 "spaces", arranged in a horizontal line between the players. The players place their "character pawn" on the second space from their left-most side (so the pawns are two spaces apart), then shuffle their decks and draw 5 cards.

The players should also determine who goes first. If either player's deck runs out of cards and they try to draw a card, then they shuffle their discard pile into their deck first.

Gameplay

Players may take up to three actions on their turn, before passing to the other player. These actions may consist of any of the following:

  • Playing a card from their hand
  • Discarding a card and drawing a card
  • Stepping one space towards the opponent's character pawn
  • Stepping one space away from the opponent's character pawn

Players end their turn by drawing up to, or discarding down until they have 5 cards in hand.

Health Brackets

Each player's HP is separated into three ranges called "brackets":

  • First: 100 -> 41
  • Second: 40 -> 11
  • Third: 10 -> 1

Different health brackets can be specified with the notation [first / second / third]. This is usually used to determine how much damage is inflicted by an attack, but other uses may crop up over time.

Attack Cards

Attack cards may look like this:

X Light Attack
Choose X: High, Mid, Low
Range: within 2 spaces
Strength: [10 / 5 / 1]
Max Copies: 6

In this case, The card's name changes based on the player's choice of "High", "Mid" or "Low", replacing the "X" in the title to becomg "High Light Attack", "Mid Light Attack" or "Low Light Attack"; do this for every instance of the "Choose" keyword on a card. The card's sname returns to normal once it goes to the discard pile.

Range specifies the distance from the attacker that the defender's pawn must be on the stage for this attack to be effective. "within" means it can be up to that distance, while "at least" means a minimum of that distance. Some attacks might specify an exact distance instead.

Strength is the amount of damage dealt by the attack, based on the defender's current HP bracket.

Positioning and Aerial Moves

Some cards may "Pull" or "Push", which moves the opponent one space towards your character, or away from your character, respectfully. Other cards may indicate "Forward" or "Backward", which moves your own character towards or away from the opponent, respectfully.

"Aerial" is a status that causes high, mid and low attacks to become aerial attacks until your turn ends. Some cards may have extra effects while in the air.

Triggers and Blocking

Some cards are "Trigger" cards - these are placed face-down in front of you as an action, and can be triggered during your opponent's turn, usually blocking an incoming attack. You can normally only play one trigger card at a time, and any trigger cards you have on the table are discarded at the beginning of your turn.

Max Copies

Cards specify a maximum number of copies that can exist in a deck, listed as "Max Copies". You cannot exceed this number for cards with this name during deckbuilding.

---Basic Attacks---

X Light Attack
    Choose X: High, Mid, Low
    Range: within 2 spaces
    Strength: [10 / 5 / 1]
    Max Copies: 6

X Medium Attack
    Choose X: High, Mid, Low
    Range: within 2 spaces
    Strength: [15 / 7 / 1]
    Max Copies: 6

X Hard Attack
    Choose X: High, Mid, Low
    Range: within 1 space
    Strength: [20 / 10 / 2]
    Push 1
    Max Copies: 6

Fireball
    Projectile.
    Range: at least 2.
    Strength: [15 / 7 / 1]
    Push 2.
    Max Copies: 6

---Basic Blocks---

High Block
    Trigger.
    Blocks aerial and high attacks.
    Max Copies: 6

Mid Block
    Trigger.
    Blocks high and mid attacks.
    Max Copies: 6

Low Block
    Trigger.
    Blocks mid and low attacks.
    Max Copies: 6

Dodge
    Trigger.
    Blocks projectile attacks.
    Max Copies: 6

---Movement---

Dash
    Choose: Forward 2 or Backward 2
    Max Copies: 4

---Aerial Movement---

Jump
    You become aerial until the end of turn.
    High, mid and low attacks become aerial attacks until the end of turn.
    Max Copies: 4

Lunge
    Forward 1
    You become aerial until the end of turn.
    High, mid and low attacks become aerial attacks until the end of turn.
    Max Copies: 4

---Specialist Cards---

Mid Combo Attack
    Combo: If your previous action this turn was a mid attack, this deals double damage.
    Range: within 2 spaces
    Strength: [10 / 5 / 1]
    Max Copies: 4

Down Slam
    If you are not aerial, this attack does nothing. Otherwise, after this attack, you are no longer aerial, and all modified aerial attacks return to normal.
    Range: Within 2 spaces
    Strength: [20 / 7 / 2]
    Max Copies: 4

Center Self
    Regain [20 / 20 / 10] HP, to a maximum of 100.
    Max Copies: 4

Meta-Strategies and Character Concepts

Some strategies that I'd like to develop in this game are as follows:

  • "midrange characters", who don't excel at any one strategy, but support a balance of all possible strategies.
  • "rushdown characters", who get in close and hit hard.
  • "zoning characters", where one player keeps their opponent at a certain distance, where the opponent can't deal damage but they can.
  • "aerial characters", the possibility of having aerial-heavy characters, who not only have a number of Jump cards, but also attack cards with the jump keyword or exploit aerial status in some way.
  • "combo characters", who have cards that depend on other cards to gain rolling bonuses, such as "If you used low + low this turn, this card becomes a "sweep" card".
  • "reversal characters", who exploit their block cards to some powerful effect.
  • "mixup characters", who can break a block with a flurry of light high-and-low attacks.

There's also the possibility of character-specific gameplay features, such as:

  • Getting stronger with low-health
  • Building up strength guages for powerful late-game attacks
  • Stances/modes
  • Joke characters who taunt their opponents (could lock out specific attacks?)
  • Turn-manipulation

Some potential card concepts are:

  • X Light Attack (1x strength)
  • X Medium Attack (1.5x strength)
  • X Hard Attack (2x strength)
  • Jump (a generic card that triggers the aerial status)
  • Sweep (knocks your opponent down, consuming the first action on their turn to stand up)
  • Fireball (1x strength, at least 2 spaces range, pushes the opponent)
  • Center Self (Heals a small amount)
  • Bound (Move forward 1 (must have space, become aerial)
  • Slam (If aerial, deals damage)

Notes

  • With the "Choose" mechanic specifying the card name, that card is considered to have that new name while in play, and it's original name all other times.
  • Deck size will probably be 50.
  • All decks will have between 3 and 10 of each x-attack, x-block and jump.
  • Strength will change to a bracket system, based on the opponent's remaining health.
  • Possible to play at 60 max HP, will mean bracketing is more common, but rounds are faster.
  • Add specific rules for triggers, projectiles, combos, etc.

Decklists

Midrange

  • 6x X Light Attack
  • 6x X Medium Attack
  • 6x X Hard Attack
  • 6x High-Block
  • 6x Mid-Block
  • 6x Low-Block
  • 6x Jump
  • 6x Haduken
  • 2x Mid Combo Attack

Aerial Control

  • 6x X Light Attack
  • 4x X Medium Attack
  • 4x X Hard Attack
  • 6x High-Block
  • 4x Mid-Block
  • 4x Low-Block
  • 6x Dodge
  • 4x Dash
  • 6x Jump
  • 4x Lunge
  • 2x Down Slam
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