playtested my hearthstone-like last night. i haven't actually played the real thing in years, but started researching it again recently. testing didn't really tell me anything i didn't already know. gotta have a test where i actually have everything "printed out" (virtually) first. i can't believe randomized decks that only have minions up to 4 cost and spells up to 3 cost because i didn't finish making them yet had obvious balance problems
the player who went first + got the first hit (well, both players were me, but yknow) never ended up taking any net damage again until they won due to lack of board clears (mostly due to the above)
both players were running out of cards a lot without much draw or anything big to spend mana on (also due to the above lol)
i didn't get to test any other kinds of cards, especially ones that would differentiate it from the game i'm basing it on, either
it was good to double check in action just how many different kinds of counters i need to use to mark different things and not forget about them, though. damage, buffs, debuffs, added keywords, etc. i was kind of amazed how many things it seems like you need to just remember in your head to play MTG, and i'm trying to avoid that or any mechanics that wouldn't be feasible on a tabletop (sorry Discover and creating copies, i will do my best to simulate you somehow)
i don't know yet if this game is going to be faster or slower than HS, but i know it had some issues i want to avoid. biggest one, imo, is having so few options at any given moment, due to the tiny opening hands that may contain cards you can't even afford to play yet, that it's basically playing itself half the time. if i let that happen here i've lost sight of the point
i'm gonna give you more options and more hero powers/cantrips, and let more of the game happen out on the table where you can see it and less secretly in your hands. that's what i REALLY want to test out and see the effects of, and take on fixing the problems it introduces (if it's anything like HS, i expect aggro with a tempo advantage to completely take over and am trying to keep this in mind with as much of the card design as possible because i want to maintain its combat system anyway)
i also decided early on that i want to avoid the usual generic medieval fantasy setting, or even my own fantasy setting that i was going to use at first. inspired by yugioh and just, idk, toy stores in general, i decided i wanted something cartoonish that spends as little time as possible explaining its lore or having consistent tone and theming. luchador plant girls will hold off robot dinosaurs while your wizard birds research how to build a summoning circle for a monster truck
this was meant to be a quick and simple project and there's no classes or class restrictions because of that, but then it ballooned out of control in scope a bit. i hope i can stay motivated to the finish line on this thing because the point was basically just to finish something