A Card-Based Item System

Hello again,

Today I’m doing a long form post about the concept for Anther, specifically talking about the item system.

The item system was born from an idea I had to combine a card-based game with real-time combat mechanics. Card games have a specific appeal, which I think is partially because there is so much thematic potential with the design of each card. It’s definitely also because deck building is just super fun, and getting creative with card combos/synergies gives a special kind of satisfaction.

But I also LOVE skill-focused combat games with really precise timing and mechanics, so I wondered if I could somehow combine the two ideas. The experience I want to give the player is this: collect cards and build your deck, then use mechanical skill to execute on the deck you’ve built, by playing cards with attacks. The idea I came up with is that each card (or item, I will use the terms interchangeably) gets treated as an on-hit effect of some sort, and the cards are organized into a queue so you can cycle through all the cards in your deck. 

It’s not unlike a lot of 2D games with items, but I think what differentiates this from many games is the queue; how items are only applied one at a time. This makes it so the order in the deck matters. It also makes it so the effect of an individual item is used much less frequently than in a game like Risk of Rain, which means that the items can be a lot stronger, and potentially have multiple effects (though not all of them WILL be strong – every card game has its common cards!).

I haven’t seen an item system like this before, but obviously that doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist! If you’ve seen a similar item system, feel free to let me know in the comments, I’d love to see related ideas people have had.

Here's a preview of the art for two cards I’ve designed, the Antler Shard and the Lifeweed Sprig. The Antler Shard will drop from an enemy called a hart, and Lifeweed Sprigs can be foraged from lifeweed plants that will be found around the map.

Stay tuned to see these and many more items in action!

-Clay