Genre guidesPlanningRandomResources
Deck building
The deck is the list of things the player can do. Each fight asks whether the card just added crowded out an answer that was needed more often.
Guides explain combinations and are counted separately from individual mechanisms.
Core loop
- Draw a limited hand from the deck
- Play a few cards with a limited number of actions
- Choose the next step from the remaining cards and the enemy's intent
- After the fight, add one card or remove one
Key mechanisms
- Drawing means a strong card is not available every turn
- Adding and removing cards are equally important
- The enemy's next action is visible, so the choice has a basis
Design notes
- Ten starting cards and three effects are enough to test
- One card should be explainable in one sentence
- Do not let the deck grow until individual cards stop mattering
Reference games
- Slay the Spire
- Balatro
- Inscryption
Variants and combinations
- An event on the route decides the next card
- Clearing a color allows the matching card to be played this turn
- Cards are people on shift: whoever is drawn acts
Common pitfall
More cards are not always stronger; make removal and synergy understandable.
Observations and sources
Cases refer to public documentation. Developers and community wikis are credited separately; document review is not a claim of hands-on testing.
- Slay the Spire
Compare how the deck, relics and encounters change the value of the next card choice.
Brief for the studio
Opens the AI studio with the brief below in the input. You can edit it. Nothing starts automatically.
Make a deck-building game: start with ten cards, draw five each turn, and play two. After a fight, add one new card or remove one old card. The enemy's next action is always visible.
Covers are original AI-generated style illustrations. Game names reference publicly visible design choices and remain the property of their owners. This atlas does not supply screenshots or assets from those games. Prompts and combinations are original drafts for new games.