Battlepop
About the game:
Battlepop is an upcoming competitive 1v1 strategy card game that plays more like a miniatures game. Players are summoners who create and deploy a squad of ‘battlepop’ characters from up to five different factions: void, leaf, flame, wave and the fragmented. A good squad will utilize powerful synergies and balance the strength of their battlepop’s abilities with the raw power needed to activate them. Only the most ruthless, cunning, and lucky summoners will claim victory in the battlepop arena!
What I did:
I am the primary designer of battlepop, and it has been a very difficult and rewarding project so far. I have forced myself to stick closely to a core premise and set of principles while trying to flex creatively within the self-imposed rigidity of the design space. At a little over a hundred hours committed to the development, I have created a core set of playable assets that produce a variety of interesting and fun interactions.
Specific Design Goals:
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Use only simple, streamlined abilities with clear instructions suitable for upper elementary aged kids.
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Strategic depth and complexity flows primarily from the combination of character abilities and is not vested in single characters
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No instant speed or reactionary effects that require resolution layers can be used.
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Point acquisition and the win condition of the game are based primarily in occupying board space and not in destroying your opponent’s characters.
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Movement is always in single increments.
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Characters are never presented as good or evil and implications of violence are kept to an absolute minimum and presented in a non-threatening manner.
