Element Wars TCG

**Element Wars TCG**, or more simply **Element Wars**, was a trading card game created around 2013. It was the second trading card game that I ever created. Among my card games, it was the first to feature a logo and fully-colored cards, rather than plain white. It was also the first game to be put into randomized card packs, as well as have a designed playing surface. The base set for the game included 15 cards, and an expansion set of 16 cards was released in 2017.

## General

Element Wars is played between two players, who use decks consisting of Creature cards, Consumables, Attachments, and Buildings, with the goal of knocking out all of your opponent's creatures to win. Cards are collected from packs to build a deck, usually consisting of 6 cards. Unlike other games where players running out of cards results in an automatic loss, in Element Wars the deck is continuously reshuffled until either player has run out of creatures. Despite the low card count, reshuffles were rare in games since creature count was usually less than 4. The average game lasted under 5 minutes, perfect for the short attention span of 4th grade gamers.

### Elements

As suggested by the name, cards are grouped into 5 main factions: Fire, Nature, Aqua, Ground, and Space. Despite the distinction, there is no real difference in play style between the different elements, with the exception of Aqua and Fire. Aqua had more defensive themed cards, while Fire was attack-themed. In the base set, each element had only 3 cards, with a deck usually consisting of a combination of 2 elements. The unnamed expansion set added 16 cards to the game, however these were only for the Space and Aqua elements.

## Gameplay

Players use their constructed decks with the goal of knocking out all of their opponent's creatures. Once a player is out of creature cards to play, they lose the game. The game is played on a special game mat that gives each player a space for their deck, active creature, attachments, and discarded cards.

At the beginning of the game, each player shuffles their deck and places it in the deck slot. Then, they draw 3 cards. Each player takes turns playing creatures, powering it up with attachments, consumables, or buildings, and uses them to attack the opponent's creature. Each player can only have one creature out at a time. At the end of their turn, the player draws back to 3 cards.

### Cards Types

**Creatures:** The most important cards in the game, creatures are used to attack your opponent's creatures. The last player to have creatures still in play wins the game. Creature cards have an attack stat and defense stat, and some have special abilities on placement.

**Consumables**: Consumables are one-time action cards that are played then discarded, offering an effect such as healing or damage. Consumables are the only card that can be played on the opponent's turn.

**Attachments:** Attachments are placed on active creatures, and continuously power them up while in play. Once the creature is discarded, the attachment is also discarded.

**Buildings:** Buildings are placed in a secondary slot adjacent to the creature slot on the board, and act as permanent attachments. Even when a creature is discarded, the building stays out and will continue to power up the next creature played.

## Review

This was the first game that I was truly proud of. Even today, the use of bright colors and card design still look good, despite my bad artistic ability. The pure effort that went into making this game look good paid off. Gameplay-wise, however, the game still leaves much to be desired. This was a game when I still had the "Pokemon Mindset", as I call it, where the main focus of the game is simply fighting monsters with little other strategy involved. "Bigger number = better" was my design philosophy. The game is a definite improvement over Medantasy, although that could be said about almost any game ever made. It was around this time that I began seeing what others were making online, and I think that I learned from those creators what it took to make a good card game. This game gets an A+ for effort, although it is not something I have played or desired to play since elementary school.