A while ago, I played an obscure card game with my family. This game is called Skip-Bo and the objective is to discard your hand before the other players by matching cards in ascending order. However, we decided to change these simple rules to accommodate for team play such as giving these cards their own points system. (For example: Blue cards are 5 points, Green cards are 10 points, Red cards are 15 points, and a Skip-Bo card is 50 points. In order to discard your hand, you must have at least 75 points in a hand. And when the winning player goes out, the losing players need to count up their remaining cards using this point system.) This revised ruleset surprisingly complements the original game, in which I realized was an essential factor in making a successful card game. The flexibility of Skip-Bo’s rules allows for more personal games from the interpretation of the players. I think this is why card game tutorials often contradict each other, as everyone believes their own interpretations are standardized. Uno is another example of a card game that abides by player preference while staying fundamentally the same. I believe most popular card games have adopted this formula too, as human nature influences every aspect of game design. And I plan to use this formula in order to create a simple and malleable ruleset for the upcoming card game project.
Brycen Lawson’s Dev.log 