Player Interaction in Deck Building Games

Neither am I... But in an earlier version of the game, I did have "Take-That" Instant cards as part of the game. But when I playtested with Casual gamers, they were like "what is that pile to be used for?" (Obviously at the very end of the game). So I realized although they were kinda cool cards that could maybe help you out of a jam... I decided to rid myself of 15 cards! Less artwork and less clutter in the play area.

My counter-proposal to this was that each Starship have a *Special Ability*. And with abilities come deplete times... They pretty much work like the *instant* cards without actually needing MORE cards. And they can help a player out if he or she is in a jam...

Again during my last playtest, Casual gamers only realized after the game that there were abilities they could use, go figure! :P

Just a brain dump

Seems like anything outside of two players just building up their own decks without interruption would increase the level of interaction.

Add cards to your opponent's deck (so, being able to buy garbage cards for your opponent)
Remove cards from your opponent's deck (taking away something they want)
Swap cards with your opponent's deck (impacting their effectiveness / strategy)

Apply restrictions or penalties on actions taken by opponents (draw fewer cards, prevent adding new cards, limit effectiveness of certain cards / actions)

Build in mechanics where certain cards are competed for by different players. Dominion is based around this I supposed, with some variants that I've seen (such as limited card pools or the fancy knights). Instead of just limiting the pool of cards available, this same idea could apply to something where players can 'block' other players from getting a certain card, or having to pay extra / discard a card to get something. Like, putting a card from your hand on top of a stack of cards that can be bought, and players having to pay to remove the top card before they can access the rest.

For me, higher levels of interaction often stem from simultaneous turns (where players can act / react), or having some elements persist between turns (where there is some effect or something that carries on during opponents turns, to which they may need to react to). Immediate effects on your own turn can lead to interaction, but can be minimized unless the opponent can react in some way (like, playing a block or counter card)

I just wanted to add a *small* detail about the "Soldier" role. It may seem irrelevant in most situations like: "Why would you want a player to discard two (2) cards?"

Well one situation to be watched for is when a player uses the "Monarch" role and draws +2 cards. So his hand goes from five (5) cards to seven (7). Now there can be a *danger* with having a player with seven (7) cards. A player could use the "Fleet Admiral" role on his NEXT turn and deploy two (2) starships in one turn.

Using the "Soldier" role would force a player to discard two (2) cards, making the above scenario not possible.

It may seem a little bit like *paranoia* but I'm sure *hardcore* gamers will be able to identifying with this... Going from one (1) starship to three (3) on one turn could be perceived as dangerous for an opponent with say one (1) starship. Reasons? Well a player can use two (2) to attack and destroy an opponent's starship and then use his remaining starship to do damage to the player's Homeworld (as an example).

Puzzle Strike is a highly competitive deck building game with tons of player interaction. You should check it out.

Just one thing I'd like to point out: while many games that use it make it the main focus, deck building is a mechanic. Of course you can build a game with Deck-Building and player interaction, or with DB and auctions, or with DB and area control, or DB and worker placement.

That being said, yes, a game that works like M:tG with deck building could exist.

Some examples of games with deck-building and player interaction (at least, more than Dominion/Ascension):
- Rune Age;
- A Few Acres of Snow;
- Blood Bowl: Team Manager;
- Nightfall.

I'm creating a deckbuilding game. I also have found that most deckbuilding games have little to no interactivity. In my game, I solved that problem by having each player build their own "good guy" deck on their turn, and use the communal "bad guy" deck on their opponent's turn. Everyone uses the same "bad guy" deck, and the purchasing is extremely simple, so people focus on their "good guy" deck, but still use quite a bit of strategy with the "bad guy" deck to stop other players.

And also, for your edification, here were a few other games I looked at when I was researching for my deckbuilding game:
Thunderstone
Rune Age
Dominion
Nightfall
Heroes of Graxia
Artic Scavengers
Evolution Earth: Cataclysm
Resident Evil Deckbuilding Game
Eminent Domain
Arcana
Core Worlds
Fantastiqa
Legendary
Friday
For the Crown
Trains
Quarriors
Copy Cat
Puzzle Strike
Mage Knight
A Few Acres of Snow
Shadowrift
Mage wars
Assault on Galactus Prime
LotR Deckbuilding
Galactic Strike Force
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game
High Command: War Machine
Star Realms
Star Trek Deckbuilding Game
Tanto Cuore

Note: Some of these are famously GOOD games, so they made the list, others are notoriously BAD games, so I wanted to learn also what not to do.

There are some mechanics that encourage interaction by their very nature: negotiation, area-majority and auction mechanics come to mind. Then there are mechanics which are interaction neutral, such as die rolling and deck building.

There's no reason why a deck building game couldn't be interactive, just as a game with die rolling game be interactive. It all depends on how you implement it.