I am creating a card game that revolves around summoning creatures and then evolving creatures by placing another card on top if that creature to become a new creature, it sounds fun on paper but it just doesnt feel meaningful
Here is the rules so far, for the most part its pretty good but i would like it to feel more impactful, like why evolve a creature at all, what benefit does it have, and how combat plays a part in the whole evolution thing
I dont want to change too much of the rules but maybe change a little just so it feels like a battle card game
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Evolution card game rules draft 3
Each creature card has a level tier that increases its stats everytime you evlove it.
Creature card layout legend
1. Tier name is the name of the creature's tier level. The tiers are bronze, silver, gold and diamond
2. Name of the creature is self explanitary.
3. Each creature comes with a Power level and to battle and win, your creatures must attack the opposing player's creatures, if the power is higher than the opponent's creature then you win that battle and the opponent takes 1 life in damage (explained later). However if your power is lower than the opponent's creature then nothing happens, to be successful in battle you must attack with combined power from other creatures on your field. As of right now, the creatures Power are all the same for each tier however, in the final product each creature will have different power levels.
4. Evolution orbs (name change in future) each creature has a set number of orbs, bronze cards have only 1 orb, silver cards have 2 orbs and gold and diamond have 3 and 4 orbs. To evolve a creature you must have the previous form on the field and the evovled card in your hand. Only the silver cards dont need evolution orbs to evolve, however gold and diamond cards needs certain amount of evolution orbs to evolve into a new creature. For example, the card Luvbug is a gold level creature and to evolve into the diamond level creature Arachnida you will need to discard cards in your hand with a total orb cost of 2 or more.
You are still able to play evolved creatures without evolving a creature on the field however it requires you to send cards on the field to the discard by the number of orbs that are on the card you wish to play. For example Arachnida has 4 orbs you must send cards from the field with orbs of 4 or more. If you play a creature this way then you cannot evolve or play any other creature cards this turn. Arachnida is still free to attack on the turn it is played just as the same as if you have evolved it
The creatures must evolve in order of the tier levels, so bronze creatures cannot evolve into gold creatures and must evolve into silver creatures first. If you have multiple creatures on the field you can evolve them all on the same turn however, if you have already evolved a creature this turn, you cannot evolve it again on the same turn
5. Creature cards also come with skill abilities with keywords
(keywords will be added in the future)
Gameplay rules are not set and can change after testing
Before you begin the game, both players search their deck for a bronze creature and place it face down on your battle field, then both players draw 5 cards. At this point both players are free to muligan once by discarding cards they dont want from their hands back into the deck and reshuffle and draw the same number of cards that player discarded.
Once both players are happy with their hand, both will then send the top 10 cards from their deck to the other side of the field face-down. This acts as the players life points and once a player loses all their life point cards, the game is over.
The game is ready to begin, flip over your face down basic monster to reveal the card then determine who will go first.
The first player begins by drawing a card, first players cannot attack at this turn.
On your turn after you have drawn a card, you can choose to evolve your current card or place a new bronze creature on the field next to your current creature, if you place a new creature down you cannot evolve a creature this turn. If the opponent has a creature on the field you can declare an attack. (first player turn cannot attack)
If your creature's power is higher than the targeted opponents' creature then that creature becomes KO-ed and must be turned sideways, the opponent then draws a card from their life deck and adds that card to their hand, If the opponent's creature is higher than your own creatures power then you must attack with multiple creatures to bring your opponent's creature down. If you cannot then at the end of your turn, that creature's power returns to normal. (Some cards have effect that says destroy or kill, instead of KO that creature is removed from the field and sent to the discard pile along with the cards stacked under it)
Each creature may only attack once per turn unless stated otherwise and cannot attack a creature that is rested mode
If you dont want creatures to engage in battle, on your turn you may switch a creature that is in active mode into the rested mode, that creature cannot be targeted by your opponent's card. However you must have atleast 1 active creature on the field at all times, you cannot rest all your cards. If you evolve a creature that is in rest mode then the new creature must remain in rest mode until your next turn which you can then switch it to active mode
I guess another problem is the combat, the creatures get ko'd way too quickly since the difference in power of the cards are so strong, example a basic creature power is 2000 and a fully evolved creature is 15000
what?