I am trying to design a 2 player customisable card game. It is not a deck building game, it is something like Magic the Gathering where you build your own deck before playing and then duke it out with your opponent. I want my game to focus on what I call "mind games". Some people define "mind game" as a strategy game, for example chess and go are games for the mind. But, whatever the actual definition of mind game is, I define it as somewhat a psychological game. A game with "mind games" will have bluffing, guessing, predicting your opponent, or what David Sirlin (designer of Yomi card game) called "yomi". This game will be turn-based and does not involve simultaneous action selection (so please don't recommend me Yomi card game or Battlecon). However, I have encountered some problems which will be explained below.
For a game to have bluffing elements, it has to have hidden information. For example, poker has hidden information since all players have a hand of cards that only they know and others don't. So, maybe we can say that, all games with hidden information has bluffing elements. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.
In Pokemon TCG, both players have a hand of cards which is hidden from their opponent. But this game doesn't have a lot of bluffing. Most of the time, it is more about managing your cards well rather than predicting and out smarting your opponent with bluffs.
Even for Magic the Gathering, bluffing isn't very common. For the most part, you are mostly making calculations to decide the optimum play without worrying much about what your opponent has in hand. I am not trying to say that MTG has no bluffing at all, I am just saying that it is not that common.
The most common bluffing senario for MTG is the creature buff during combat and counter spell. Both of this involves "instant" spell which interrupts during your opponent's turn. Even in Pokemon TCG, there was the card Power Spray, which is used during your opponent's turn to counter the use of a poke-power. When Power Spray was released, it was reported that bluffing skills became more important, and when Power Spray was banned, it is reported that bluffing matters less. So, can we say that Pokemon TCG has less bluffing elements because that game usually doesn't have instant cards which interrupts during the opponent's turn? If the answer is yes, then perhaps if we remove all instant cards and cards with flash abilities in MTG, then MTG becomes a game where there is no bluffing even though the game has hidden info? Does it mean that games like Kaijudo TCG (there is no instant cards that interrupts during an opponent's turn) doesn't have bluffing? If that is so, it will be a problem because I am thinking of making my game free of instant cards. I want my game to run smoothly where the players do their thing during their turn and nothing during their opponent's turn. It don't really like games where after you do every move, you have to wait and see if your opponent wants to interrupt your play.
I know that some of you might want to recommend me Android Netrunner. This game was on my radar for some time, I have checked it out a little, but I haven't play it much yet. One problem with that game is that the 2 players are playing under different rules (it is asymmetric). I am not against asymmetric games, but I would prefer a game where both players play with the same rules and asymmetry will come from the different decks they use. I find it difficult to make a game where one player does both the corporation and runner's jobs together. Another problem with Netrunner is that it uses too many different tokens. If possible, I would want my game to have either no tokens at all or only one type of token.
So now, what are some qualities that makes a good 2 player card game which focuses on "mind games"? We already have hidden information and instant cards. What are some other qualities that might be important? Please note that my game is designed to be a competitive game and not a party or casual game. Also remember that it is a customisable card game (not deck building game) which will have lots of cards with different effects. I do welcome recommendations of other games but this thread is intended to be a discussion of game mechanics.
Thanks.
1) Contests are resolved over several turns instead of a single round.
2) Players must continue to invest resources to stay in the contest.
These 2 elements work for Poker, but they are not a must to be included into a game for bluffing. As for the problem with bluffing in CCGs, the players should obviously know the cards involved and understand what most decks can do.
Anyway, this is my view for why games like MTG and Pokemon lack bluffing. It might seems that I am contradicting myself. Feel free to rebut my claims. Also, please note that I am not terribly experienced in CCGs in general. Here it goes:
I think both MTG and Pokemon TCG focus more on the board (cards that are in play) rather than the cards in hand. For example, in Pokemon TCG, you will be busy setting up your field and trying to prevent your opponent from doing so. You will be more worried about that heavy hitter Stage 2 Pokemon sitting in your opponent's bench (which is in play) rather than those cards in his hand. Of course there are exceptions such as cards like Pokemon Catcher. In Pokemon, the biggest threat is usually public information rather than hidden information.
In MTG, there is summoning sickness which neutralize lots of mind games in the game. On your turn you play a creature, but it can't attack this turn. Your opponent has one turn to remove it. If he doesn't have any removal in his hand, he can tutor a card that is appropriate to handle the situation. It is like making a bet in poker after you see the cards in your opponent's hand.
Bluffing only becomes useful in MTG when your opponent can use an instant to stop your threat. In situations like creature buffs during combat and counter spell, the cards in your opponent's hand becomes important.
This is the same with netrunner. The cards in play are usually more important than the cards in your hand. However for netrunner, the cards in play are faced down (for corporation) which is able to create bluffing opportunities.