Deck Builders: A Question of How to Distribute - Inside Up Games
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Deck Builders: A Question of How to Distribute

Deck Builders: A Question of How to Distribute

Board games apps have never really been my jam, but in the last few months, I have been playing a lot more of them in lieu of getting together with my typical game group. I have mostly been playing Ascension and Star Realms and I have appreciated how quick the setup and cleanup is when utilizing an app. Usually deck building take much longer than the actual play time because of how all the cards need to be separated. Additionally, I recently acquired a physical copy of Xenoshyft: Onslaught, a popular deck building game by CMON, that I have been able to get to the table a couple of times with a friend. And, although these are most recent deck builders I have played, I have played plenty of others like Marvel Legendary, Eminent Domain, Dominion, etc.

Although I have been playing deck builders for years, it was only recently that I realized how different each deck builder feels in their approach to offering players an option to buy cards. The most basic form of deck builders have all the available cards for the game out on the table, ready for purchase. Xenoshyft: Onslaught does this with both crew members and items. To add replayability, the item cards that are available change every game. This consists of 9 different types of cards to purchase. The available crew members remain the same every play. This allows players to gain a natural feel for what they should be doing each game which works really well in a punishing cooperative game where players are going to be playing multiple times to try and win.

On the other side of the coin, a game like Star Realms has the deck of available cards (besides one stack of cards that aids in paying for new ships) shuffled up and five cards are laid out for purchase. These are completely determined by the shuffle and each player’s strategy will be highly dependent on how the cards flip out. This leads to a ton of variability between games and tends to work really well in a two-player format because only one player has the opportunity to steal the cards you desire out from under you. This method also makes set up and tear down quicker because most of the cards can stay mixed together, whereas other games require a more thorough sorting.

While neither of these methods for deck building is superior to the other, they promote very different experiences and lend to replayability in two very different ways. In the first option, the game adds variability by adding more stacks of cards that function differently from other cards. This provides a more controlled experience and provides the players (even if it is outside the bounds of the instructions) the opportunity to pick the type of variably they prefer to use throughout the game. In deck builders like Star Realms, the variability in play is based completely on how the different cards flip out. Randomness becomes the key to offering new experiences.

Which leads me to a few different questions. Which do you prefer and why? Is the controlled variability in a game like Xenoshyft: Onslaught better because of how it contributes to the structure of this cooperative puzzle or does random card generation take the cake because of the tactical nature behind each choice? Which method lends itself to the most replayable experience?

As always, thanks for reading and keep on gaming,

Matt Pioch

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