Smashboards Creates: A Mario Enemies Trading Card Game

[darkvortex]

1. Mario Enemies
2. Warner
3. Music
4. Nintendo
5. Nick

 

[AlteredBeast]

AlRex Your own can only be in fourth or fifth.

 

[Northsouthmap]

1. Mario Enemies
2. Nintendo
3. NickToons
4. WB Animation
5. PlayStation

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

1. Music
2. Mario Enemies
3. Toys and Board Games
4. WB Animation
5. Playstation

 

[AlRex]

AlRex Your own can only be in fourth or fifth.

I did go back and correct it, op

 

[AlteredBeast]

Alright, thank you everybody! Time to reveal the results.

Nicktoons/Nickelodeon: 14
Transformers: 2
Greek Mythology: 6
Mario Enemies: 26
Warner Bros. Animation: 20
Music: 25
Toys and Board Games: 16
PlayStation: 2
Superheroes: 12
Nintendo: 24
Super Smash Bros: 0

This turned out to be a VERY close vote but....Mario Enemies won! So congrats to MartianSnake and their idea for winning by a hair! Awesome job!

Now...to discuss the card game and rules and other stuff:

Job 2:

Create rules for a Mario Enemies card game.

You must include details like:

• What types of cards there should be
• If there should be a limit on a certain type of card in the game
• How many cards can be in a deck (minimum and maximum)
• General mechanics (how does the game play basically)
• How do you win?

Job 3:

Come up with a title for a card game themed around Mario Enemies. Be creative with it!

Get submitting!

My title submission:

Super Mario: Kingdom Invasions

I got the title based on how Bowser's troops aka the Mario enemies invade various kingdoms in the Marioverse. Simple but...to the point. I'll submit rules in a day or two.

 

[Master Hero Sock-on-Rye]

Job 2: The Rules

Okay. My rules for the Mario Enemies TCG are as follows:

1. There should be four types of cards:
   1. Boss - The villain you play as, particularly those that have legitimate names. Obviously, Bowser would be one of them, but you could bring in Bowser Jr., King K. Rool, King Boo, etc.
   2. Enemy - Common does you bring into battle, like Goombas, Koopa Troopas, or Cheep Cheeps.
   3. Hazard - Non-enemy cards, which act as stationary barriers like Bricks or Fire Bars.
   4. Level - The stage you inhabit versus your opponent's stage. Places like Bowser's Castle, Bob-omb Mountain, or the like.
2. You can have a minimum of 30 cards in a deck, and a maximum of 70. You may also have up to five copies of each card in your deck, barring the Boss card, which will remain singular.
   1. One Boss card.
   2. 20 to 50 Enemy cards, which range from commonplace and easy to wild and uncontrollable.
   3. Five to ten Hazard cards, which you can place on your Level cards for enhanced skullduggery.
   4. Four to nine Level cards. One of which you place on your Boss card, the rest you place Enemy or Hazard cards onto.
3. Each set will have 100 cards, which can be sold in booster packs and starter decks alike.
   1. Three Boss cards. Each Boss will helm their own starter deck.
   2. 65 Enemy cards.
   3. 20 Hazard cards.
   4. 12 Level cards.
4. Playing this game is best set with two players maximum. However, starting with the second set, a four-player version can be feasible.
5. How To Play
   1. The order of who goes first enters through a clockwise circular pattern, starting from whoever rolls highest with one die, and going left-to-right from there.
   2. To start your game, select your Boss card and place him on a Level card. For simplicity's sake, rules after this will follow the two-player mode.
   3. After your opponent selects his or her Boss, select three additional Levels to do battle with.
   4. Place two Enemy cards and one Hazard card onto each Level. It is best to put an Enemy that can survive your opponent's Hazard onto each corresponding Level.
   5. If you or your opponent manage to defeat both Enemies and survive two hits from a Hazard, your level is sent to the Discard pile.
6. How To Win
   1. You and your opponent move onto facing each other once five Levels have been sent into each other's Discard pile.
   2. Each Boss card comes with a charge attack that, if activated and held onto for three consecutive rounds, can mutilate your opponent very easily. However, the same can be applied to your Boss if you are not careful enough.
   3. Defeat your opponent's Boss to win the game. However, you do not receive ownership of your opposing deck. That remains property of your opponent, so he or she can try and seek vengeance on you the next time you meet each other in battle.

I know this is inherently absurd, and I admit I didn't plan on it to get this abstract in combat. But for a game centered around Mario enemies, what else can you do?

Job 3: The Name

I think I'll call this TCG Super Bowser Legion, because this is a card game based on the opposite side of the gold coin, revolving around the bad guys for a change.

 

[Otoad64]

Name: Koopa Clan Clash

 

[MartianSnake]

Alright, thank you everybody! Time to reveal the results.

Nicktoons/Nickelodeon: 14
Transformers: 2
Greek Mythology: 6
Mario Enemies: 26
Warner Bros. Animation: 20
Music: 25
Toys and Board Games: 16
PlayStation: 2
Superheroes: 12
Nintendo: 24
Super Smash Bros: 0

This turned out to be a VERY close vote but....Mario Enemies won! So congrats to MartianSnake and their idea for winning by a hair! Awesome job!

Now...to discuss the card game and rules and other stuff:

Job 2:

Create rules for a Mario Enemies card game.

You must include details like:

• What types of cards there should be
• If there should be a limit on a certain type of card in the game
• How many cards can be in a deck (minimum and maximum)
• General mechanics (how does the game play basically)
• How do you win?

Job 3:

Come up with a title for a card game themed around Mario Enemies. Be creative with it!

Get submitting!

My title submission:

Super Mario: Kingdom Invasions

I got the title based on how Bowser's troops aka the Mario enemies invade various kingdoms in the Marioverse. Simple but...to the point. I'll submit rules in a day or two.

Actually flabbergast my submission won, I was expecting Music to take this by a landslide tbh!

Gonna skip job 2 because M Master Hero Sock-on-Rye 's submission is pretty great and close to what I'd probably do. The only thing I'd really change is add elements of synergy between Enemy cards and maybe level cards too. So like, if you have a Pokey and a Fire Snake on a desert level card, that all gives some sort of boost. Having heavily enemy focused mechanics would drive home the fact the game is about the Enemies at its core.

Card games are complicated, so I think I'd also be nice to essentially have "workshop" jobs where we just discuss the rules and submit minor changes to them.

JOB 3:
Super Troopas: From the World of Mario

The subtitle bit is optional and only really appears on packaging, but I want the game to be clear in that it's a TCG set in the Mario world, and not a Super Mario TCG. I generally wanna avoid naming any specific character in the title in general, as the focus is on the enemies.

 

[LoZ00]

Didn't see this thread earlier, so I couldn't post my ideas or vote for them, but I'm glad I found it now. And the Bowser's Minions theme is outstanding!

I don't have time to come up with a proper ruleset as of now and, truth to be told, I do like M Master Hero Sock-on-Rye 's proposal to begin with, but I'd like to throw my hat into the ring for the game's name:
Bowser's Battalion SHOWTIME! -- A Super Mario Bros. TCG
The subtitle "A Super Mario Bros. TCG" is there mostly for marketing purposes, although one would expect people to be accustomed with Bowser and his army by now. I am a huge sucker for alliterations, so Bowser's Battalion came off natural to me, but the thing I wanted to include from the get-go is the extremely iconic line SHOWTIME! that Bowser shouts before every battle in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.

 

[MartianSnake]

Didn't see this thread earlier, so I couldn't post my ideas or vote for them, but I'm glad I found it now. And the Bowser's Minions theme is outstanding!

I don't have time to come up with a proper ruleset as of now and, truth to be told, I do like M Master Hero Sock-on-Rye 's proposal to begin with, but I'd like to throw my hat into the ring for the game's name:
Bowser's Battalion SHOWTIME! -- A Super Mario Bros. TCG
The subtitle "A Super Mario Bros. TCG" is there mostly for marketing purposes, although one would expect people to be accustomed with Bowser and his army by now. I am a huge sucker for alliterations, so Bowser's Battalion came off natural to me, but the thing I wanted to include from the get-go is the extremely iconic line SHOWTIME! that Bowser shouts before every battle in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.

technically the theme isn't bowser's minions, it's mario enemies, a subtle yet important difference

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

May as well put my submission here while I have the opportunity. For the name, I'll suggest Minions of the Mushroom Kingdom, though of course this wouldn't limit regions to just being set in the Mushroom Kingdom; I'm sure people would have great ideas for stuff like Subcon, Sarasaland and so forth. As for mechanics...

I think it'd be more fun to keep things simple in the rules department; and ideally try to capture the main appeal of the series (and, by proxy, its enemies) with some basic but engaging mechanics. See, the big appeal of the Super Mario series has always been movement, and that's something that even spinoffs have tried to maintain. Coupled with more notable Mario enemies tending to just walk forward rather than proactively "attacking" the player (with some exceptions, obviously), and it feels like a more static game wouldn't really fit this kind of thing too well. Hence, my proposal.

Setup; Basically, what you need to do prior to play.

1. Ensure the table has the following;
   • A stack of Minion Tokens for the Minion Token Pile.
   • A stack of Magikoopa Tokens for the Magikoopa Token Pile.
   • The Magikoopa Coin.
2. Ensure each player has the following;
   • A World Mat of their choice. (Should be interlocked with the opponent's, as shown below.)
   • A Boss Card of their choice.
   • Five Boss Tokens. (Or six.)
   • Three Magikoopa Tokens.
3. Also ensure each player has readied their Minion Deck. A full Minion Deck has a minimum of three cards and no maximum card-count, but their cumulative Value (a stat I'll get to later) cannot exceed 20. Before play, shuffle your Minion Deck and place it face-down on the table, then draw the top three cards and place them face-up - these three cards are now your hand.
4. Before beginning play, determine a starting player by playing heads-or-tails using the Magikoopa Coin.

Fig. 1: Prior setup. Note that the World Mats are meshed together.​

Turns; The function of turns in this game, and basically how they work. They're split into three distinct phases.

• Charge - At the beginning of turn order, every single Minion on the board takes one step "forward" (toward their opposing Boss) automatically, with the starting player's Minions moving first. If obstructed by an enemy Minion, they'll enter a Clash - but if obstructed by something else (like a wall or an allied Minion), it'll remain stationary.
• Clash- Several things can happen if a Clash occurs.
  • If a Minion Clashes with an opposing Minion, it deals its ATK value in damage to the opponent it Clashes with. Vice versa also applies, as the action of a Clash is automatic and simultaneous. (Once a Minion's HP is depleted to zero, it is removed from the board and added to the player's Discard pile. A Minion's HP can be shown in real time by stacking Minion Tokens atop the card.)
  • If a Minion Clashes with the opposing Boss, it is removed from the board and placed at the bottom of your Minion Deck. The opposing Boss then loses one Boss Token. (Should all Boss Tokens be lost, the Boss is downed, and the opposing player wins.) It's possible for a Boss to be hit multiple times in a single turn, so be careful!
• Command- Occurs after Clash, with the starting player doing this first. During Command, you must place one Minion from your hand onto a free space of your choice on the column closest to your Boss, and then may perform up to three Actions. These include;
  • Movement - Move one of your own Minions one tile either to the left, the right, or backward. Each individual tile is considered an Action. Note also that you can't move a Minion once it enters the enemy's World Mat, but it'll still move during the Charge phase.
  • Special Action - Use one of your placed Minion Card's unique Actions, which can have different effects based on what the action actually is.
  • Boss Action - Use a unique action from your Boss Card, which usually comes with a cooldown. Similar to Special Action.
  • Magikoopa Meddling - Spend Magikoopa Tokens to perform unique Actions. (Each use of Magikoopa Meddling is considered one Action.)

Once both players have completed the Command phase, they may draw Minion cards from their own hands until their hand contains three cards, then it loops right back around to the Charge phase, and continues until one of the Bosses has been downed or until one player has lost all of their Minions.

Magikoopa Meddling; Each player begins a match with three Magikoopa Tokens, which can be spent to perform the unique Magikoopa Meddling actions during the Command phase. While they're spent to perform these actions, one Token can be gained by downing an enemy. (At the end of your Command phase, you can also flip the Magikoopa Coin to double-or-nothing your Magikoopa Token yield from that turn.) The unique Meddling Actions are;

• Summon (1 Token) - Play an additional Minion from your hand. The same rules as basic Minion placement apply; you must do so in a free space on the column closest to your Boss. Note also that you're limited to the Minions in your hand, of which only two should usually be left by this point.
• Enhance (1 Token) - Enhance a single Minion in play by placing the Magikoopa Token atop it, either wings-up (grants an additional tile to movement during the Charge phase and the Movement Action) or shapes-up (grants a +1 buff to HP and ATK) for three consecutive turns. Once those turns are over, remove the Token and place it in the Magikoopa Token Pile.
• Shuffle (1 Token) - Discard any number of the Minion cards in your hand, place them at the bottom of your deck, and draw the same number of cards from the top of your deck. Remember, your hand should almost always have three cards.
• Revive (Equal number of Tokens to the Value of the targeted Minion) - Recover one Minion of your choice from the Discard pile and place them at the bottom of your deck. It's more expensive to recover stronger Minions, though, so bear that in mind.
• Recover (3 Tokens) - Recover one Boss Token. Cannot be used if your Boss Token count is already full. High cost, but can be vital.

Card Stuff; Each Minion card has a variety of information and the like across it, with these elements being somewhat shared by Boss cards.

Fig. 2: Basic card layouts. Obviously it'd need tweaks for a final release, though. Note that the Boss Card doesn't have Value, HP or ATK stats, but may have some form of attack in its Special Elements.​

• Name - The subject's name. Fairly self-explanatory. I'm thinking that particular variants can be named as appropriate, to help distinguish between actual enemy variants (ie, Fire Bro) and less character-specific ones (ie, Goomba (Underground ver.))
• Origin - The media in which the subject appeared, plus year; ie, Super Mario Bros. (1985). Probably wouldn't include console if only because we might end up with outliers like Gotchawrench (Arcade) and Bomber (G&W series.)
• Blurb - A quick introduction to the subject, loosely akin to a Pokédex entry. Could be neat to feature some trivia about the subject in question.
• Other Values-
  • Value - A numerical indication of the card's "power". Values vary from 1 (foot-soldier types, like Goomba), 2 (more powerful enemies, like Hammer Bro) and 3 (mini-bosses and notable outliers, like Boom Boom). Note that your Minion Deck is limited based on this Value stat; the cumulative Value can't exceed 20 (so, 20 V1's would be fine, or 6 V3's and a V2, etc.)
  • Health - Indicates a card's survivability. If drained to zero, the card will be removed from play and sent to the Discard pile. Health is also shown with the number of Enemy Tokens stacked atop the card, so keeping track of things is way easier. (Bosses don't have Health, as they have their unique Boss Tokens.)
  • Attack - Indicates a card's offensive power. When Clashing with an enemy Minion, the Attack value is subtracted from the opponent's Health. (Like Health, Bosses don't have dedicated Attack stats.)
  • Alignment - Which Boss/Faction the card is aligned with; for instance, Goomba would be aligned with Bowser. When a Minion's alignment matches their Boss's, the Minion in question gains a passive +1 to their Attack while in play.
  • Biome - Which particular Worlds the Minion is attuned to; for example, Cataquack would be aligned with Coastal. When sharing an attunement with turf in play, Minions gain a passive +1 buff to their Health, but only on the side which it applies to. Note that Bosses also have this property, possibly gaining a passive if they're fighting from their home turf.
• Special Elements - Unique properties that only this subject possesses. May manifest as unique options, passive elemental properties on attacks, and/or other gimmicks that may apply. These tend to be split between;
  • Attack - Some form of offensive skill that can be used during the Command phase. Takes up an action on use.
  • Movement - A movement skill to be used during the Command phase. Takes up an action on use.
  • Gimmick - Some form of weirder skill that is used during the Command phase and takes up an action on use.
  • Passive - Somewhat "automatic" functions that tend not to drain action points. These may apply to additional free actions, or just act as additional properties unique to the card.

And, as an example of how that might look;

Fig. 3; Just an example, of course. It'd be nice to use character emblems to indicate alignment, or even icons for the different Biomes that apply. Obviously this graphic design leaves something to be desired, I just threw it together in PowerPoint.​

Submittables; This way of handling things gives us plenty of fun things to run jobs for.

• Bosses - Essentially leaders of different factions and/or subcategories of enemies. These might be more obvious, like Bowser, Tatanga, or Wart, but we could also get creative with candidates like Petey Pirahna, Foreman Spike, and King Bob-Omb amongst others. Seems like it'd be a fun series of jobs in particular, and it'd be nice to see people's more creative submissions down the line.
• Minions - Our actual "Mario enemies", split between three values that determine both power and relative rarity. This lets us include relative weaklings like Goomba and Amp, mid-level enemies like Hammer Bro, or even minibosses and similar foes like Boom Boom. Each Minion would be aligned to a particular Boss, helping us differentiate them further.
• Worlds - The environments featured on World Mats. The idea is that these would be inspired by particular level themes, so they could include anything from Plains, Forest, and Desert to Airship, Pipes, and Haunted House. Additionally, an affinity between a Boss and a certain World can lead to their World Map gaining an additional passive effect of some kind.

Hopefully this is explained well. I'm kind of worried that I'm burning through data for this, but I had a flash of inspiration when it came to this.

 

[Northsouthmap]

Name: Stack of Star-Searchers: A Mario Trading Card Game
References the fact that Bowser took the Super Star in the Mario Movie.

 

[Master Hero Sock-on-Rye]

So, should we wait a couple more days before deciding the name and gameplay?

 

[MartianSnake]

Uhhh hey just checking in, when should we expect an update?