I interviewed the creator of Rüniverse- here are his answers to my questions:
Q: Please describe your trading card game!
A: In Rüniverse, you control three mages to summon creatures & cast spells, attacking your opponent's creatures and mages to break their six bonds and win. It's a colorful game with a focus on summoning fun, cute, and cool creatures. The turn system lets players puzzle through their turns to implement their well-laid plans—with exciting randomness added through triggers and the Dream Deck mechanism.
Q: What inspired you to create your own TCG?
A: I've always been inspired to make my own games, and as a player who enjoys card variety and building unique decks, I've been drawn to TCGs. I've begun a few other designs over the years, but Rüniverse built on several of the ideas as well as my favorite mechanisms from other games, including Pokémon, Keyforge, and Magi-Nation.
Q: What TCGs did you grow up playing as a kid?
A: My first TCG was Pokémon. Red & Blue came out while I was in middle school. I didn't have a Game Boy, but when I found out there were *cards* based on the games my classmates were playing, I was exciting to try it out and show it to them. Everyone else still preferred their videogames, but this discovery catalyzed my transition from classic games like Skip•Bo and Rummikub into the world of hobby gaming. I started playing Magic in 2000 and also got into Magi-Nation, even running store tournaments for a while.
Q: What sets Rüniverse apart from other TCGs?
A: Even though there are multiple games that use lanes or locations, I feel the implementation in Rüniverse stands apart from the others. The Dream Deck is purely unique, as far as I know, allowing players to access extra cards a few times over the course of the game, without knowing exactly what (or how many) cards they'll be getting. Scaling resources (1, then 4, then 9) over the first three turns is something I haven't seen before, which allows the game to start slow and controlled but ramp up—and end—very quickly. Finally, I'm very proud of the evolution system that combines Pokémon's somewhat clunky method with BuddyFight's soul mechanism.
Q: How did you come up with the name Rüniverse?
A: It's simply a portmanteau of "rune universe"—a universe filled with magical runes!
Q: How long have you been working on the game?
A: I made a TCG concept based on having multiple mages who cast their own spells and summons about 20 years ago. But the version of the idea that truly became Rüniverse started with a prototype with Magic cards around 2017 or 2018. The core/base set was finally finished and released in 2020.
Q: What is the illustration/design process like?
A: I do enjoy getting compliments for the art because I'm proud of the "art direction" process that I've done, making what hopefully feels like a pretty cohesive look and feel. That said, I do not illustrate [most of] the cards—each card has its artist credited at the bottom of the card. So far, almost all the art I've used has been stock art available for purchase online. I did use a couple of my own illustrations (Spikeleaf Wolf & Magmaphant), so to answer the question, I generally create a sketch on paper, scan it in, and then retrace and color everything digitally in Photoshop or Affinity Photo.
Q: What are your future plans for Rüniverse?
A: I have a small fixed product (nonrandomized) that expands the game with 8 "Hero mages" and special cards that only those mages can play, which will hopefully provide new deck-building archetypes without taking over the design space for their respective facets (colors). It still needs more development, and I haven't exactly been prioritizing it, but it is about 95% complete (art & graphic design are 100%!). I also have a spreadhseet where I occasionally jot down ideas for a full Set 2 of the game, but most of my time goes toward my Rüniverse YouTube channel (which isn't really focused on the game anymore—I mostly do playthroughs of other board & card games) as well as designing some other board game concepts.
Q: Will you be at any upcoming conventions?
A: I'm more of a stay-at-home kind of person. Traveling is expensive, and I'd rather buy more new games! :D
Q: Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own TCG?
A: Don't force it. Do what inspires you (and what you're inspired to do). If you love to draw, just draw! You don't need to design a game too. Maybe find someone who's inspired to design games, and do illustrations for them! If you're not particularly creatively inspired by anything, you can still work in games by playtesting, developing, project managing, and things like that. If you ARE inspired with an idea for a game, make enough cards to build a couple "starter decks" and try it out ASAP. PLAY THE GAME. Make sure it works—*and it's fun.* Do that before you invest too much time/money in pictures, designing too many cards, etc. If you can sense a problem in your game, but you don't know how to fix it, make sure you're open to feedback and playing with a variety of people. Additionally, learn as many games (TCGs and non-TCGs)as you have time for, whether by playing, reading the rules, or watching tutorial/gameplay videos. The more games you're familiar with, the more you can use the tools those games have to solve problems in your own design. And finally, again, don't force it. If something isn't working, it's okay to trash it, start something new, or let an old idea percolate until you're inspired with a solution. But if it IS working, be persistent! There's A TON of work that goes into finishing a TCG. So if you have a good thing going, don't give up until it's done.
A: In Rüniverse, you control three mages to summon creatures & cast spells, attacking your opponent's creatures and mages to break their six bonds and win. It's a colorful game with a focus on summoning fun, cute, and cool creatures. The turn system lets players puzzle through their turns to implement their well-laid plans—with exciting randomness added through triggers and the Dream Deck mechanism.
Q: What inspired you to create your own TCG?
A: I've always been inspired to make my own games, and as a player who enjoys card variety and building unique decks, I've been drawn to TCGs. I've begun a few other designs over the years, but Rüniverse built on several of the ideas as well as my favorite mechanisms from other games, including Pokémon, Keyforge, and Magi-Nation.
Q: What TCGs did you grow up playing as a kid?
A: My first TCG was Pokémon. Red & Blue came out while I was in middle school. I didn't have a Game Boy, but when I found out there were *cards* based on the games my classmates were playing, I was exciting to try it out and show it to them. Everyone else still preferred their videogames, but this discovery catalyzed my transition from classic games like Skip•Bo and Rummikub into the world of hobby gaming. I started playing Magic in 2000 and also got into Magi-Nation, even running store tournaments for a while.
Q: What sets Rüniverse apart from other TCGs?
A: Even though there are multiple games that use lanes or locations, I feel the implementation in Rüniverse stands apart from the others. The Dream Deck is purely unique, as far as I know, allowing players to access extra cards a few times over the course of the game, without knowing exactly what (or how many) cards they'll be getting. Scaling resources (1, then 4, then 9) over the first three turns is something I haven't seen before, which allows the game to start slow and controlled but ramp up—and end—very quickly. Finally, I'm very proud of the evolution system that combines Pokémon's somewhat clunky method with BuddyFight's soul mechanism.
Q: How did you come up with the name Rüniverse?
A: It's simply a portmanteau of "rune universe"—a universe filled with magical runes!
Q: How long have you been working on the game?
A: I made a TCG concept based on having multiple mages who cast their own spells and summons about 20 years ago. But the version of the idea that truly became Rüniverse started with a prototype with Magic cards around 2017 or 2018. The core/base set was finally finished and released in 2020.
Q: What is the illustration/design process like?
A: I do enjoy getting compliments for the art because I'm proud of the "art direction" process that I've done, making what hopefully feels like a pretty cohesive look and feel. That said, I do not illustrate [most of] the cards—each card has its artist credited at the bottom of the card. So far, almost all the art I've used has been stock art available for purchase online. I did use a couple of my own illustrations (Spikeleaf Wolf & Magmaphant), so to answer the question, I generally create a sketch on paper, scan it in, and then retrace and color everything digitally in Photoshop or Affinity Photo.
Q: What are your future plans for Rüniverse?
A: I have a small fixed product (nonrandomized) that expands the game with 8 "Hero mages" and special cards that only those mages can play, which will hopefully provide new deck-building archetypes without taking over the design space for their respective facets (colors). It still needs more development, and I haven't exactly been prioritizing it, but it is about 95% complete (art & graphic design are 100%!). I also have a spreadhseet where I occasionally jot down ideas for a full Set 2 of the game, but most of my time goes toward my Rüniverse YouTube channel (which isn't really focused on the game anymore—I mostly do playthroughs of other board & card games) as well as designing some other board game concepts.
Q: Will you be at any upcoming conventions?
A: I'm more of a stay-at-home kind of person. Traveling is expensive, and I'd rather buy more new games! :D
Q: Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own TCG?
A: Don't force it. Do what inspires you (and what you're inspired to do). If you love to draw, just draw! You don't need to design a game too. Maybe find someone who's inspired to design games, and do illustrations for them! If you're not particularly creatively inspired by anything, you can still work in games by playtesting, developing, project managing, and things like that. If you ARE inspired with an idea for a game, make enough cards to build a couple "starter decks" and try it out ASAP. PLAY THE GAME. Make sure it works—*and it's fun.* Do that before you invest too much time/money in pictures, designing too many cards, etc. If you can sense a problem in your game, but you don't know how to fix it, make sure you're open to feedback and playing with a variety of people. Additionally, learn as many games (TCGs and non-TCGs)as you have time for, whether by playing, reading the rules, or watching tutorial/gameplay videos. The more games you're familiar with, the more you can use the tools those games have to solve problems in your own design. And finally, again, don't force it. If something isn't working, it's okay to trash it, start something new, or let an old idea percolate until you're inspired with a solution. But if it IS working, be persistent! There's A TON of work that goes into finishing a TCG. So if you have a good thing going, don't give up until it's done.
For more, follow @runiverse.tcg on Instagram and check out www.silent7seven.com
^these 3 cards are not yet released!
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