I spoke with the creator of Backrooms TCG- here are his answers to my questions:
Q: Please describe your trading card game!
A: The Backrooms TCG a solitaire trading card game that puts you into the internet’s
famous backrooms. You must navigate different rooms and collect items to defeat
entities. The main goal is to find a Painite Gem in order to access an escape point.
Q: What inspired you to create a TCG?
A: I wanted to create a card game that I could play like solitaire, but with a trading card
aspect. As a TCG collector, the collecting aspect of a card game is half the fun. Pokémon
is my favorite to collect and playing it was always difficult for me because I am a much
older collector. When going to my local TCG shops the crowd playing always seem
young and it was hard to find players my age. Times have changed and older players are
found everywhere, but I got used to playing online.
Q: What TCGs did you grow up playing as a kid?
A: Pokémon is what started it all for me. I had been a huge Pokémon fan prior to the card
game. I had spent a lot of money on Burger King Kid’s meals to get the complete set of
Pokémon toys, thankfully I did complete it but my wife, who was my girlfriend at the
time, is forever sick of Burger King. I had always seen people playing Magic the
Gathering but it never caught my interest to play, as I was playing D&D a lot more then.
Q: What sets Backrooms apart from other TCGs?
A: There is a lot that separates Backrooms TCG from the rest of the TCG’s out there. When
conceiving ideas for a TCG I knew I didn’t want it to feature cute, evolving creatures. I
also didn’t want it to be Magic and “Dungeons and Dragons” like. I liked the idea of a
horror based TCG but I didn’t want blood and gore to be a part of it, as I wanted kids to
enjoy playing. Then when watching YouTube videos with my kids about the Backrooms,
I knew I found my theme. I loved the suspenseful, creepy theme of the Backrooms.
It took me back to when the internet was first getting viral video and YouTube was just
an endless search of rabbit holes and creepypastas. This was going to be my TCG, a
place you fell into and had to escape. The solitaire aspect is also what separates us. I
have found tutorials of how to play Pokémon solo, and a few TCG that had a solo playing
aspect but I really wanted this to be a TCG you played on your own like solitaire, which I
am a huge fan of. And like solitaire I wanted a lot of card movement and rules that
could create strategies that allow you bend or reverse plays. The Backrooms TCG is a game
I design as a game you can take with you anywhere. Like a regular deck of poker cards, the
Backrooms is small enough to carry, and the gameplay diverse enough for multiple gameplay.
The booster will allow you to collect and design you own Backrooms to carry with you to no-clip
anywhere.
Q: How long have you been working on the game?
A: For about a year now. I started thinking about making a trading card game in January of
this year (2022) but hadn’t found a theme until about March. By May I was
commissioning artist, and creating the rules while at my day job. Since I was a seasoned
solitaire player, I use my love and knowledge of the game to help me built the rules for
Backrooms TCG. The added mechanics came very natural and felt like they should be a
part of gameplay. It was almost like it was creating itself a lot of the time.
Q: How did you come up with the name Backrooms?
A: That was simple I obviously wanted it to have Backrooms in the name to link it with the
online presence, but I did have to think if I wanted to use TCG or CCG. I decided to go
with TCG because it felt more like what I was trying to achieve in a card game. I didn’t
want it to be just a collectable card game, I wanted people to get involved with it and
trading cards. I wanted players to create decks and make them a challenge for other
player to test out.
Q: What is the illustration/design process like?
A: First I do research on the entity or item I am going to make into a card. I don’t have an
artist gift of drawing but I do have over 10 years of Photoshop experience so I use that
to piece together a look from internet picture. I later found Midjourney an AI artist, to
be a great help in concept art. Once a design is visualized I contact an artist and
commission to work. I am a very organic creator and love to let collaborating artist
reflect themselves in art pieces. I rarely ask for revision, only when I think a piece is not
hitting the character correctly will I ask to have an element added. I love seeing an
illustrated piece come through with a different vision.
Q: When will the game be officially released?
A: The timeline for the game is TBD. I have just a few more commissions to assign. I would
really like to have the first issue of the digital comic finished as it is the companion story to
the TCG. The comic will give my original spin on the backrooms.
Q: What are your future plans for Backrooms?
A: I have so many plans. First I want to have starter decks made. I have three in design:
Yellow Deck, Green Deck, and Red Deck. The decks are at different difficulty levels to
make escaping harder. I also have a plan to launch a two player sister game. This game
will put Wanderers against each other and taking control of entities. The digital comic
will really help support the concept, and show how the games are connected.
Q: Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own TCG?
A: Design a game that you want to play and have fun designing it. We are here to bring a fun game to our community, keep that in your heart.
For more, follow @backroomstcg on Instagram and check out www.backroomstcg.com
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