I spoke with the creator of Magic, Swords, and Suns! Here are his answers to my questions:
Q: Please describe your trading card game!
A: Magic, Swords, and Suns is a battle trading card game in which players must defend their
stronghold against enemy players. Each player’s deck of 100 cards serves as their stronghold,
which the players must protect while attempting to destroy all of their opponent’s cards. During their respective turns, each player may engage in battle or fortify their defenses by wielding powerful weapons forged from magical crystals, laying traps to ensnare their opponents, and casting spells to boost their forces. For more info on the game, check out the official website at: www.swordsandsuns.com
Q: What inspired you to create your own TCG?
A: As a kid, I collected Pokémon cards and eventually got into playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with my
friends. I loved how many cards there were to choose from and how you could build your own
unique decks to use against your friends. I spent hours organizing my card collections into
binders and trying to build unstoppable decks. While I love all the games that inspired me, none of them offered the exact kind of gameplay I was looking for. For example, I loved when matches lasted longer than 30 minutes and when the gameplay felt like a back and forth exchange between two players instead of a one-sided beatdown. I’m also not a big fan of doing a lot of math or grabbing a notebook to keep track of lifepoints. In addition, while I loved collecting new cards, I found it hard to keep up with games that changed their core mechanics every few years and released increasingly complex cards in new sets, making my older decks obsolete. Around 2003, I decided that it would be fun to create my own card game. Magic, Swords, and Suns started with a simple idea and a pack of index cards. I introduced the game to a few of my close friends, who played with me after school, which helped me to refine the rules and think of new card ideas. Then, in 2011, I discovered The Game Crafter (an independent game-printing company and online marketplace) and Paint.NET (a free and easy-to-use graphic design software program). I realized that I could use these services to make a more professional version of Magic, Swords, and Suns and achieve my childhood dream of creating my own collectible card game. Over the course of eight years, I spent hundreds of hours deciding which cards to include in the official version, figuring out how to balance the two card sets, designing professional images, and working out issues in the rules by playtesting the game over and over again.
Q: What TCGs did you grow up playing as a kid?
A: Yu-Gi-Oh! was definitely the TCG I played most as a kid. I still love playing rounds of Yu-
Gi-Oh! on occasion with my close friends. I dabbled in Magic the Gathering a bit in college, but never got too deep into it. There were also a few other, smaller TCGs that I played here and there.
Q: What sets Magic, Swords, and Suns apart from other TCGs?
A: The most unique aspect of Magic, Swords, and Suns is the life-decking component. During
the game, the number of cards in each player’s deck indicates who currently has the advantage. Thanks to this unique feature, you only need your deck and a pair of dice to start a game. Each player builds a deck of exactly 100 cards and takes turns engaging in battle and fortifying their defenses. The objective is to make your opponent discard all the cards in their deck and hand, while protecting your own cards. Despite the large deck sizes, it is actually quite easy to cycle through your deck and find the cards you need. Thanks to the ability to play as many cards as you want from your hand and the requirement that you must have at least five cards in your hand at the start of each player’s turn, you can potentially draw a completely new hand at the start of each turn.
Q: How did you come up with the name Magic, Swords, and Suns?
A: The most prominent cards in Magic, Swords, and Suns are the magic cards and power cards. These two card types comprise at least 80% of most decks. Since the power cards (cards used for attacking) are either swords or suns, it made sense for the title of the game to reference the most commonly used card types.
Q: How long have you been working on the game?
A: I first began working on Magic, Swords, and Suns in 2003. At that point, I was around 12
years old and the game was just a fun personal project to do after school. Back then, I would
draw really basic designs on index cards. Eventually, I introduced the game to a few of my close friends, who played with me after school to refine the rules and think of new card ideas.
By the middle of high school, my idea had transformed into a full-fledged game, school project, and fun tradition for me and my friends. However, at this point, the cards were still just blocks of text and ultra-simplistic images printed on index cards. When I went to college, I put Magic, Swords, and Suns on the back burner for a few years. In 2011, I discovered The Game Crafter (an independent game-printing company and online marketplace) and Paint.NET (a free and easy-to-use graphic design software program), which I used to create a more professional version of Magic, Swords, and Suns that actually looked like the TCGs I played as a kid. In 2020, I finally finished the official website and shop!
Q: What is the illustration/design process like?
A: Luckily, I had a lot of ideas for card effects and rulings from the original version of the game that I created as a kid. When I began working on the professional version of Magic, Swords, and Suns, I chose which cards would appear in which set and then made sure that both of the sets were balanced. From there, I sketched out some ideas for what I wanted each card to look like. Once that was done, I used Paint.NET to turn my rough sketches into something that looked more finished and professional. It took some time to learn how to use the software to design cards, but luckily there are a lot of tutorials out there that walk you through how to create all kinds of objects and backgrounds. From there, it was just a matter of figuring out the best ways to layer my templates, artwork, and effects to create cards that matched my intended designs. There was a bit of difficulty getting the printed versions of the cards to match the colors on my digital designs, but after a while, I learned how to modify the files to get the colors as close as
possible.
Q: What are your future plans for Magic, Swords, and Suns?
A: Magic, Swords, and Suns currently has two card sets: Swords of Valor and Suns of Chaos.
Each of these sets has 140 unique cards. My ultimate goal for the game is to have a total of 1,000 unique cards across seven card sets. I already have a lot of ideas for new cards in sets 3 and 4, which would be the next to be released. However, I want to make sure that the cards in the new sets can stand on their own against the cards in the first two sets while adding to the overall game in fun and interesting ways. I don’t want newer card sets to supersede the existing sets or to drastically alter the way the game is played. So, definitely stay tuned for more cards, decks, and booster packs coming at some point in the future!
Q: Will you be at any upcoming conventions?
A: I honestly haven’t explored the convention scene too much yet. It’s been something that a few of my friends have brought up to me over the last few years. So, I definitely hope to set up some convention appearances eventually to spread the word about Magic, Swords, and Suns.
Q: Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own TCG?
A: I feel like there’s so much I could say here, but I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible and just focus on sharing what worked for me and what helped me push forward to the finish line.
The most important thing is definitely to have fun and create something that you truly enjoy.
There are no restrictions on what you can do with your game. The sky’s the limit in terms of
where your creativity can take you. Don’t overthink in terms of whether other people will enjoy your game or if your game will be the next big thing. If you love what you created and had fun making it, then that’s a massive accomplishment in and of itself. Plus, if you genuinely find your game fun to play, there are likely other people out there who will enjoy it too! The next piece of advice I would give is to make use of whatever tools are available to you. When I was a kid, I designed rough cards in MS Paint and printed them out on index cards. At that point, I didn’t think it would be possible to have a professional looking TCG printed on actual card stock. But then, I discovered The Game Crafter and Paint.NET, which showed me that it was possible to create my own card game. When I started working on the finalized version of Magic, Swords, and Suns, I initially felt like I couldn’t move forward due to my lack of artistic ability. I thought it would be impossible to complete the game without hiring an artist. But I ultimately decided to just go for it and watched a ton of tutorial videos for Paint.NET to teach myself the basics of graphic design, which allowed me to create artwork that I could be proud of. So, before you convince yourself that you can’t move forward, see which tools are available to you and make the most of them to achieve your goal.
The final piece of advice I have is to try testing your game out with as many friends as possible. Even if you don’t intend to sell your TCG, playtesting with friends can help you find rulings that are unfair or confusing. Plus, different people have very different strategies and approaches. So, seeing how other people play your game can give you cool new ideas and interesting directions to take the game. One of my favorite things about the process of playtesting Magic, Swords, and Suns was seeing my friends think of strategies that I had never even considered and creating unique deck builds that added new layers to the game.
For more, follow @swordsandsuns on Instagram
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