I spoke with Anthony Fasano, the creator of PotionSlingers! Here are his answers to my questions:
Q: Please describe your card game!
A: PotionSlingers is a deck building, card comboing BREW-HA-HA! Players each pick a two-sided character, each with their own deckbuilding themes and abilities, then buy cards from a shared market; slinging potions and accruing magical junkyard objects until their well laid out plans snowball into efficient card combinations! Win the game by eliminating your opponents, or by collecting the most Essence cubes!
Q: What inspired you to create a card game?
A: I failed at developing a videogame for over a year, so I scrapped 90% of my resources to regroup, and kept all of the worldbuilding, characters, and lore. Then I tried to make another videogame and failed that too! So I scrapped 90% of my resources, regrouped again, and sat long and hard on how easy it is to let scope creep move the goal posts impossibly far away! I do all of the art, but didn't want to try to learn programming again, so I went back to my roots, back to when my brother and I used to collect and make our own card games. I play a lot of magic the gathering, collect a lot of old or dead trading card games, and love engine builders, so I decided to make something I didn't need help with! 5 years later and PotionSlingers hit conventions and store shelves!
Q: What card games did you grow up playing as a kid?
A: Even though I play a lot of Magic now, I totally skipped it as a kid. I was obsessed with Pokemon, since everything first came out and we were hearing about it on the schoolyard. It was in Japan still at the time, but we started to see it in corner stores back in Chinatown and Little Italy. They eventually banned Pokemon at school when kids were stealing cards, so we moved over to Yugioh and got much more 'back alley' after school about it. We also started making our own cards; I still have my "dopeymon" cards my lil bro and I made that my mom laminated for us. It was a combination of Pokemon/Yugioh in every way.
Q: What sets Potion Slingers apart from other games?
A: I'm too weird maybe! I love classic RPGs that aren't afraid to be strange, so I would be lying if I didn't try to make this game so much more of itself than other games. I am trying to hit that weirdo magical thrift shop vibe, where all of the potions are one of a kind, all of the artifacts are rusty and chipping paint, and everything is covered in a lil' grime, including the characters.
As for the mechanics, I like deckbuilders, but hate when you get a card for your deck, and it shuffles in never to be seen again, ESPECIALLY when you need it and are a turn away from losing. I make the decks face up. When you buy cards from the market they enter face up on top of your deck, and then enter your "holster" last-in-first-out style. That way, you can really organize WHEN cards can be used, and plan your turns with confidence! You also stack cards underneath others that you plan on comboing, sort of like mixing potions together, so you can make more room, too!
Q: How long have you been working on the game?
A: Well, if you count the videogame concepts for the RPG and the point and click adventure, it's 7 years. If you just consider the moment I decided card game till I released it, then 5 years. If you consider expansions, then I have no idea! I'm still busting my buns on this! I want to turn it into a Co-Op dungeon crawler, not just PvP!
Q: How did you come up with the name Potion Slingers?
A: It just has really good mouthfeel. I wrote every combination and synonym for potions + action under the sun, and nothing felt quite as good to say as "PotionSlingers." Kinda like Gunslingers, but with wicked brews. My favorite thing at conventions is watching people silently mouth it to themselves as they walk by, or belt out a big "POTIONN SLINGERRRRRRS."
Q: What is the illustration/design process for the game?
A: Oh boy, I have a lot of trouble keeping myself to task, so I come up with little games. Once I came up with the 4 key item types, I split them up into abilities and themes, and while playtesting I would give them as complicated of a name or concept as possible. Some examples are "A Particularly Frightening Shade of Purple," "A Kind but Ultimately Thoughtless Gesture," and "A Bottle Containing the Least Amount of Spiders, Absolutely Definitely NOT Spiders." Then it would be a challenge for me to illustrate whatever that Potion would look like! In order to prevent myself from designing and drawing the easy ones first, I used the deck I was playtesting with and would pull one randomly and force myself to draw that one. I slammed through 5-10 hand drawn illustrations a day for a while, and then scanned and colored them digitally.
Q: Will you be at any upcoming conventions?
A: I just came back from TooManyGames in Northwest Philadelphia, and I'll be at PAX Unplugged this Winter!
Q: What are your future plans for the Potion Slingers?
A: I'm making a videogame, and an expansion! Sort of, for both of them. My brother is the videogame designer, and he is translating the card game into a videogame version! Unlike uploading it to Tabletop Simulator, we are gonna go for a more "videogame-y" approach and will have your character's arm physically throw potions at your opponents! It'll still be card focused, but not a 1:1 tabletop game. Also, the expansion is more of the Dungeon Crawl I was talking about! I'm going to use the PvP mechanics I built to be able to scramble to different locales, move pieces on a map, fight monsters (and sometimes tame them like lil' Pokemon!), and fell big Bosses, then use their weapons! I want it to be so much bigger than the original, it's more like a new game that plays well with the original cards. Sort of like Portal 2 I guess?
Q: Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own game?
A: Contact me! I am very approachable and always take the time to answer questions. Hit me up on email or socials, they are all just "PotionSlingers."
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