I spoke to the creators of WARD! Here are their answers to my questions:
Q: Please describe your trading card game!
A: Ward is a trading card game that blends aspects from other popular TCGs like Pokemon, Yugioh, and Magic: The Gathering, but adds a Dungeons and Dragons style, dice rolling, battle system. We then simplified all aspects/systems so anyone can learn how to play with ease.
Q: What inspired you to create your own TCG?
A: Ward was inspired by creator Joe Casey when he decided to buy a few packs of a new card game (We will not say which). He had always loved card games of any type, Pokemon, Yugioh, Magic, Cribbage, Poker, and so many more. He brought the packs home, opened them up and read the rules in order to play it. For several hours, he and another future Ward associate, could not figure out the rules or general layout of playing the game. YouTube videos did not explain it well either. Eventually, they gave up and moved on. The idea for Ward was not created on this day, but the future concept of “ease of access” refers back to this incident constantly during any play testing and rulemaking. Ward was birthed on a snowy Minnesota day. The temperature was -20 and there was so much snow that a full-size plow truck was getting stuck in a parking lot nearby. There was not much else to do on a day like this, so the creator began to mess around with a painting application. During that session, he created a card, a simple card of a small friendly goblin. It was not a good-looking card, but this goblin was the first Ward card to ever exist. In summary, after this card was created, more and more began to emerge. Soon there were enough cards created over several weeks to make a game, and rules for that game. With the concept of simplicity, and ease of access always in mind. He sat down to play this game with his wife, who was reluctant as she has never been a Trading Card Game fan like him. In short, she was blown away by the game and they played all night for a full weekend. There is far more to the story, but this sums up how WARD was born.
Q: What TCGs did you grow up playing as a kid?
A: Like many 80s/ 90s kids, Pokemon was the first trading Card Game both Ward owners ever played. Magic may have been the first, but Pokemon did something to the trading card game market that magic could not have done without it. Wizards of the coast, who manufactured and created the original Pokemon TCG, has made this very same statement. They also played lots of cribbage, both single and team and in several tournaments. As they grew, their younger brothers coaxed them into playing Yugioh, which turned out to be a lot of fun with all the crazy “chaining” that card effects had. Several years pass and as the brothers enter college, this is when they became attuned to the hit that is Magic: The Gathering.
Q: What sets Ward apart from other TCGs?
A: WARD is not like any other TCGs. It takes inspiration from many different games, but there is nothing like WARD. It is compared to Magic a lot, but we would both say that it’s closer to playing a mixture of Pokemon and Yugioh, and those two are still not even close to what WARD is. To answer your question, WARD has two types of cards. Creature cards, and magic cards. Creatures are the driving force behind WARD, as they are the ones on the field literally sacrificing themselves for you the player (you sadistic animal). We at WARD had a vision, to make a card game that is simple to learn, but hard to master, and makes you feel more attached to the creatures you summon. Second, we have our magic cards. These are played before, during, and after battle. They provide anything from powering up your creatures, weakening your opponent, completely wiping the field of cards, and SO much more. There is no limit to magic card effects. Our next goal with WARD was to make it feel like your summoned creatures are actually fighting each other on the field. Most card games have very simple concepts for battle. For exp: Pokemon you take turns doing set damage, Yugioh the higher attack creature wins, and Magic and hearthstone both have similarconcepts. WARD you are rolling DICE! Like DnD, sometimes the dice gods are inyour favor, and sometimes they laugh at your turmoil. These dice rolls, mixed with magic cards, make for an extremely fun back and forth battle between your summoned creatures. We believe no one has been able to do this like us in a card game before. Think of all the best aspects of a DnD battle, and then simplified with only 6-sided dice. Now add in the addicting aspects that a trading card game brings with it, and trust me, you got something really fun.
Q: How did you come up with the name Ward?
A: The original name for WARD was really boring “Fantasy Dungeon Battles” …Yeah, we know. WARD is actually the name of a planet in our created universe. In short, “The Creator” (GOD) in our universe noticed that one of his planets was more interesting than the rest. It spouted life! Due to this he created beings of pure light (Angels) to watch over the planet and protect it, but never interfere with the natural balance of the creatures that live there. He named it WARD as he is protecting the planet. This is why we named it WARD. We suggest checking out the rest of the history. Tom Casey spent a lot of time on it. There are videos slowly releasing, but if you are not a patient person, you can read the full history RIGHT NOW!
Q: How long have you been working on the game?
A: This is a hard question for both of us to answer, as officially it has been a short time. But we both feel like we have been working on WARD our entire life. We have always loved creating games, histories, and stories. When playing any Halo game, we spent most of our time in the forge creating fantastic maps and game types of some crazy ideas. There is so much more than this. WARD is the culmination of 30+ years of two nerdy brothers finally taking all that absorbed knowledge from every bit of media, they consumed, and put it into something that would bring themselves and everyone else joy. We guarantee you will come across a card in WARD that will remind you of some story, comic, video game, or movie you love.
Q: What is the illustration/design process like?
A: Long to keep it simple. It all begins with an idea of what we want a card to be. For example, an orc card. We then need to figure out what we want the orc to look like, and what he is doing in the image. This is a mixture of brainstorming ideas, to very simple drawings, and even scouring other images to get an idea. After we have an idea, we will send images to our Illustrator (Mark Evans) and give him many liberties in what he feels would work best. However, Mr. Evans is always instructed to keep our art style of 1980s comic books intact. He has proven to bephenomenal at doing this. He has done all 150 WARD cards, plus booster images. We can’t thank him enough. If you read this Mark, keep it up.
Q: When will the game officially be released?
A: Good News! WARD has been released already, and is carried in several brick- and-mortar locations, as well as our online store. We have also seen some ebay resale for a few cards and booster packs. For now, it’s the good old fashion card shops, online sales, and conventions. WARD far exceeded our expectations in sales for our Legacy/ Promo phase. We sold out of our first print very quickly. DON’T WORRY! You can pre order WARD starter decks online still at our website AND FOR 10% OFF. Just cause we love ya. We are on track to have our next, much larger order, in before the end of July 2023. Also, to all those who purchased the Legacy packs, WE THANK YOU! Without out you, WARD does not exist. Now we can spread this addicting/ fun card game to more and more people.
Q: What are your future plans for Ward?
A: Obviously we will say things like expansions, and tournaments and so on. But what our company goal right now is getting WARD into as many physical locations as possible. We want EVERYONE to be able to experience WARD and have as much fun as we, and the Legacy pack people have had.
Q: Will you be at any upcoming conventions?
A: Yes, a few local vending events like street dances, and festivals, but we are gearing up for Comicon in Duluth MN in mid-October 2023. We are scheduling out more conventions into 2024. If any news of our attendance at conventions changes, we will update our social media and website with that information. We also have the first official WARD tournament being hosted by Ruins and Relics in Virginia MN, and Sponsored by the Liberty Land YouTube channel @libertyland. This tournament will determine the first ever WARD world ranking system. We are very excited to see everyone’s fun deck builds. If you haven’t guessed by now, we are based out of the Midwest, Minnesota to be exact. We are quickly spreading to other states though. WARD is coming to you soon, we promise.
Q: Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own TCG?
A: Make something YOU want to play, and others like you will join in. It all starts with the decision to DO IT. Ideas are great, but if no one knows you have them, then no one can enjoy your great things. Be prepared for lots and lots of work. When we go places, everyone has ideas for cards, AND THAT’S GREAT! That is the best part of the process, coming up with card ideas. However, there is so much more to it. Sales pitches, traveling fees, licensing, attorney payments, manufacturing, illustrating, authoring. It is a lot of work for one person to do alone. Find a good friend or relative to ease the work load. I could never have done this without my brother Tom Casey next to me. I may have been the one to create WARD, but Tom was the one to make WARD real. I would also like to thank my beautiful wife for being on board with this from the beginning. She pushed me forward when I felt like WARD was never going to work. She believed more than I even did. Love you QQ!
WEBSITE- Home | Ward (ward-cardgame.com)
YOUTUBE- @Wardtradingcardgame
FACEBOOK- @wardthecardgame
INSTAGRAM- @wardcardgame
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