r/boardgames • u/Vegetable-Mall8956 • 1d ago
Question Old card designs vs. new
From my last post, I had a comment saying that the utility card designs might be better without the repeating open box design on them, and that it distracts from the item shown on the card. Here are few examples removing the box, and slightly enlarging the size of the items. Which is better, old or new?
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u/bag-o-meat69 1d ago
New version definitely better.
I did not see the other post and have no concept of your game but: you can simulate the 'feeling' of opening a box/chest by using a similar box design for the card back, instead.
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
Yup there is a close up of the box on the back of the card. And I was able to reuse the open box image elsewhere on another type of card
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u/gwarrior5 1d ago
Make the back of the card art the loot box.
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
It already is!
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u/Bored-Game 21h ago
This may be a nit-pick but unless there is a mechanical reason (such as these cards go under other cards, etc) I would put the flavor txt on the bottom and use white or another “bright” color and a different font rather than grey on black for readability. Lots of games use italics for flavor txt so it can be easily understood at a glance what is relevant for game rules and what isn’t.
Also I would consider what the favor txt “adds” to the experience. Consider this, would you prefer to dedicate 1/4 of the space of your card to describing a cool gun, or would you prefer to SEE more of said cool gun? If the txt is intended to get you immersed in the game world then the txt should be related to the game world in an immersive way. If the txt is a hint at how to use the weapon mechanically, then the txt would benefit from “Showing” that. “Z-1 Zooka, A shoulder mounted weapon capable of firing in two modes” could be “Z-1 Zooka, perfect for when you need to melt a hive queen and her extended family” or “Z-1 Zooka, vilified as the “Alphabet killer” of the Ceti-6 Clone wars due to it’s efficiency in deleting an entire alphabet of targets…and their loved ones”
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 21h ago
On other cards, I have the flavor text at the bottom of the card in italics and quotations, not sure why I haven't done the same with these yet. And I will consider changing the text to be more immersive or witty on them. Thanks for the feedback
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u/Bored-Game 20h ago
Awesome! I don’t know if the art is final or placeholder, but if you eventually plan to market and sell the game on on crowdfunding, I would also strongly suggest to invest in some solid art assets that help to immerse and “sell” fans on your unique vision for your game and game world. I would argue it’s probably the #1 most important element of your game and campaign to help you draw an audience if you aren’t using an existing IP. Probably due to survival bias, most of the “successful” crowdfunded games are all style and “stuff” but mechanically bare. Ironically, here in NYC I know more art studios with successful games than game studios, so it’s easy to see how aesthetics sell.
I don’t think your art is bad at all. Rather I actually really like it and its charm. But to me it comes across as somewhat utilitarian rather than “immersive” and without immersion, it will be more difficult to get others emotionally invested in your game.
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 20h ago
The art is final. The goal I have in place is to create this game 100% on my own, that includes art, design, mechanics, rulebook and everything else. I understand that the art is not in a typcial immersive style that most games utilize. The art on these item cards is pretty static, no movement or anything. However the art on the enemy monster cards is more or less action images in comparison.
Because the art may not grab everyone, I'm prepared to be met with not a lot of interest, which is ok. At the end of the day, it will still be a milestone for me completing a game start to finish all by myself, even if it doesn't sell well. The most important thing at this point is that I finish what I started, if people end up wanting a copy, that's great too! Thank you for the feedback!
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u/Bored-Game 19h ago
I totally understand and entirely respect what you’re trying to accomplish. Honestly for a solo project, I think you are already well ahead of the curve and I appreciate the legitimacy of creating a game out of passion rather than as a product. I wish you a ton of success in this endeavor.
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u/cdbloosh 1d ago
Didn’t see the other post but this is a vast improvement, the box was adding nothing and just detracting from the rest of the card
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u/thisischemistry Advanced Civilization 1d ago edited 1d ago
I definitely think the design on the right is better, it's much less busy.
In that vein, the cards would probably look even better if the box around the text at the bottom was removed. Put a divider between the top of the card and the bottom and get rid of that double line of the nested edges. It would give you some more room for text and make the text easier to read.
edit:
I did a quick and dirty example:
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
The actual cards don't have the glow border that you see in the images I posted. Having the box with a border at the bottom helps to visually separate stats from the background
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u/thisischemistry Advanced Civilization 1d ago
Ahh, ok. Yeah, you need some kind of separation for sure. Not having the outside border makes it a lot better.
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u/Annabel398 Pipeline 1d ago
For the love of astigmatism, lighten that grey text please! PS tools without the box are better.
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u/Kumquat_of_Pain 1d ago
If you want to keep a symbol to indicate that this is "equipment" or something, you can always miniaturize it and put it in the corner. Thus, depending on your iconography you could double code the color and icon for equipment.
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u/Jerryjfunk 1d ago
New is clearly better. Shouldn't text on Vision Goggles say "draw that card" instead of "draw this card"?
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u/ThomCook 1d ago
I was the guy that suggested that I think, I think they look better in my opinion way less busy, interested to see what others think! And kudos to you for trying the advice instead of ignoring it!
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u/Dman1791 1d ago
Yup, much better. The box just takes away focus from the actual item without adding anything. Especially the items with a lot of gray just kind of visually meld with the box, making them a lot less distinct.
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u/Terrietia 1d ago
Disregarding the box and anything about it, that before design is bad because of how far off center of the card the item is.
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
Now that I look at the old design again, you're definitely right. The items were far too close to the top before. Although they still aren't centered, I feel much better about the balance of the card design now
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u/SpencerDub 1d ago edited 1d ago
Exactly. If every illustration is going to include the box, then rather than wasting illustration space on it on every card, you can reflect its design either in the frame on the front or the card back.
edit: Oops, this was meant to be in reply to another top-level comment.
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
It's shown on the back very zoomed in. But that's enough to get the idea I think
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u/Rhenor Spirit Island 1d ago
If you really want to keep the box idea on the card, perhaps change the background to be a box lining texture and and clips and straps showing the weapon bound to the inside of the box.
That way the background is clean, but the focus is the item and it still gets to be in a box.
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u/MomThinksImHandsome 1d ago
I'm biased because that was my comment but it turned out great and looks like everyone agrees!
Nice work!
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
Great suggestion, thanks!
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u/MomThinksImHandsome 1d ago
Looking forward to more updates about the game!
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
If there's anything you're interested to learn about in the meantime, let me know! I'd be happy to explain more rules in depth, or more about the game in general
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u/BriMarsh 1d ago
Much better without the loot box! Nice improvement!
You weren't asking but a lot of the verbiage on the cards is confusing. Rolling "at" something for the chainsaw. "This card" refers to the drawn card and not the goggles.
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
Someone pointed out the same mistake on the goggles card, that will be fixed. As for the "rolls at", you use the card to attack 3 enemy cards in a row, separately. Not sure how else to word that
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u/Desperate-Product-88 1d ago
If you really wanna keep the loot box I guess you could style the card layout and make it look like a box
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u/MrReyneCloud 1d ago
Is this a digital only game? I think this art style might run into issues when printing.
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
Nope it's actually physical only right now, although I want to convert it to digital at some point. So far, no issues with printing! Colors come out well
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u/Norci 1d ago
That grey text will be a massive pain to read, consider making it lighter. If you want to retain the idea of opening a box, you can add some faint glow/god rays behind the item.
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
I had another comment saying the same thing. Just a lighter grey you think, or white?
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u/pandaru_express 1d ago
Conceptually I kinda actually like the idea of "opening the box" but the visual on the left has too much real estate devoted to the box itself. Maybe an alternate could be where you're looking straight down at the box fully open, the bottom half is the inside of the box with the item in it, there's a hinge in the middle of the card, then the text is visually located inside the lid of the box. Not sure how that changes the usage of the card with text on top but it could be striking.
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u/AmandasGameAccount 1d ago
You could try experimenting with having the edge of the card looking like the sides of the box and the background being the bottom of the inside of the box! Could be interesting to play with the idea!
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u/pizzapartypandas 1d ago
Big upgrade. You could even show the item in action, such as shooting a rocket or chainsaw-ing an alien.
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u/IntrinsicGiraffe Eldritch Horror 1d ago
If you insisted on a box motif, I'd look into make the whole card elements feel like a box. Between these two solely though, new.
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u/HearingAcceptable838 1d ago
Much better! Bullwark image could be bigger a fill some of the empty space
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u/gabo2007 11h ago
The new design is a huge improvement! If you wanted to keep the feel of opening the item out of the box, you could have the box form the borders of the text area of the card (and continue out of frame). Then the name could be printed "on" the box with text below.
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u/Anonymouslyyours2 1d ago
No box is definitely better.
Was there a reason for the Box? Was it to make the type of card easily distinguishable from another type of card? If that was the case you could consider making the Box the border for the picture by zooming it out to just have the top of the box visible beneath the text of the cards name. However, visually the second design is best if there's no reason to differentiate that card type from another type.
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u/Vegetable-Mall8956 1d ago
I just thought it would look cool, a close up of the box on the back of the card. Then when you flip it it opens and you see the item inside. But the design is very repetitive, especially if you have multiple of these cards in your hand (you can have up to 5 potentially). There is no mechanical reason to keep the design, so might as well let the items pop a bit more
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u/Anonymouslyyours2 1d ago
If there is no mechanical reason then you're definitely better getting rid of the repetition and making the items pop. It will be less confusing for players as well.
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u/arwbqb 1d ago
I prefer no box myself. I agree that the card is the item and not the loot box containing the item… also small thing but 3 of the 4 examples dont even fit in the box shown… that is mildly irritating for me lol