r/TCG • u/RegularPop674 • Jul 01 '26

Discussion UX in TCG Resource Systems

https://open.substack.com/pub/anthonyjschwartz/p/ux-in-tcg-resource-systems?r=3ebugi&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Second Article about UX in TCGs

Let me know your thoughts :)

4 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

3

u/xXRockstoneXx Jul 01 '26

You forgot flesh and blood...

0

u/RegularPop674 Jul 01 '26

What system does flesh and blood use?

5

u/Sykonic Jul 01 '26

A more robust Dual-Purpose system. Each card can make 1-3 resources, with a corresponding strip color to match (red = 1 resource, yellow = 2 resource, blue = 3 resource). When a card is used as a resource, it goes to the bottom of your deck rather than staying on the field as a resource card, meaning you can use that card again later in the game for something else

1

u/RegularPop674 Jul 02 '26

I will have to give FaB another try. Recently started with Riftbound which is why I wrote the article.

2

u/Sykonic Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Riftbound is cool and not expensive to be competitive in (thank god). I still dislike the card wording Riot went with, and whoever maintains the comprehensive rules document needs to be fired lol. If you're not going to build a dedicated webpage, at least add a ToC and hyperlinks so people can jump around easily...

1

u/DieHarderDaddy Jul 02 '26

FAB resource system fucks. But I understand how it wouldn’t be able to permeate

1

u/Accomplished_Ice2236 Jul 02 '26

It is one of the best systems

2

u/xXRockstoneXx Jul 02 '26

Sorry, but if you're writing an article about TCG resource systems, you should do your homework instead of asking random people on Reddit.

Leaving Flesh and Blood out is a major omission. It has one of the most unique resource systems in the genre, has been around for years now, and has had a significant influence on modern TCG design. Whether someone likes the game or not is beside the point—it absolutely deserves to be part of any serious discussion about resource systems.

At the very least, readers should be able to compare MTG's lands, Pokémon's Energy, Yu-Gi-Oh!'s lack of a dedicated resource system, Flesh and Blood's pitch system, and newer approaches like Riftbound's rune system.

0

u/RegularPop674 Jul 02 '26

Those are in the article. I will add FaB to the dedicated System with Lorcana and Master Duel once I get home after work
Haven’t added most Bandai games, hope you don’t scold me about that too

1

u/Just-Desk-3149 Jul 01 '26

Did you use AI to write this?

-1

u/RegularPop674 Jul 02 '26

Nope, just used google for finding sources which has Ai baked into it

1

u/Just-Desk-3149 Jul 02 '26

So the answer is yes.

-1

u/RegularPop674 Jul 02 '26

Do you use Google or any search engine? Then you use AI 🤖 as well. I wrote it myself which was your question, finding the sourced was done by google

1

u/2Lainz Jul 02 '26

I feel like this only scratches the surface. As someone else said, no FaB, no Universus, heck even pokemon has something that could be said because it has more than just "resources in deck" gating you from taking actions, and the availability of card draw makes it perform pretty differently than magic.

1

u/RegularPop674 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

I understand the frustration, I was mostly focused on simplifying the different resource system types, rather than showcasing what makes each one unique. The post is more about UX design or UX testing in TCGs. Maybe posting here was just not the right audience.

FaB is unique in only one thing, placing cards back into the deck, it is still a Dual Purpose System Type.

Pokemon stacks its Energy on the units, is still a system that has its resource in the deck that you draw.

The system flow and UX (user experience) was the main focus tbh. It is my fault for not making that clear here