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Indie Gamer Community - Criteria

Most of us feel that they know what a card game is. But there are various items that are hard to classify, and that not everyone will agree on. Moreover, some activities that some people may consider games are out of scope for Indie Gamer Community. Here, we list the criteria that are currently used to determine if a game is in scope. Likely, as new items come up, new criteria will be added.

Core Criteria

These are the main criteria that are used to determine whether or not a game is in scope. Note that there is no criteria that says a card game can have a board, dice and other game elements to be in scope (provided they satisfy the other criteria).

 

Winning and Losing

 

To be in scope, there should be rules that structure the game, and that indicate when the a player (or team) has won the game (and other players have lost). This includes games where all players work together against the game. In those cases, it is important that there are also rules for losing the game. (It is insufficient if the players can only lose by giving up.)

For solitaire and cooperative games, a scoring at the end of the game may take the place for an actual win condition.

 

Requires components

 

The game requires some sort of components to play.

 

Played on Tabletop (More or Less)

 

To be considered a card game, a game must be playable on a tabletop, or failing that, within a room.
Any games that require play in or movement to the outdoors are virtually automatically outside the scope of TradingCardGuild. Any games which require a wide area that still comprises an indoor space are still likely to be deemed out of scope.

 

Portable

 

The game should be easily portable, which includes being small enough to be carried. 

 

Public Domain Games Are Out of Scope

 

In general, old public domain games are out of scope, as are variants of such games, unless they are available in a physical form (that is, a set consisting of all the material needed to play the game, and a rulebook).
Variants can be posted to the variants forum of the related game.

On TradingCardGuild, "public domain" generally refers to very old games, for which the copyright has long since expired, and for which the original designer is usually unknown. Recent titles usually do not fall into this category on TradingCardGuild, even when they legally have ended up in the public domain.

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Trading Card Guilds - Tags

 

Tags Status -

  • [In-Development] (Current)

  • [Funding] (Current)

  • [In-Production] (Current)

  • [Out of Production] (Historical)

 

Players: Select all play modes available with the game. [Rules must be provided for each]

  • [Dueling] - face off versus one opponent

  • [Multiplayer] - capable of supporting three or more players in free-for-all play mode

  • [Solitaire] - game provides solo play mode

  • [Teams] - play mode using allied groups of players, eg 2v2

  • [Roleplay] - Role playing created characters in a imaginary world, 

 

Genre: Select the genre(s) that apply to your game. (Example media)

  • [Adult] - contains themes not suited for young audience, may include NSFW content (Ex: Spawn, Game of Thrones)

  • [Childrens] - content is all SFW with artwork and themes in a non-graphic manner (Ex: Gravity Falls, Avatar)

  • [Fantasy] - fictional world, may include magical elements, (Ex: X-men, Lockwood & Co.)

  • [Humor] - meant to entertain in a comedic manner, (Ex: Uncle from Another World, Community)

  • [Occult] - encompasses horror, supernatural and other surreal themes (Ex: Stranger Things, Midnight Mass)

  • [Period] - relies on a particular time in history, (Ex: The Crown, Mad Men)

  • [Sci-Fi] - technological advancements over modern day (Ex: Logan’s Run, Gundam)

  • [Sports] - centered around a particular sport, (Ex: Creed, Hidalgo)

  • [Super-Hero] - centered around super hero's and villains, (Ex: Alpha Clash)

  • [Thriller] - suspense driven, may include murder, conspiracy and/or psychological elements (Ex: Inception, Black Mirror)

  • [War] - the battlefield, nations in conflict, is integral to the theme, (Ex: Babylon Berlin, The Last Kingdom)

 

Type: Select all that apply to the accessibility of the game.

  • [Constructed] - non-fixed, player created deck building

  • [Digital] - has online play mode (link)

  • [Expandable] - purchasable only in non-randomized products, (Ex: Discovery, Fantasy Flight LCG’s)

  • [Fixed] - pre-constructed, no player changes outside shuffling pre-existing decks together (Ex: Smash Up, KeyForge)

  • [Physical] - has physical product available

  • [Trading] - has a method of trading cards between players.

 

Mechanics: Select all that apply to the core mechanisms of the game–elements are integral to the rules and are not card specific.

  • [Bluff] - relies on deception through hidden game elements

  • [Cooperative] - victory with other players

  • [Dice Rolling] - has variability through use of dice

  • [Grid Movement] - regulated card movement, (Ex Games: Warlord, Pixel Tactics)

  • [Miniatures] - requires use of game specific non-card elements, accompanied by a game board, (Ex Game: Legions)

  • [Player Elimination] - victory through knocking out opponents, (Ex: last man standing)

  • [Randomized] - non-dice variability mechanic, (Ex: coin flips, rock paper scissors)

  • [Score Based] - victory by achieving a set value

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Full Credits:

  • Primary Name: [Entry]

  • Alternate Names: [Entry]

  • Year Released: [Entry]

  • Status:[Current/Historical] [In-Dev|Crowd|In-Pro|Out-of-Pro]

  • Designer: [list all]

  • Solo Designer: [Y/N]

  • Artists: Publisher: [Entry]

  • Developer: [Entry]

  • Graphic Designer: [Entry]

  • Sculptor: [Entry]

  • Editor: [Entry]

  • Writer: [Entry]

  • Insert Designer: [Entry]

  • Products: [links here]

  • Links: [Email] [Website] [Social etc]

  • Players: [Tags]

  • Genre: [Tags]

  • Type: [Tags]

  • Mechanics: [Tags]

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Full Credits: [Example]

  • Primary Name: Ethos Customizable Card Game 

  • Alternate Names: Ethos

  • Year Released: n/a

  • Status: Current [In-Development]

  • Designer: Charles Silva

  • Solo Designer: Yes

  • Artists: TBA

  • Publisher: n/a

  • Developer: n/a

  • Graphic Designer: TBD

  • Sculptor: n/a

  • Editor: n/a

  • Writer: n/a

  • Insert Designer: n/a

  • Products: [links here]

  • Links: [Email] [Website] [Social etc]

  • Players: [Solo | 1v1 | Multiplayer | Teams]

  • Genre: [Adult | Fantasy | Occult]

  • Type: [Constructed | Digital | Physical | Trading]

  • Mechanics: [Dice Rolling | Player Elimination]

 

A Note on Existing Archive Entries

 

The archive contains items that, based on the guidelines above, are out of scope for Indie Gamer Community. They may have been entered when the policy was different or less specific. Others may have gotten added in error. Often, these entries are allowed to remain, to avoid destroying user data. This means that existing items are not always a good example of what is in scope for Indie Gamer Community, and an item may be deemed out of scope even if there is a similar item in the database.

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