u/rjot28

Thought I'd share some progress on the illustrations and chugging along towards a full complete deck! So far I have completed the Wood and Water elements and about halfway through the Fire elements. It's very rewarding to put them all side by side on actual pieces of paper (feels like childhood again haha). On the other hand I wonder if the amount of details for each creature is enough and whether they feel cohesive.

I also had another playtest (finally!) with a bunch of friends who came over in the weekends and we had quite a lot of fun! There are some Spell cards (formerly Special Action Cards) like Hotpot (pic attached) where it redistributes cards from the largest hand to smallest hand, which prevents the "small hand death spiral" problem. Hand combo remains the most fun aspect, but Spell cards have improved as well. Lastly, the revised single Attack rule actually helps the balance so I just want to thank everyone for the constructive feedback.

Cheers and will keep going!

So since the last post on card UI design is well received, I'm currently looking into a complimentary design for the card back.

I know it looks generic right now, but there are a few design choices that are intentional:

- The Element cycle in the centre is so that players don't have to consult the rule book all the time and be able to deduce which elements beats what just through the card back

- The Cyclemental logo type is custom made (yes with trackpad on top of the sketch coz im old school and image trace doesnt work as well for me). Typography is my weakest design skill so Im testing this kind of look and would love feedback from the experts.

- The Qi card is distinctly different so all players can easily keep track of who is about to win. Theoretically this should introduce some tension to play the cards but also reduce the element of bluffing

- Finally the textured vortex cloud is hand painted. The initial version has colours but i thought the contrast might be better as monochrome overlayed with the colourful elemental cycle.

Few questions:
- Does it feel too busy or just right?
- What do you think makes card back iconic?
- How can I improve the design?

Thank you again and keen to hear your thoughts!

So since the card UI design is well received, I'm currently looking into a complimentary design for the card back.

I know it looks generic right now, but there are a few design decisions I made that was intentional:

- The Element cycle in the centre is so that players don't have to consult the rule book all the time and be able to deduce which elements beats what just through the card back
- The Cyclemental logo type is custom made (yes with trackpad on top of the sketch coz im old school and image trace doesnt work as well for me). Typography is my weakest design skill so Im testing this kind of look and would love feedback from the experts.
- The Qi card is distinctly different so all players can easily keep track of who is about to win. Theoretically this should introduce some tension to play the cards but also reduce the element of bluffing
- Finally the textured vortex cloud is hand painted. The initial version has colours but i thought the contrast might be better as monochrome overlayed with the colourful elemental cycle.

Few questions:
- Does it feel too busy or just right?
- What do you think makes card back iconic?
- How can I improve the design?

Thank you again and keen to hear your thoughts!

Hi all, appreciate the support in the last post and glad the artwork is resonating! I'll continue to steam ahead with the labor of love of illustrating the 60 creature cards for the first set. Here are some of the water creatures.

Haven't had further chances to playtest yet so I thought id also focus on the number 1 feedback from the last post: improving the card layout UI.

I experimented with hand drawn card layout and watercolor layout but in the end a mix of digital brush feels more controllable without having to redraw and manually rescanning and cleaning boxes every time. Rice paper suggestion was also a stroke of genius as a suggestion from before. I also took on the feedback of improving the ratio for better legibility so ppl can read it properly.

Personally i feel like this matches the artwork more than before but feels like can always push more. Also wondering if the brush strokes UI are too much?

Thank you again and lmk if you have any feedback!

Appreciate the support in the last post and glad the artwork is resonating! I'll continue to steam ahead with the labor of love of illustrating the 60 creature cards for the first set. Here are some of the water creatures.

Haven't had further chances to playtest yet so I thought id also focus on the number 1 feedback from the last post: improving the card layout UI.

I experimented with hand drawn card layout and watercolor layout but in the end a mix of digital brush feels more controllable without having to redraw and manually rescanning and cleaning boxes every time. Rice paper suggestion was also a stroke of genius as a suggestion from before. I also took on the feedback of improving the ratio for better legibility so ppl can read it properly.

Personally i feel like this matches the artwork more than before but feels like can always push more. Also wondering if the brush strokes UI are too much?

Thank you again and lmk if you have any feedback!

I am currently designing a party strategy card game based on the elemental cycle and thought it might be interesting to experiment with traditional media. With the newborn this is the fastest way i can produce art as I can block out silhouettes quickly. Plus ink and watercolor dries fast as well so it suits my style.

The problem is it's not "standard" card game look and feel (which might be plus or minus). Also because the unpredictable way of how ink behaves it's a gamble between looking like an unfinished job vs the brush strokes adding energy to the creatures. Should i keep going / refine with digital / abandon direction?

I also tried to put the cleaned up illustration in context of the card layout. Trying to figure out if the layout make sense? The Doubles and Triples on every card seems excessive but I also take on all the previous feedback that no one wants to look at the rulebook halfway through the game for every element.

Thank you and any constructive feedback welcomed. Cheers!

I thought it might be interesting to experiment with traditional media given the elemental cycle is from the Chinese Wu Xing concept. With the newborn this is the fastest way i can produce art (between diaper changes) as I can block out silhouettes quickly. Plus ink and watercolor dries fast as well so it suits my style.

The problem is it's not "standard" card game look and feel (which might be plus or minus). Also because the unpredictable way of how ink behaves it's a gamble between looking like an unfinished job vs adding energy to the creatures.

I also tried to put the cleaned up illustration in context of the card layout. Trying to figure out if the layout make sense? The Doubles and Triples on every card seems excessive but I also take on all the previous feedback that no one wants to look at the rulebook halfway through the game for every element.

As usual any constructive feedback welcomed. Cheers!

Hi everyone, huge thanks for the response to my first post here! Genuinely didn't expect the level of engagement, analysis, and encouragement. Really helped to keep me going and putting more effort into the game.

I've read through the feedback and thought about it a bit more. From what I can synthesise, the big themes were:
- Attacking was way too disincentivised.
- Some of the rules wording was ambiguous and inconsistent
- Hand combos balance
- Special action cards were too generic

UPDATED RULESET (19 June 2026)

I've updated the ruleset with the pink highlights on the second image:
- Successful counters now just discard the attacker's card. Elegant solve by u/yixist
- Special action cards are updated to be more specific and unique to the mechanics of the game (cheers u/servalmodest )
- Hand combinations are changed a little (e.g. Metal can now get cards from the discard pile ) and now capped at once per turn (honestly probs require playtesting to see if it's better to be once or unlimited).
- Changes to language and fixed some grammatical errors (y english so hard), etc.

PLAYTESTING

As for playtesting, I'm still trying to figure out the different online options suggested but it feels quite intimidating to setup? Idk. For now, I've put together a free low fidelity print-and-play version in the images above (feel free to download!). No art yet just generic placeholder text and icons. The reason is because I want to focus on the mechanics and layout first to lock in the core loop. I really wanna share the artworks but I'll keep it for now as it might affect the perception of the game.

Anws, would genuinely love for anyone to test it out so I can get a feel of how it is beyond current theoretical possibilities. Idk if anyone cares enough to print, cut, and play but it's there if you want it. If not, would love to get everyone's sage advice again on the updated ruleset and the card layout for now.

Thank you and sorry for the long post

Im developing a card game while having a newborn because putting them to sleep requires a ton of walking around the house not staring at screen. Weirdly it really made me think about the past and reconnnect to my childhood when i was designing random paper based games out of just pure play. This was inspired by one of the things i did in the past that was fun but for the love of god i could barely remember the mechanics but slowly getting there.

I posted the ruleset here with no brands to promote. This was the second overhaul and finally got good reactions from a bunch of friends in the weekend for a playtest. My aim is just to create a strategic party game that can be played casually for when friends come over

Genuinely looking for feedback. The hand combos feel steady and the most fun. Special action cards need more work. But the single element attack just do not have enough incentive unless its a hail mary for players with only a few cards to steal Qi. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Thank you and sorry for the long post. First time here so hope it can be constructive

Tonkotsu ramen but instead of boiling bones for 24 hours I just use soy milk instead. Chuck in some oyster sauce, salt, MSG, konbu, shiitake, dashi and it's umami bomb.