Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Most deckbuilders (roguelike or otherwise) focus on the interesting choices around an adding single card at a time to your deck. But there's actually a underexplored design space in deckbuilding games that has the player adding (or removing) cards in groups or sets. The set-based approach has very different affordances, and might actually be a better fit for certain kinds of roguelike deckbuilders. This talk is a quick look at this mechanical space, showing some of the games that have used it, and taking a critical look from a design perspective
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Most deckbuilders (roguelike or otherwise) focus on the interesting choices around an adding single card at a time to your deck. But there's actually a underexplored design space in deckbuilding games that has the player adding (or removing) cards in groups or sets. The set-based approach has very different affordances, and might actually be a better fit for certain kinds of roguelike deckbuilders. This talk is a quick look at this mechanical space, showing some of the games that have used it, and taking a critical look from a design perspective
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