A collection of thoughts and commentary from the Diceratops team regarding our design process, our creative experiences, and the stories that add another dimension to our work.
Control vs Aggro in Stoicheion
Now, Stoicheion is a far cry from the mechanical complexity of Magic. Although Stoicheion does have almost double the colors, it lacks the deck construction mechanic and decades of card effects that form into an entire ecosystem of heady rulings. But across Magic’s many formats and set releases, the ways in which players build decks have converged on several principals. Of chief interest to us is the line between Control and Aggro decks.
Relaying Ray & Maelstrom
The first article I posted on this blog was about Ray (an element from our game Stoicheion) and the trouble it was causing us from a design standpoint. Sad to say, that was not the end of its troubles – though the bigger mischief maker was truly one step over.
Don’t Make Me Move
’ve gotten plenty of suggestions from play testers to add/alter an element that would cause another player to shift along the Leyline, or to switch places with a player on the Leyline. While I immediately understand where they get this idea from, I’ve kindly dissuaded them each time. To know why, I’ll first explain some other effects Stoicheion has tried on for size.
I Rays You This
Let’s talk about Ray. During Stoicheion’s development, we ran into an issue where Ray just seemed bad. Across every group, at every stage, from every level of familiarity, players never failed to mention that Ray was suboptimal as an Element. And when one of only nine elements stinks, that’s a problem.