I really love this concept. I've played games like Dominion and also the action-card game Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Megaman Battle Nework and I love how you've brought that here to platforming. I love the idea of using Curse cards to track health - I think that's really innovative. Giving players the option of "packs" to add to their decks is a great way to let players choose a playstyle that fits them - love that. While I don't think I liked the platforming elements of the game a whole lot (I felt like they distracted from the "actual" game), the "wall of bats" in that one level was a fun little twist that forced the player to act and not have time to think about their hand. That was interesting.
I really like the idea so I have a lot of thoughts on ways it could be expanded:
- Would love to see more types of cards. Cards that let you draw more, discard your entire hand, search your deck...so many possibilities!
- I think there are exploration elements that could be added to the game, where if you explore enough you can find rare cards, or maybe by defeating hidden, optional bosses or something.
- Having an option at certain points to "edit" your deck? Like maybe instead of getting a new pack, you could opt to remove 3 cards from the deck.
- Being able to rearrange the cards in your hand might be a nice little player experience enhancement, so they can prep before a big battle.
- It could change the dynamics of the game a bit if drawing was based on collecting an item or getting to some checkpoint rather than time-based. I felt like I could sit there and use up cards that I didn't want at that point so I could have a hand that I preferred, so I feel like that could encourage the player to work with what they have rather than slowing the pace of the game.
A few pieces of feedback:
- When I fell of a ledge, I'd keep respawning over the pit and was unable to get out of the loop. I'd have to restart the game at this point, and this prevented me from playing a whole lot.
- Arrows for the fireballs being bigger would be helpful.
This really inspires me to think about making my own action/card game...awesome stuff!