In a guest article for Continue Play, Elyot Grant from Lunarch Studios - developers of the upcoming PC strategy card game, Primsata - discusses how removing RNG from a card game can improve the play experience, and side-step one of the most hated problems in the genre.
CCG Writes - "Prismata is a very strange game as it doesn't belong to any existing subgenre. It combines real-time strategy elements, deckbuilding elements through over a hundred different units, and the interface of a board game. The main goal of Prismata is to eliminate all forces on the opposing side of the board while protecting yours. It’s a surprisingly simple concept but the way it is executed is nothing of the sort."
Shaun M Jooste writes: "Prismata is a fun and challenging deckbuilding strategy game that many will love. Even though the game is still in Early Access, there is enough going on in this game to state that it is very nearly close to perfection."
Prismata is certainly different, charismatic, and lacks charm. Sound all over the place? Well, not to those who had written the story it seems!
I think RNG in digital card games is fine. Sometimes the luck is with you and other times it is not.
Most people think RNG is bad because we all have a natural disposition to think we are getting screwed by it. But on the other side, those times when RNG works exactly in our favour sweetens the victory so much more.
Used tactically it can be a great tool. A big risk versus a big reward.
In something like Hearthstone we can mitigate RNG on our side by not including cards. If another player wants to risk the wrath of the RNG gods - so be it.
I'd miss Ragnaros and Mad Bomber if they were removed from Hearthstone.