TLDR The Pokemon Trading Card Game design team focuses on creating a game that encourages social interaction, balances various elements in card design, and aims to make the game enjoyable for all ages.
Key insights
🎴”There are three goals at the Pokemon Trading Card Game: encouraging people to spend time together, the products and the game experience working together properly, and making a game that everyone and anyone can enjoy.”
🎴When designing a set, they need to balance types of Pokémon, evolution lines, popularity, and game mechanics.
🎨The Pokemon TCG is in a golden age of illustration with 240-250 illustrators working on the cards, creating unique and beautiful artwork.
🔍The design team’s goal is to make the game fun for anyone, including young children, by making the cards easy to read and understand.
🕒The process of creating a new Pokémon card set can take up to a year due to the introduction of new features and design changes.
🔄The Pokémon TCG design team considers each new block as a reset, starting the design over again to meet the new set.
🏆”They specifically mentioned how Loops is something that they are checking for in the card design process.”
Highlights
🔍00:00 The Pokemon company showed how Pokemon cards are made, focusing on encouraging people to spend time together and balancing different aspects of the game.
🃏01:51 Japanese Pokémon sets feature fully evolved first partner Pokémon, designed in Japan and then adapted for English release, with consideration for balancing types, evolution lines, popularity, and game mechanics.
🔍04:05 Play testing ensures card balance, generic artwork is used before choosing an illustrator, and 240-250 illustrators work on the Pokemon Trading Card Game.
🃏05:53 Pokémon cards are designed with a focus on readability and fun, with artwork checked for errors before mass printing.
🔍08:17 Pokémon card sets take about a year to design, with the first set in a series taking longer due to new features and design work.
🔍09:45 Pokemon TCG considers each new block a reset, with some Pokemon getting more cards because the design team likes them.
🔍11:04 Design team pushes for favorite Pokémon cards, ensuring playfulness, no bugs, and competitive play.
🔍13:15 Pokemon cards are designed and made, and the process is explained, with a follow-up video planned for questions and answers from the designers.