We won't be increasing the card size (though our graphics team begged us to reconsider) for a few different reasons.
1. Pocketability/Palm-playability: Joe really wanted us to keep the game palm-playable and pocket-friendly, and we feel it's also part of the charm of the game. It surprises you with the level of brain burn and crunch in such an unassuming package. Keeping the cards this size is a part of that. We also (assuming it goes well) may use this as a flagship product for a broader "Chip Theory Pocket" line. Not that slightly increasing cards means it's impossible to pocket - but there's an expectation to keep pocket games a certain size.
2. Cost: The thesis for publishing this game (beyond that it's simply a great game) is to make it the sexiest $12 pocket game on the market. Because we (rare for us, I know) have a pretty specific price point we're trying to hit, every square inch of card becomes important. Larger cards = larger cost.
That said...
We're looking at the possibility of dividers, particularly for expansions. No decision made on that, but we may see if we can merge the idea of dividers with the player aide for icons and abilities.
Things we definitely ARE doing/have already done:
1. Significant UX redesign to allow the cards to be fanned left to right.
2. Significant work has been done to make sure the game is very colorblind friendly.
3. Dragons being split into two cards so we can show their beautiful art at a larger scale.
The region cards have mostly remained the same in terms of layout and amount of info, which is the one thing we wish we could make some larger adjustments on - but the functionality of the game sort of demands they stay as is. Even splitting those into two separate cards doesn't help with the amount of info that needs to be displayed all at once, especially if playing in palm.
We're presently thinking through the logistics on the rulebook and expansion storage. We will likely be doing one unified rulebook included in the base game in a box that can fit all three products (Base, Northvale, Siege), and then selling the expansions in wax/paper/foil packs a la TCG games. No big decisions made on that, but that's the direction we're heading at the moment.
Anyway - the new version of the base game is very close to a pre-production state and the new UX is in active playtesting. We'll have much more to share soon as we lock in on things! So far playtesters have been very pleased with the direction we've taken everything in the game :-)
1. Pocketability/Palm-playability: Joe really wanted us to keep the game palm-playable and pocket-friendly, and we feel it's also part of the charm of the game. It surprises you with the level of brain burn and crunch in such an unassuming package. Keeping the cards this size is a part of that. We also (assuming it goes well) may use this as a flagship product for a broader "Chip Theory Pocket" line. Not that slightly increasing cards means it's impossible to pocket - but there's an expectation to keep pocket games a certain size.
2. Cost: The thesis for publishing this game (beyond that it's simply a great game) is to make it the sexiest $12 pocket game on the market. Because we (rare for us, I know) have a pretty specific price point we're trying to hit, every square inch of card becomes important. Larger cards = larger cost.
That said...
We're looking at the possibility of dividers, particularly for expansions. No decision made on that, but we may see if we can merge the idea of dividers with the player aide for icons and abilities.
Things we definitely ARE doing/have already done:
1. Significant UX redesign to allow the cards to be fanned left to right.
2. Significant work has been done to make sure the game is very colorblind friendly.
3. Dragons being split into two cards so we can show their beautiful art at a larger scale.
The region cards have mostly remained the same in terms of layout and amount of info, which is the one thing we wish we could make some larger adjustments on - but the functionality of the game sort of demands they stay as is. Even splitting those into two separate cards doesn't help with the amount of info that needs to be displayed all at once, especially if playing in palm.
We're presently thinking through the logistics on the rulebook and expansion storage. We will likely be doing one unified rulebook included in the base game in a box that can fit all three products (Base, Northvale, Siege), and then selling the expansions in wax/paper/foil packs a la TCG games. No big decisions made on that, but that's the direction we're heading at the moment.
Anyway - the new version of the base game is very close to a pre-production state and the new UX is in active playtesting. We'll have much more to share soon as we lock in on things! So far playtesters have been very pleased with the direction we've taken everything in the game :-)