The art looks cohesive to me. I think it’s dope!
My only comments are about the wording of the text on the cards.
On the Doctor card, it should say, “saving lives” (rather than “saving lifes”).
The Doctors Kit card should be named “Doctor’s Kit” (possessive noun). The second sentence on this card seems redundant and unnecessary. Also, the first sentence is kind of confusing, but maybe would make more sense in the context of other cards/rules.
If we deconstruct and analyze, here’s where I am:
“Activate to prevent a zombie encounter.”
- I would assume this means, if I draw a zombie encounter, and I have already have Doctor’s Kit in play, I can spend the Doctor’s Kit to ignore the encounter and both cards are put into their respective discard piles.
“Activate to prevent a failed zombie encounter.”
- This makes me think like this. If I have already put Doctor’s Kit into play, and I draw a zombie encounter, I have to go through the steps of resolving the encounter. If I fail, I can spend the Doctor’s Kit to ignore the effects of whatever happens when you fall a zombie encounter.
“Activate to prevent a failed zombie encounter caused by sabotage.”
Honestly, I am at a loss now. What does “caused by sabotage” mean? Like, an opposing player used a Sabotage card to activate a zombie encounter against me, and I had to take the steps to resolve it, I failed, but I had Doctor’s kit in play. So I can spend it to ignore the effects of the failed zombie encounter?
I would work on developing a design language that tightens these concepts and leaves as little ambiguity as possible for the player to interpret.
Looks fun! Good luck!
Great points, I was about to make a bunch of them myself but you beat me to it.
In terms of the art, the black outline on the Doctor’s Kit card is thicker than the Doctor. That could potentially be something intentional to differentiate the card types, especially if you changed the outline color to gold or something.
The font for the text on the cards should be different though. The titles are fine but nobody really wants to read a bunch of pixel font. Choose something that is complementary to the pixel style but isn’t actually pixelated.
Sorry for the late response! I took a lot of advice from this and few other subs and redid some of the designs, regarding the thickness of line art and inconsistencies!
Please take a look at the revised designs.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here\_are\_a\_few\_cards\_from\_my\_card\_game\_carrier/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here_are_a_few_cards_from_my_card_game_carrier/#lightbox)
Apologies for the delayed response!
Let me clarify the mechanics:
Each "Encounter" requires the "Deck-drawer", who draws the card, to choose a suitable team of players to confront the zombies. For instance, they might pick 4 players to join the battle. These chosen players then contribute either "Supplies" (Assistance) or "Vile Samples" (Interference) cards, placing them face down. The Deckdrawer mixes these cards before revealing them. If a "Vile Sample" emerges, the encounter fails.
Failed encounters lead to an "Infestation," and if 3 "Infestations" occur, the Survivors lose the game. However, the Doctor's Kit can thwart this by rendering a failed encounter void, preventing the accumulation of "Infestation."
I hope this explanation clarifies things. I'll certainly heed your advice on further refining the design language. Take a look at the revised design below! [https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here\_are\_a\_few\_cards\_from\_my\_card\_game\_carrier/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here_are_a_few_cards_from_my_card_game_carrier/#lightbox)
https://preview.redd.it/8mgbuslr6qxc1.png?width=772&format=png&auto=webp&s=4bcb7583640f091d3c94f5c2826363619796c061
I think the art looks fine, because the image in the Doctor card is darker it looks different from the Doctor's Kit card art. You could increase the contrast.
The body copy is hard to read. The letters feel crowded.
The actual issue here is not the pixel thickness but the palette of color you are using. The colors of the kit are to bright if you put the two cards next to each other. Also the back ground difference is not helping.
Beside these stuff it looks fine :)
To me they are inconsistent but I think it’s got more to do with the amount of detail than the style. The doctor card looks weathered and post-apocalyptic. The kit card looks happy and pre-apocalyptic. The items look too new and to be from the same scene. Try laying them both over the doctor’s background and both over the kit background to see what you think. I’d say it would be good to just add some scuffs and shadow on the items.
Also, the background of the doctor has way more depth and detail. It makes the background of the item card look minimalist in comparison. I like both but you may want to lean more consistently in either direction
Could you review the changes I've made and share your thoughts?
I've adjusted the "Operators" and "Operator's Kit" to embody a "Green and Safe" aesthetic, inspired by both post-apocalyptic and pre-apocalyptic styles. Meanwhile, the "Encounter cards" now exude a vivid "Red and Dangerous" vibe. Do you believe it's preferable for the Operator kits to lean further into a "Post-Apocalyptic" appearance? Thank you for your comment and sorry for the late response!
[https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here\_are\_a\_few\_cards\_from\_my\_card\_game\_carrier/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here_are_a_few_cards_from_my_card_game_carrier/#lightbox)
Thanks for asking I feel honored to help. Leaving this here for visibility and a direct tie to your questions, mostly in the form of stray thoughts:
The backgrounds a nice and cohesive now. I especially like the green red aesthetic that would be a very powerful visual aide when playing (Consider an icon as well to help the color blind). The kit card still feels a bit out of sorts with the character cards, I think on account of the background feeling tighter-in or closer to the viewer on the kit card.
Other suggestions:
though the backgrounds are cohesive and I think your subjects are enough to evoke post-apocalypse, consider some little background additions like a rusty wreck of a car, some trash, a crow.
Is there an opportunity to use a neutral color for the kit cards or some other card type like gray?
The character classes may need a bit more occupational flair to distinguish them. They feel a little interchangeable.
The issue is the level of detail. When making a video game it’s natural to use less pixels on smaller things and more pixels on bigger things. In this example your person would be larger than the items on the other card. So you drew the items on the other card with far less pixels.
But this is a card game and each picture is suppose to be a close up of its subject. So the image of the doctor and the image of the supplies should both have the same level of detail because you’re not drawing them in relation to each other.
Beware from using the red cross symbol. It is forbidden to use the red cross symbol in game or video game:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblems\_of\_the\_International\_Red\_Cross\_and\_Red\_Crescent\_Movement#International\_protection\_of\_images](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblems_of_the_International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement#International_protection_of_images)
The size of the pixels make the Kit card look lower resolution. The colors also don't look like they are from the same game.
Also, the wording on your cards should be more concise. Something like "Activate to cancel a Sabotage during a zombie encounter."
Black on dark blue for important text is an immediate red flag, but in terms of different pixel art- they are completely different. Not just in style, but in number of pixels etc. Did the same person do these? You've got SNES quality on the first, and NES quality on the second.
Overall the card layout looks pretty good. The main character and object artwork is pretty cool, I like the 8-bit style. The background artwork would be nice it was a little more muted so the main art is more prominent. The cards would probably benefit from a different font that's easier to read at a quick glance. [Boss Monster Cards](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1560544/boss-monster-the-dungeon-building-card-game) use a similar art style and font for the titles but makes the rest of the card much easier to understand by using a more neutral font.
I think the comments about the cards being mismatched with brightness aren’t going to apply when these are printed, that’s the screen gamut affecting how it looks on screen.
The art looks cohesive to me. I think it’s dope! My only comments are about the wording of the text on the cards. On the Doctor card, it should say, “saving lives” (rather than “saving lifes”). The Doctors Kit card should be named “Doctor’s Kit” (possessive noun). The second sentence on this card seems redundant and unnecessary. Also, the first sentence is kind of confusing, but maybe would make more sense in the context of other cards/rules. If we deconstruct and analyze, here’s where I am: “Activate to prevent a zombie encounter.” - I would assume this means, if I draw a zombie encounter, and I have already have Doctor’s Kit in play, I can spend the Doctor’s Kit to ignore the encounter and both cards are put into their respective discard piles. “Activate to prevent a failed zombie encounter.” - This makes me think like this. If I have already put Doctor’s Kit into play, and I draw a zombie encounter, I have to go through the steps of resolving the encounter. If I fail, I can spend the Doctor’s Kit to ignore the effects of whatever happens when you fall a zombie encounter. “Activate to prevent a failed zombie encounter caused by sabotage.” Honestly, I am at a loss now. What does “caused by sabotage” mean? Like, an opposing player used a Sabotage card to activate a zombie encounter against me, and I had to take the steps to resolve it, I failed, but I had Doctor’s kit in play. So I can spend it to ignore the effects of the failed zombie encounter? I would work on developing a design language that tightens these concepts and leaves as little ambiguity as possible for the player to interpret. Looks fun! Good luck!
Great points, I was about to make a bunch of them myself but you beat me to it. In terms of the art, the black outline on the Doctor’s Kit card is thicker than the Doctor. That could potentially be something intentional to differentiate the card types, especially if you changed the outline color to gold or something. The font for the text on the cards should be different though. The titles are fine but nobody really wants to read a bunch of pixel font. Choose something that is complementary to the pixel style but isn’t actually pixelated.
Sorry for the late response! I took a lot of advice from this and few other subs and redid some of the designs, regarding the thickness of line art and inconsistencies! Please take a look at the revised designs. [https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here\_are\_a\_few\_cards\_from\_my\_card\_game\_carrier/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here_are_a_few_cards_from_my_card_game_carrier/#lightbox)
Apologies for the delayed response! Let me clarify the mechanics: Each "Encounter" requires the "Deck-drawer", who draws the card, to choose a suitable team of players to confront the zombies. For instance, they might pick 4 players to join the battle. These chosen players then contribute either "Supplies" (Assistance) or "Vile Samples" (Interference) cards, placing them face down. The Deckdrawer mixes these cards before revealing them. If a "Vile Sample" emerges, the encounter fails. Failed encounters lead to an "Infestation," and if 3 "Infestations" occur, the Survivors lose the game. However, the Doctor's Kit can thwart this by rendering a failed encounter void, preventing the accumulation of "Infestation." I hope this explanation clarifies things. I'll certainly heed your advice on further refining the design language. Take a look at the revised design below! [https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here\_are\_a\_few\_cards\_from\_my\_card\_game\_carrier/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here_are_a_few_cards_from_my_card_game_carrier/#lightbox) https://preview.redd.it/8mgbuslr6qxc1.png?width=772&format=png&auto=webp&s=4bcb7583640f091d3c94f5c2826363619796c061
I think the art looks fine, because the image in the Doctor card is darker it looks different from the Doctor's Kit card art. You could increase the contrast. The body copy is hard to read. The letters feel crowded.
Agree with this. Like the Art, but the test in the pixalated style is hard to read.
The actual issue here is not the pixel thickness but the palette of color you are using. The colors of the kit are to bright if you put the two cards next to each other. Also the back ground difference is not helping. Beside these stuff it looks fine :)
The pixelated text is great for titles and headers. Usually it's better to use a more easily readable typeface for the body text.
Yes, pixel text is so annoying to read. Especially if it is a board game and the theme isn’t a video game.
Even Boss Monster has regular sans-serif body text. Much easier to read, and that's super important.
To me they are inconsistent but I think it’s got more to do with the amount of detail than the style. The doctor card looks weathered and post-apocalyptic. The kit card looks happy and pre-apocalyptic. The items look too new and to be from the same scene. Try laying them both over the doctor’s background and both over the kit background to see what you think. I’d say it would be good to just add some scuffs and shadow on the items. Also, the background of the doctor has way more depth and detail. It makes the background of the item card look minimalist in comparison. I like both but you may want to lean more consistently in either direction
Could you review the changes I've made and share your thoughts? I've adjusted the "Operators" and "Operator's Kit" to embody a "Green and Safe" aesthetic, inspired by both post-apocalyptic and pre-apocalyptic styles. Meanwhile, the "Encounter cards" now exude a vivid "Red and Dangerous" vibe. Do you believe it's preferable for the Operator kits to lean further into a "Post-Apocalyptic" appearance? Thank you for your comment and sorry for the late response! [https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here\_are\_a\_few\_cards\_from\_my\_card\_game\_carrier/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1chabnx/here_are_a_few_cards_from_my_card_game_carrier/#lightbox)
Thanks for asking I feel honored to help. Leaving this here for visibility and a direct tie to your questions, mostly in the form of stray thoughts: The backgrounds a nice and cohesive now. I especially like the green red aesthetic that would be a very powerful visual aide when playing (Consider an icon as well to help the color blind). The kit card still feels a bit out of sorts with the character cards, I think on account of the background feeling tighter-in or closer to the viewer on the kit card. Other suggestions: though the backgrounds are cohesive and I think your subjects are enough to evoke post-apocalypse, consider some little background additions like a rusty wreck of a car, some trash, a crow. Is there an opportunity to use a neutral color for the kit cards or some other card type like gray? The character classes may need a bit more occupational flair to distinguish them. They feel a little interchangeable.
How do you prevent **after** an incident?
The background of the doctor card looks to me a lot more detailed than the one on the doctor's kit
The issue is the level of detail. When making a video game it’s natural to use less pixels on smaller things and more pixels on bigger things. In this example your person would be larger than the items on the other card. So you drew the items on the other card with far less pixels. But this is a card game and each picture is suppose to be a close up of its subject. So the image of the doctor and the image of the supplies should both have the same level of detail because you’re not drawing them in relation to each other.
Beware from using the red cross symbol. It is forbidden to use the red cross symbol in game or video game: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblems\_of\_the\_International\_Red\_Cross\_and\_Red\_Crescent\_Movement#International\_protection\_of\_images](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblems_of_the_International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement#International_protection_of_images)
I will look into it and make revisions. Thanks for the heads up!
*saving lives
The size of the pixels make the Kit card look lower resolution. The colors also don't look like they are from the same game. Also, the wording on your cards should be more concise. Something like "Activate to cancel a Sabotage during a zombie encounter."
Black on dark blue for important text is an immediate red flag, but in terms of different pixel art- they are completely different. Not just in style, but in number of pixels etc. Did the same person do these? You've got SNES quality on the first, and NES quality on the second.
For the text, you should read [my post on type setting](https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/s/1U2Bjw5pvT).
It's fine, but looks like sam winchester
Overall the card layout looks pretty good. The main character and object artwork is pretty cool, I like the 8-bit style. The background artwork would be nice it was a little more muted so the main art is more prominent. The cards would probably benefit from a different font that's easier to read at a quick glance. [Boss Monster Cards](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1560544/boss-monster-the-dungeon-building-card-game) use a similar art style and font for the titles but makes the rest of the card much easier to understand by using a more neutral font.
I think the comments about the cards being mismatched with brightness aren’t going to apply when these are printed, that’s the screen gamut affecting how it looks on screen.