Two Boys Who Couldn’t Afford Pokemon Created Their Own CCG And The Results Are Amazing!

New Zealand Reddit user “one23abc” recently uploaded some images to the website to share some of the fun he had in his childhood with his brother.  Nearly twelve years ago, “one23abc” and his sibling didn’t allow their financial status, or lack thereof, deter them from experiencing the fun other kids were having.  The 22-year old stated, “When I was little, my brother and I loved card games like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh, but we were too poor to buy them. So we made our own card game.”

C Feature

The game, entitled “Creature Cards” was similar to other collectible card games (CCGs) on the market, such as Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Magic: The Gathering.  The cards depicted hand-drawn creatures with abilities specific to each creature. Clever names were added with each character depiction, such as Cheese Boy, Bullengore the Minotaur, and Volcano Man.

There are 3 types of card: creature, evolution and item. At the start of the game you start with 3 creatures, 1 evolution and 1 item. Play is divided into player turns. You can think of each turn as having five of phases; draw, item, summon, attack (or evolve), then end. Most items can only be played during the ‘item’ phase. However some items can be played on your opponents turn under certain conditions (think of them as ‘trap’ cards from yugioh)

C0For pre-teen children, developing a game with mechanics such as these takes an incredible mind and a lot of skill.  It’s not like, “I can’t afford a doll so I just use a stick.”  A lot of testing goes into creating a game of this magnitude to ensure cards aren’t too weak, too strong, or meaningless.  The boys’ game also incorporated dice to the card mechanics.

If you do not have enough MP to attack, you have to ‘struggle’ (roll a die). 1 or 6 = 20 damage 2 or 5 = 10 damage 3 = 10 damage to yourself 4 = reroll

C3Some aspects of the game are reminiscent of, and draw parallels to, Pokemon.  “If your creature has an evolution, you may chose to evolve instead of attack. A creature has to attack at least one time before it may evolve to the next stage (creatures typically come in 1 stagers, 2 stagers, or 3 stagers, with the latter being the least common but most powerful in a deck)

Both young boys have grown, with “one23abc” obtaining a college degree in mechanical engineering, while his brother is considering seeking a PH.D. in biotech.  The Redditor sounded humble in his creation and has been happy to share the game, cards, and strategies with others on Reddit.

That’s pretty much all there is to it. Just make sure you have counters or stones or something to use as hp and mp.”