Making <strike>Manaclash</strike> Magic

256 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:09:41 -0800

Sixteen years ago, Dungeons and Dragons aficionado Dr. Richard Garfield had an idea for a game. He mocked up a few black and white cards and then he and a friend played the very first game of Magic: The Gathering. The first modern collectible card game, Magic was a runaway success and within five years Wizards of the Coast, a company with Magic as almost its sole product, purchased TSR Inc, the publisher of Dungeons and Dragons. Today, Magic is still a tremendously popular game with an active community, a robust online offering and a highly competitive Pro Tour. This longevity can be attributed in no small part to the fact the Magic is one of the most heavily and meticulously designed and balanced games ever made. No new card gets added to the game without careful consideration of it's interactions with the more than 10,000 previously printed cards. In fact, the card commonly considered to be the most powerful ever printed (selling on eBay for over $500) hardly seems impressive at all until you know the game well enough to understand the way it wreaks havoc on game balance. All of this is by way of introduction to the fact that Magic Head Designer Mark Rosewater has been posting a column a week on the subject of game design since January 2, 2002. Mark's columns almost always deal to some degree with Magic, but the observations and lessons contained within them are of universal application in not only game design, but any creative endeavor. Some gems: The Space Between the Notes | Resolutions | As Good as It Gets | Timmy, Johnny and Spike | If I Had a Nicol... | and a comprehensive self-rated look at his first four hundred columns

Ron Paul rejects your entire mana-based monetary system!

casarkos — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:03:59 -0800

Magic: The Election . Part 2. Presented in the grand tradition of Katrina: The Gathering.

He's not the Messiah... +1 Damage

seanyboy — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 04:45:59 -0800

Monty Python meets Magic the Gathering.

crunchland — Mon, 05 Aug 2002 06:36:27 -0800

Every drug dealer knows you give away the first hits for free. Earth & Beyong Free Beta & Magic : The Gathering Online free test drive. [details inside...]

MetaFilter posts tagged with magicthegathering

Making <strike>Manaclash</strike> Magic

Ron Paul rejects your entire mana-based monetary system!

He's not the Messiah... +1 Damage