Cactus Game Design Message Boards

1) ZERO internet marketing. MTG has both a frequently updated website and a twitter account. Redemption has neither (website is updated once a year at the most to advertise the new set). In this age it is ESSENTIAL to have an active online presence. I suggest Cactus purchasing redemptiontcg.com and have an official twitter for the game. When people can find you easier, you will get more players and thus can release more cards.

This is a big thing I hadn't really considered much. Everyone is aware that Cactus does essentially zero marketing on Redemption, however, this could be big to draw people in. Does anyone remember the stunt that (I believe) Randall and Roy pulled at New Jersey states a couple years ago? They had a big Redemption logo. Supplementing that with a link that goes straight to the Redemption site could be huge ("http://cactusgamedesign.com/redemption.php" doesn't exactly scream "quality CCG"). Additionally, a complete redesign of the Redemption portion of the site could be a big boost as well. When a good chunk of your market is going to come from RLKs, appealing to them (using cool colors and designs) in advertising will go a long way. The obvious caveat to all this is that any kind of effective redesign is probably going to cost money. Buying the domain should be relatively cheap, but unless someone on here wants to donate hours and hours of their time, an actual redesign of the site to make it more appealing is probably out of reach right now.

2) Showcase the cards on the website. There are no pictures of actual cards on the website, which is strange.

This would be especially worthwhile if ideas 3, 4, and 6 were implemented.

4) Improve graphic design and art. Not gonna talk about this further because you can find all my work in the New Card Ideas forum.

I didn't pay much attention to your thread until about a week ago, but it's easy to see that the effect of a redesign are striking. I never had much of a problem with the Redemption design (having never gotten into another CCG), but now I find it hard to be content with them. So long as you formally signed over the rights over to Rob, I would love to see your redesign be how the new cards look.

5) Spice up set names. Instead of names like The Disciples, The Priests, Rock of Ages etc, try taking the MTG route and doing mysterious/dramatic names (Gatecrash, Return to Ravnica are great expansion names). How about Conquering Canaan or Visions of the End?

I wasn't really sold on this idea until I saw your proposed names. "Visions of the End" is so outrageously better than "Revelations" or anything like that that it makes me want to support a Revelation-based set now. 

6) Know your audience. Kids like shiny, mega rare ultra special cards. Take the Yugioh route here. Instead of a boring Angel of the Lord card, try a shiny, golden piece of mega might. Have an obvious indicator on the cards of how rare something is.

I think this is another big one. Once you learn to search for that gold border, it becomes exciting, but if it was switched so that ultra rares were golden foils or something, it would increase the excitement level for younger players, because the cards look cooler (especially when the card is something like King of Tyrus with solid art).

7) Get back to booster packs. Everyone likes ripping open a 15 card booster pack with the guarentee of a rare, ultra rare or mythic rare.

This is one that's hard to implement, due to cost. My understanding is that the reason we haven't had a booster pack in so long is that they're by far the most expensive to make, especially since they require more cards. I'm not sure what the price comparison of TxP to Priests is, but if TxP/Disciples was significantly cheaper, then I think that's a good route to continue going down. The issue though, is that you still have to capture the "feel" of booster packs, and the only way to do that is to give players something worth hunting for. I don't think I've heard anyone describe opening a Disciples pack as "exciting," because there's nothing valuable you're searching for. Meanwhile, TxP has Grapes and Mayhem, which makes me much more likely to purchase a pack on a whim.

Anyway, these are all brilliant ideas.

Many excellent points here.

1. Yes, so yes. #fourtenTOTHEFACE

5. Especially liked this point, set names should be far more dynamic than essentially just coming up very simple identifiers.

6. Nailed it, people are more interested in a card game when there is something that motivates them to continue purchasing product. Searching for those hard to find cards keeps people engaged.

7. Booster packs have always been fun to rip, if not only further perpetuated by the above point. Redemption isn't even a CCG now, it's clearly a LCG. It's time we got back to Redemption roots.

The solution to the cost problem as far as boosters go is make a booster set, but with the size of something like TeP or Return of the tins. It gives you boosters with every card being viable.

7. Booster packs have always been fun to rip, if not only further perpetuated by the above point. Redemption isn't even a CCG now, it's clearly a LCG. It's time we got back to Redemption roots.

I fully agree currently Redemption is a pseudo LCG and its imo not really working.

I was hoping someone higher up then me could say this since it would have some more credibility to it but what ever.

The reason we dont do boosters any more is solely because of cost. When you make a "non booster" set all that happens after the cards are cut and print they are shipped over to Rob and he sorts and packages the cards himself. With a "booster" set on top of the standard cost of making a 100+ card sized set (which includes having more sheets of cards printed common, uncommon and rare/ultra/promo sheet).... The cards also need to be sorted + packaged in foil wrappers + packaged in boxes + packed in boxes with boxes ect ect. There is just more stuff happening that jacks up the price enough that Rob doesnt have the funds to produce another full sized booster set.

So even if you make it a smaller set there is still so much added cost that it would have been more profitable to do something like Tins or Texp syle packs hence the reason we have been getting Tins, Texp syle and now Starters for the past 6(?) years.

On a semi-related note (I agree with basically all your points), I'd like to see a promo video. It's really tough to spark kids interest by just talking and maybe showing a slideshow of some cards.  Having a high energy promo would be a great way to get kids and teens excited for when game nights happen.

As an aside, someone will have to explain the whole TCG, CCG, and LCG distinctions. As an online mathematics educator, I am inundated with acronyms. 

I was ignorant too as to what LCG means. Google turned up a good explanation for me at Fantasy Flight Games.

A Living Card Game® (LCG®) offers an innovative fixed distribution method that breaks away from the traditional Collectible Card Game model. While LCGs still offer the same dynamic, expanding, and constantly evolving game play that makes CCG’s so much fun, they do away with the deterrent of the blind-buy purchase model that has burned out so many players. The end result is an innovative mix that gives you the best of both worlds!

It seems like these ideas are kind of chronological. If we had more internet marketing, better packaging, and more mainstream designs, we'd have more people playing. Then we could probably afford booster packs.

These are all excellent ideas.

Regarding the internet marketing, I have tried a number of different avenues and have not found any worth their cost. I've spent thousands of dollars over the last 5 years on marketing and have only seen a few new people order from Three Lions Gaming. Only one or two was actually new to Redemption. If Redemption could get into WalMart or Target, that would definitely make a big change in the popularity of the game! Anyone know how to go about trying to get it in?

I was wondering if anyone knew the process to suggest something to either store or had a contact that may be able to help with this...

I was wondering if anyone knew the process to suggest something to either store or had a contact that may be able to help with this...

As a retailer, I'm not sure there's much you can do. Rob would probably have to be the one to make that call, and I'm sure you have to go through corporate.

I doubt Redemption has a chance in the TCG aisle at Walmart, however I don't see why it couldn't be in the Christian book section of Walmart.

Having a website is not free, but they are already paying for it.