Gameplay: Designed & developed card effects to synergize with release themes/archetypes for over 3500 unique cards.
Social Media: Maintained positive company image with public through daily and weekly community events in forums.
|
Balance: Balanced all card effects, as well as generate rules FAQ. Coordinated and organized playtest feedback.
Marketing: Traveled and worked multiple conventions a year; worked directly with other Bandai company arms on cross promotion materials.
|
Production: Tracked all art and production costs, releasing a live cost analysis each week to managers; Created daily email approval updates with licensor (Viz Media)
Art: Located narrative text and curated artwork for all cards and promotional materials; Collaborated on card layouts with graphic designer, Japanese artists, and licensor.
|
The Naruto Collectible Card Game pits two or more players against each other, each building a village full of iconic ninjas featured in the IP. These ninjas use powerful jutsu and complete missions to gain strength and destroy the opponent's village. Naruto series 1, "Path to Hokage", was first released in 2006 and the game continued releases until 2013.
The Naruto Collectible Card Game (CCG) is the longest running CCG ever created by Bandai America, spanning 28 sets of 150 unique cards or more each. I had many different "hats" for this project: lead designer, developer, QA, social media, rules, and marketing assistant, all of which gave me an incredibly rewarding experience into the gaming and toy industries. |
Gameplay:Design: Design for each set was driven by what was occurring during the time frame in the IP storyline. Initially we started with top down designs, letting the narrative take the lead, but a few sets were bottom up. Notably, Series 18 represented my first time being the lead, and was a top down design, with each element (or color) in the game having its own keyword and mechanic. I started each set with a design skeleton, each card receiving a rarity and keywords describing the goal for each.
Over 3500 unique cards were created for the Naruto CCG. Development/Art: For this stage, I took the design skeleton, located artwork in the repository I curated that matched the goal, then found a quote either in the tv series or the manga that matched the flavor, and added them to the document. Afterwards, an additional layer of theming for the set was added, then proxy cards were created for balance testing. Balance: The majority of my time was spent here. I pushed for a standardized format of testing that mitigated skill gaps between testers, as well as rapidly prototyping using basic printouts and stickers. Each testing cycle was followed by a post mortem discussion, then more cycles with changes. |
Production/Marketing:Tracking: I kept a live and up to date sheet tracking the progress of all released products during their timeline. Additionally, management and the licensor received a daily digest email detailing the current status of released and unreleased products. Social Media: I noted that we had an issue with transparency in previous games that hurt our sales, so I drastically increased the communication with the public, the main piece being a weekly AMA every Friday for the players. Marketing: I traveled to 3-4 conventions each year, providing tournament organization, booth staffing, and tutorial gameplay. Additionally, I lead the development of a cross promotion with our video game division and a companion app that tied both products together. |