Game Design Gallery

From initial concept to the final print, the game of Grotto Beasts went though many variations and changes to reach the game where it is today. Throughout that process, ideas and concepts from multiple sources were used as inspiration. This page documents the majority of the game design process as is able to share for those interested.

On March 11th, 2021, Community Jake called his board game designer friend J. Evan Raitt to discuss the possibility and practicality of creating a card game based off a 10 minute gag. Evan agreed, then did an internet search for this person named Jerma985 and Evan's algorithms have never been the same since.

Project Requirements

The core requirements of the project were made through a series of meetings held by Jerma985, Hollulu, Community Jake, and Evan, along with invited guests ster and Etalyx. There were many requirements made by Jerma while other requirements were set by Jake based on what was feasible by the team. Evan also provided his own design goals for the game, to allow him to flex his game design muscles. Over the course of development, many of the requirements were either dropped or made less important while others were put forward later in the game.

A Trading Card Game for friends to hang out and enjoy

- The most important requirement from Jerma is that the card game was meant to provide a fun and enjoyable experience for players who just want to play a trading card game.

It must be a trading card game with booster packs

- In order to fit the vision of the product, it must be obtainable though booster packs. While this might have been a given, it was important to state as otherwise I might have reinvented how trading card games worked.

It must be easy to play. It should not be only for "hardcore" game players.

- The vast majority of players would all be casual, or not even play the game at all. Therefore, the game should cater to the widest net possible.

The game should have rarities, holographic cards, and unique experiences.

Other details the game may or may not have

• The game should include Jerma references in some way.
• The game should have as many cards as possible.
• The game does not have to match the prop version of the cards.
• The game should have a solo mode.

Initial Concepts

Starting Ideas

There were many variations of starting ideas that both Evan and Etalyx bounced off each other, using the concepts of various other games both had enjoyed to inform the design of the game.

From: Game Design Notes

The concept for this game was built from researching out-of-print trading card games from the late 1990’s to mid 2000’s such as Chaotic, Hecatomb, Digimon Battle Arena, and the original printings of NetRunner and the Horus Heresy Card Game. The idea was to build a light-weight but strategic trading card game that utilized mechanics inspired by these defunct games to elicit nostalgia for a product that hadn’t existed before. Additionally, all alterations to the template were made under the pretense that Grotto Beasts had existed in 1997 and it’s being re-released with updated gameplay, artwork and features. Every change to the template has lore to logically explain the required updates.

Story Draft

With the overall plot and feel of the game set, a story was put together to explain what Grotto Beasts even was. Many of the pitches for the game were based on these initial story beats for the theroretical TV show, and were later adopted, dropped, or expanded on based on where the rest of the team drew their own inspirations.

From: Game Design Notes

Grotto Beasts Theme and Story: Grotto Beasts is a lost franchise vaguely remembered from the late 1990’s. It had a terrible TV show that didn’t air most of the first season and the trading cards became worthless. After discovering booster packs of Grotto Beasts in a chest his grandfather had buried in the Nevada desert, the Twitch Streamer Jerma985 purchased the rights to the franchise. After reviewing the many files and details that he now had access to, Jerma decided to bring Grotto Beasts to the public in a way that it originally should have been, so hired some people and told them to get to work. General Plot - Grotto Beasts believe in the power of friendship and working together as a team to defeat the opponents that challenge control over their homes, the grottos. To this end, the card game is designed around Beasts playing off each other as friends and working with each other to defeat enemies. Teams and Team Leaders - During battles, Grotto Beasts don’t just randomly jump into a fight - they work together in Teams, and the strongest among them is considered their Team Leader, like a pack. The Grottos - While the Grotto Beasts are known for being protective of their homes, the lands they find sacred are their Grottos, magical locations carved in the land. It is these locations that Grotto Beasts will fight to protect or obtain. Families and Nomads - Unlike Pokemon’s Types or Magic: The Gathering’s Colors, Grotto Beasts come from many different and unique Families, based off the real-world taxonomic ranking. When building a deck, a player will need to select one Family and utilize only the cards from it. There is also a special group of Beasts that do not have a Family, called Nomads. Like mercenaries, the Nomads will help whomever will take them in. Nomads in the card game can fit into any deck, regardless of the Family chosen. Wishes - Arguably one of the worst parts of the TV show was when the Human Characters would make Wishes. Every episode, these were nothing but a deus ex machina method of resolving the conflicts and getting to the end of each show. But as they were integral to the lore of the show, they are added to the card game as one-time effects.

Game 1, The Positioning Game

The Positioning Game was the work in progress name for a game design that utilized many of the original aspects of the prop cards and was meant to change up a few ways in how trading card games work.

The general idea was for each player to summon a consecutive stack of Beasts within one of four lanes, which were headed by a Grotto. At a specific time, as determined by an active player, they would choose to initialize a battle on any one of the Grottos. The player's Team that held the most in the given Traits as shown by the Grotto would win the Grotto, and a new Grotto would replace it. The object of the game was to score seven Grottos, or have all of your Grotto Cards in your Grotto Deck be spent.

From: Game Design Notes

Initial Concept, J. Evan Raitt, 3/15/2021 Generally speaking, the game revolves around players Summoning Beasts to attempt to Claim and eventually Capture the Grottos in front of them. Players may bolster their Beasts through the use of “Friendship and Teamwork”, by Summoning Beasts on top of those previously Summoned, forming a team that shares their Stats to the Team Leader so it’s stronger than it would be if they were Summoned alone. Players may use Wishes to gain one-time abilities or bonuses throughout the game. This eventually culminates in a Battle which can alter the ownership of Grottos and end in Captures. The first player who is able to Capture any 7 Grottos is the winner of the game. The Main Deck - The Main Deck must contain exactly 30 cards containing Beast and Wish cards, based on the following deck construction Rules: - When constructing a deck, the player must declare one Phylum. The player is then able to construct their deck using Beast and Wish cards from that Phylum and Beast and Wish cards from the Nomads. - A player may add up to 3 of cards with the exact same name to the main deck. - Beasts and Wishes from other Phylums may be added based on Partner Points. Players have a maximum of 9 Partner Points to spend on individual cards. However, Bosses may only be included in decks of the chosen Phylum as they do not have a Partner Point cost. The Grotto Deck - This secondary deck must contain exactly 7 cards containing only Grotto cards, based on the following deck construction Rules: - Players may include any number of the same Normal Grotto card to their Grotto Deck. - Special Grotto cards may only have a maximum of 1 card per Grotto Deck. ... ... ... Team Building Step - Players may Summon Beasts and make Wishes during this Step. - Each Grotto Card forms a Lane on both sides of the card, allowing for Beast Cards to be Summoned into the Lane and forming a Team. A player is allowed to Summon up to one Beast per lane on their side of the Grotto during this step, and may use as many Wishes as the player would like. - In order to Summon a Beast to a Team, the player must discard a number of cards equal to the Friendship Level on the Beast Card they are Summoning. Once a Beast is summoned, it remains face up in the lane, and the face up Beast is named the Team Leader. - Players may Summon a new Beast in a Team on top of the previous Beast in the lane, which will become the new Team Leader. The Friendship Cost of discarding cards to Summon the Beast Card is reduced by the Friendship Level of the current Team Leader. (e.g. There is a Beast with Friendship Level 3 in a team and the player wants to Summon a beast with a Level of 7. Rather than discarding 7 cards, they discard 7-3, which is 4 cards). The newly Summoned Beast is placed on top of the previous one, being now the new Team Leader. It is recommended players place the card on top of the previous one that the Stats of the Beast on the bottom is visible. The Stat’s total Power for the Team Leader is equal to the stats printed on their card and the stats of all Beasts underneath them in the Team, giving them more Power to their stats. - While teamwork is important, Beasts don’t like it when a weaker Beast becomes the Team Leader. In order to Summon a new Beast to a Team, that Beast must have a Friendship Level greater than the level of the current beast in the Team. (e.g., a Beast with Friendship Level 3 may not be Summoned and placed on top of a Beast with Friendship Level 7.)

General overview of what the table would look like.

Among the most interesting part of the design in this game is the concept of Team Building. The idea is that how you build up Beasts under a Grotto is important, and the key to winning the Grotto. Many of the aspects of the final game, including how things are named, come from this very specific version of the game that no longer matches the final version.

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  An example Beast

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  An example Beast

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  An example Grotto, showing which Beast traits will score.

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  An example Grotto, showing which Beast traits will score.

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  An expanded version of the Grotto

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  An expanded version of a Wish

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  An expanded version of a Beast

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  An expanded version of a Beast

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  A concept for a high-value Beast with full artwork.

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  Alternate version of a Beast Card template.

Game 2, The Combat Game

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  Example of a Beast Card

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  Example of a Beast Card

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  Example of a Beast Card

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  Example of a Grotto Card

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  Example of a Wish Card

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  Example of a Challenger Card

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  Initial concept for gameplay layout