Cardslinger is an experimental prototype I made as an attempt to combine deckbuilding with the action mechanics of a top down shooter. I chose to try and mix the two, because there are certain elements of both that I felt could compliment the other. The entire project took me about a month to design, code, and create placeholder assets for.

I'm a huge fan of deckbuilding card games as well as action titles. In the corner of the screen is a rotating revolver barrel that the player loads with cards. When fired, the active slot's card is spent and does an effect based on the card type. The player can also dynamically load cards with the R key, which slots cards back into the barrel. This core mechanic was my attempt to mix the strategy of deckbuilding with the frantic fun of real-time action games.

For deckbuilders, I often find that most of the time, the player experience could be improved by some sort of element that causes players to think quickly about more split second decisions. By making Cardslinger play in real time, players needed to always think on their feet, making quick decisions about the order and timing in which to play cards. This provided more agency over the pacing of the game and opened up an interesting design avenue for card design, that being timing. Most card games simply let the player sit and think through their actions. Remove that option and I feel like lots of possibilities for engaging gameplay opens itself up.

For action games, button mashing can simply get boring after a while. What makes an action game fun (for me), is hidden depth and complexity in the game’s mechanics. By making every button press a decisive action, Cardslinger I feel provides enough depth (and more the more cards are added) for the player to want to experiment with the cards and also improve their own skills for the action the game provides.
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Overall, this was a very successful proof of concept that players enjoyed. The revolver mechanic was successful in creating an interesting gameplay dynamic that players wanted more of. I would love to return to this project at some point and expand upon what's already here, as I think this concept has a lot of potential and could become a full, unique game.