Started this project a little over a year ago, mostly for fun and to let some ideas out. As a big fan of online RPGs like Guild Wars, Ragnarok, Diablo 2, Path of Exile, Tibia and others I actually wanted to create a digital RPG. But creating a computer game alone seemed like an unrealistic idea, so that’s how I started thinking on how to use some concepts of those RPGs to make a different game.

About that time I started getting into modern boardgames and thinking how to apply the concepts of digital RPGs. I had some key experiences in mind that I wanted players to feel and play with.

Many ideas didn’t translate well, like real time cool downs, while others worked better than expected. The goal was to make something strategic, based solely on skills (rather than using creatures like in other card games), interactive and that the player could really customize their play style.
Some things that didn’t work: trying to have a cooldown for each skill, using turns as time. Giving players a small numbers of skills like 8-10 to use, which was causing too many limitations where players didn’t had good options to choose from. Not offering a elite skill card, these stronger skills offer some burst of intensity which creates excitement.
Some things that worked really well: using skills simultaneously, which allowed other mechanics like disrupting your opponent or taking advantage of their choices. One of the fun parts in competitive games is the feeling that you are out smarting your opponent.

Strategy and interaction: These are the core of Ambal Tournament. Rather than relying on luck and having to wait your opponent’s turn finish in order to react, the objective was to give the sense of real time battle where players can take advantage of situations and outsmart the opponent. The interaction comes from the simultaneous turns system, which players use skills at the same time, and the strategy comes from how players use their skills and how well they can create synergy.
Just like in RPG you might be able to block a spell or evade an attack if timed correctly, or take advantage of your opponent’s weak spots.

Just skills, no creatures: The magic in RPGs for me was always how interesting the skills were, and how they shaped your character. It’s fun to play as a summoner of course, but what about the characters that go face to face with the enemy? They rely on their skills and combos to survive and defeat before being defeated.
That’s exactly how it goes in Ambal Tournament, damage is done straight to your face, skills offer diverse combo options and are truly the heart of the game.

Customize your “character”: Almost anyone that plays RPGs love customization, building a play style that feels good and you can relate to. You can be a glass cannon, a tank, a debuffer or mixed, whatever makes you happy while playing. Personally the most fun I had while customizing characters was through skills, which ones to take and how to combo them.
That’s where the deck comes in, the group of skills you take to battle. The deck is quite small, only 20 cards, so it’s important to make each one count. The cards are separated in different Schools of Knowledge, and you are only allowed to use two Schools at a time, because an Archer/Paladin/Wizard/Necromancer would be a bit overpowered and confusing to build.
As a game designer it was so much fun to develop each School identity and their skills, and it was on that stage that I knew this wouldn’t be a project just for fun, and became a serious project.

It’s difficult to find the right balance of challenge and beauty when creating a game. Challenge makes our brain work while beauty (and beauty isn’t always visual) captivate us, thus making a good art piece.

It’s been a fun ride and Ambal Tournament have a pretty solid mechanic now, after weirdly translating all my ideas for a computer game into a card game. Began the development of final art and being doing lots of play testing, hopefully taking it to Kickstarter in the near future!