DISTRIBUTION, DECKBUILDING, AND DESIGN IN STAR WARS

Since the release of the first collectible card game (CCG) Magic: The Gathering in 1993, card games have played a major role in the tabletop gaming market. In these games, players amass a personal collection of cards, construct and customize decks, and play with or against other players who have done the same. Collecting, deckbuilding, playing: all are dramatically effected by the card distribution that designers utilize in their games. Building upon Carter, Gibbs and Harrop’s (2012) orthogame/metagame/ paragame framework, in this paper I examine the impact of card distribution on Star Wars: The Card Game.