Interviews

'Cute and creepy' CCG Afterland's developers discuss the influences of Magic: The Gathering and macabre stories

It's in the cards

'Cute and creepy' CCG Afterland's developers discuss the influences of Magic: The Gathering and macabre stories
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| Afterland

Recently, we happened across an intriguing indie card battler called Afterland that was just finding its feet on Kickstarter.

Combining elements of Magic: The Gathering with a bit of Rage of Bahamut and a hefty dash of Tim Burton's gothic aesthetic, it was clear that Afterland was shaping up to be a memorable collectible card game.

We caught up with designer Chris Powell to see if we could find out a bit more about what makes Afterland tick.

Pocket Gamer: You can't talk about Afterland without talking about its art. How did you arrive at the aesthetic for the cards and game?

Chris Powell: When I met Elin Jonsson in Sweden, she was illustrating posters for a bohemian music festival after moving away from the town where her father had recently died.

Afterland was hatched by combing my passion of old macabre stories with Elin's daydream of a whimsical traveling carnival. Megan Majewski's "cute and creepy" style was a perfect fit when she joined the team in Vancouver.

What sort of gameplay should players expect from Afterland? Will it feature card evolution like Rage of Bahamut, or will it play closer to a physical card game like Magic: The Gathering?

Rage and Magic have been a great inspiration for us, however, Afterland strives to appeal to a broader audience, females included.

A key difference in comparison to Rage of Bahamut is how we treat PVP interaction. The gameplay is still competitive but we eliminate the direct win/loose combat with a performance where the winner is the performer that was able to win the most fans.

Something we learned from mixing Magic with a causal audience was the importance of the symbols and devices used to explain the mechanics. It seemed that card attributes such as level, magic points or XP were understood as long as it made sense in the story behind that particular character.

What sets Afterland apart from the other collectible card games currently available for mobile gamers?

We are excited about how the multiple turn PVP in Afterland allows players to respond to their opponents choices.

Most other CCG games with asynchronous play choose a single "throwdown" to prevent hanging or unfinished matches. It is a risk for Afterland to have a multi turn system, however the reward of meaningful play will be worth it.

How much control will players have over deck (and card) customization?

We are using the metaphor of a stage for a player's deck. A stage can hold up to eight performers and players are allowed to create multiple stages.

Performers with more ego or presence have a higher cost and higher value stages with help players match each other at even levels of skill.

You're planning to release Afterland as a free-to-play game - do you have an idea on how much new decks and packs will cost?

Most of the cards in the game can be achieved by questing and stacking.

We will also sell card packs and release five new cards into the game every two weeks. We are still researching the best price points.

One of the biggest criticisms of free-to-play collectible card games is that it's often easy to "pay to win" - how will you avoid this with Afterland?

A unique feature of Afterland is our family system. When you collect and assemble several members of a family on stage then their "Family Trick" ability becomes active.

In our play testing, well assembled families can be as effective as cards that have been ramped up with time and money.

In your Kickstarter pitch video, you mentioned that Papo & Yo composer Brian D'oliveira might lend his talents to Afterland - how did your paths cross?

Our impression of Brian after showing him our project at the Execution Labs was that he was a very talented... and very busy guy.

We were amazed that he was inspired to work with us and we are looking forward to the collaboration.

Are you planning any special or seasonal events for Afterland? A Halloween tie-in seems like a natural fit.

Absolutely! We also want to make an unforgettable tournament for the Day of the Dead holiday.

Matthew Diener
Matthew Diener
Representing the former colonies, Matt keeps the Pocket Gamer news feed updated when sleepy Europeans are sleeping. As a frustrated journalist, diehard gamer and recovering MMO addict, this is pretty much his dream job.