River Rats is a strategic hand management game set aboard a luxurious futuristic riverboat. The Rich Rats are the upper-class guests who like to amuse themselves by forcing the crew to play high-stakes poker against them. The players take on the roles of the crew, working together to build stronger poker hands than the Rich Rats. If they play their cards right, they can rely on their fellow crew members to help sneakily craft the best hand. Each of the four crew factions
comes with its own unique actions, and players will need to use these abilities, and their own special powers, wisely to outwit the Rich Rats and send them back to their cabins a little poorer.For this game, I'll be making a custom deck of cards, with help of an artist.
It's been a real puzzle to find a theme and to come to a coherent set of characters. In the game, there are multiple axes to consider:
1. The hierarchical order of the cards (e.g. an 8 is higher than a 2)
2. Cohesiveness within a suit (e.g. all Diamonds have to be from the same faction)
3. The actions which each suit matches with the faction.
4. The poker combinations (e.g. a 2 and a 2 is a pair, so the card of the same level have to have cohesiveness)
How I tried to deal with these considerations:
1. Hierarchical order: the closeness to the passengers (the River Rats) determines the hierarchy. (e.g. a Cook on the boat is further from the River Rat than a Waiter)
2. All cards from the same suit are characters from the same faction (e.g. all Hearts are Crocodiles)
3. Suit actions match the faction: e.g. all Hearts, who can increase the Debt, could be Crocodiles. Crocodiles are fearless and are on top of the food chain. They're not afraid to take a little risk.
4. Since all cards from the same level (e.g. alls 8s) are characters with the same role (e.g. all Waiters), they're a team and work well together.
Now, the first four sketches and designs. What do you think? Do you like the 8 better of the hearts or the spades? I got some comments on the 8 of spades, that it looked weird upside down. Do you agree? How about the 2s?
