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I think I might end up loving My Card is Better than Your Card when it fully launches and enters early access, but not because of the actual card battle elements. This is a deckbuilder focused on getting cards that suit your strategy and continue successfully getting through each day. But in my early hands-on time, I’m having more fun with the actual card construction than anything else. Like it seems like we can end up with cards that have descriptions longer than Mythic Lyn in Fire Emblem Heroes.
My Card is Better than Your Card seems designed to capture the concept of being a kid, discovering a game like Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon Trading Card Game, then spending your summer playing that game with everyone around the block. In my first few runs, it sort of felt like the thrill I had as a kid when trying to search for a my favorite characters for a deck. But since this is a roguelike, it is executed in a way that every run lets you go with a different approach.
To fit in with the concept, it almost feels like there’s a little bit of a “life sim” element to it. This is because you pick your schedule for each day. This can involve opportunities to take part in battles, treasure hunt for more stickers, visit shops, meet with people, and then design your cards with your findings at the end of the day.
This is where what is my favorite part of the experience in this early access game comes in. Like Sticky Business, it involves card customization with stickers. Early on, it can involve just plopping stickers you have anywhere. But once you start getting a few days in, it’s possible to actually create little scenes. The text portion of the card automatically updates with new energy costs and effects as you do.
As for the card battles themselves, I think they’re okay right now? Your goal is to prepare your cards and deck for major fights each week. Instead of a typical Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon TCG style combat system, it’s more about… well… looking cool! The goal is for the cards you play to be more impressive than your opponents, and as a result build up a multiplier that causes the bar at the top to make them more in awe of what you have than the reverse. Different effects can take effect and, depending on your decisions and toys (artifacts/accessories), can help mitigate possible disadvantages. At the moment, it almost feels a little unbalanced in some ways. (There are certain stickers that almost deal too much of a penalty on an opponent when played.)
I think the core concepts and idea behind My Card is Better than Your Card already feels very creative and cool even in this early build. I also like the idea of the battle system. I think maybe there needs to be some extra rebalancing in terms of stickers and toys to keep things from feeling too broken. Of course, more content would be great too, but we know that’s on the way. There’s real potential here.
My Card is Better than Your Card is in early access on Steam for PCs.
