Sirlin

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

Her max level ability is also notable in that it can get tech II tigers from your codex and put them into play even if you don’t have a tech II building. Try this: If you boost it for a total of 8 gold, you can put two units from codex directly into play, without even bothering to wait a couple turns to draw them.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 1, 2016

The Codex Kickstarter is now live. It's a customizable (but not collectible) card game with an RTS theme.

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Sirlin

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

In Codex, your vulnerabilities are on the table and you have to defend them. You have access to three different specs during a game of Codex. Heroes and tech buildings add a lot of flavorful fun to Codex because they match RTS games such as Warcraft 3, but they don’t exist in the game because of that flavor.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

The Flagstone Dominion (blue) faction is part of the Codex Deluxe set. You might recognize Quince and Onimaru from my other games, but the Law hero, Bigby Hayes, is new in Codex. Flagstone is the realm’s capital city, and a paragon of morality, due process, and family values.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

The Renegades are the neutral faction in Codex. Troq is a simpler hero in Codex, but formidable in combat because of his stats. They have no allegiance to anyone, and are generally mercenaries and workers-for-hire. From lovable dancing rogues to violent lizards, they are a motley crew. He is well-meaning though, and has a big heart.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Introducing Jaina Stormborne, the Fire hero in Codex. Jaina fights with a magic bow that shoots flame arrows, and she’s reckless and aggressive despite Master Midori trying to teach her some patience. She may have fallen in with the wrong crowd by joining the Blood Anarchs, but she fits in quite well.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 5, 2016

The Moss Sentinels (green faction) are also included in the Codex core set. Lead by Calamandra Moss, they protect the forests and natural resources. They harness the mighty power of nature itself, making them ferocious and threatening in combat.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 19, 2016

Before your turn begins, you can know that you’ll want to max his levels, so when you “tech” for new cards just before your turn (as in put 2 cards from your codex into your discard pile), you can make sure one of them is the best thing for him to resurrect. To understand how to use Torken, we have to look at the black starting deck.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

There’s a myth about an ancient race that had powerful magic as well as advanced technology beyond even our own, but then they disappeared from the realm. They are called the Vortoss. While some thought it was just a story, we now know that the story is true.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Setsuki is a fast learner and she’s fast in general. She’s the hero of the Whitestar Order’s Ninjutsu spec: Her first ability reflects how nimble she is. She can jump out of the way of an attack unless the attacker is extra careful. Her middle ability can make up for her low stats.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

The Disease spec of the Blackhand Scourge faction belongs to Orpal Gloor. He’s surrounded by a creeping death, and even being near him makes most beings uneasy. The Shadow Plague in the Dreadlands is his invention. The power of Disease is to wear down your enemies.

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Sirlin

OCTOBER 20, 2015

Last month, I offered early access to (physical) Codex cards. Codex is a new take on customizable card games. Last week I posted a new Raw Game Design podcast episode (for $10+ patrons) where I discuss "reset buttons" in Codex (cards that blow up the board so you can possibly come back from a very bad position).

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Sirlin

JUNE 13, 2015

I want to show you some of what I'm working (Codex, Flowchart, and a Fighting game) and tell you about Patreon. Codex, Flowchart, and now.the Fantasy Strike fighting game (yes, really!). Codex The tabletop version of Codex is now very far along in development. Instead.it's fun. You can get to my Patreon here.

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Sirlin

AUGUST 8, 2018

It covers most of my career, including work on Street Fighter HD Remix, Puzzle Fighter, almost Street Fighter 4, Yomi, Codex, and FantasyStrike. Almost two and a half years ago, Soren Johnson did a long, in-depth interview with me and he just released the first part of it.

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Sirlin

OCTOBER 10, 2018

Part 2 covers the beginnings of Fantasy Strike, Yomi strategy including what to do on the first turn, a little about Pandante’s updated version, Puzzle Strike’s emphasis on player interaction, Puzzle Strike and Codex’s solution to free-for-all games, and the toughest design problems in making Codex.

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Sirlin

JULY 21, 2015

Includes examples from Street Fighter and Codex as well as an amusing anecdote from the history of mathematics. Includes examples from Street Fighter and Codex as well as an amusing anecdote from the history of mathematics. Hosts: David Sirlin and Matt "Aphotix" DeMasi We discuss techniques I use to balance games.

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Ask a Game Dev

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

We have to make the rest of the game work without ever referencing level 4, because it must be as if level 4 does not exist.

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Sirlin

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

Join Now Here are things I’d like to do: Add more characters and features to Fantasy Strike Create new tabletop games, and possibly more content for Codex Create digital versions of those tabletop games with good production values. I’m crowdfunding several projects all at once right now and asking for your help.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 28, 2016

In Codex, towards the end of your turn you discard your hand, and draw however many cards you discarded plus 2, but capped at 5.) There aren’t many ways to destroy an upgrade in Codex. A 3/4 for 3 gold is generally very powerful at tech I in Codex. That saves you 1 gold, but it also saves you losing a card.

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Sirlin

APRIL 30, 2015

Geiger may have made contact with an ancient race of beings "unstuck" in time, but we'll save that for the upcoming game, Codex. He's a watchmaker and scientist who has a special interest in tinkering with time. In Yomi, Geiger can use careful planning to set up huge combos with his Time Spirals.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

All Illusions in Codex die immediately if you target them with a spell or ability. Remember that in Codex if they have a spell in their hand that they want to cast, but they can’t cast it because of Free Speech, they’ll have to discard it along with the rest of their hand at the end of their turn.

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Sirlin

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

This is the 3rd in a series of design articles about Codex. In case you missed the first two: #1 Codex Design: Cards and Gold As Resources #2 Codex Design: Heroes and Tech Buildings. Codex is asynchronous. Damage is persistent in Codex, meaning it doesn’t get healed automatically at the end of the turn.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

The latest episode of that one about Codex is particularly interesting I think. If you'd like to sign up on my Patreon, you can do that here. And if you just want the main podcast series that's free to everyone, that's fine too!

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

Codex ’s core set has two factions: the (red) Blood Anarchs and the (green) Moss Sentinels. In Codex, you need 6 / 8 / 10 workers to build your tech I / II / III buildings, respectively. Each has 3 heroes. There are 4 expansion factions, each with 3 more heroes plus a starter set with 2 heroes.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 11, 2016

River Montoya is the Finesse hero in Codex. Speaking of starting deck cards, let’s not forget Tenderfoot either: Tenderfoot might look like a bad card, but understanding why that’s wrong will probably teach you a thing or two about Codex. She sees sword fighting as an elaborate dance.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 22, 2016

Later in the game when you have better cards, you won’t be drawing past 2 copies of him to get to your really great cards; you’ll have 1 of him in your deck and another in your codex. In Codex, you do combats one at a time so you can make sure your 2/2 goes up against their 2/2 and so on. You can set up those exact situations though.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

In Codex, the Flagstone spy is invisible, which is even better than the stealth ability you’ve seen before. He’s also gaining information about your opponent's hand, letting you see which cards they teched from their codex. Another way to ignore patrollers is to fly over them: Flying is very powerful in Codex.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

Codex's Blood hero, Drakk Ramhorn is new to the Fantasy Strike universe. Here’s his hero card: Drakk is a little guy who rides a huge beast. He bangs on his war drums to hype up his allies for battle. The Blood spec is very much about running into battle bloodlusted, no matter what happens.

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Sirlin

AUGUST 28, 2015

Codex is on Kickstarter now. I want to share with you a series of three articles about the design and workings of Codex, followed by a whole bunch of articles about the heroes and their specs. Introduction to Codex Customizable card games usually involve decks that are designed to do one narrow thing really well.

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Tom Francis

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Trin sliced at a Codex she expected to kill, but it survived the hit and split, leaving her exposed to both copies. Once they were mopped up, we had no time to be cautious: my two rangers had to sprint to the petrol station housing the objective just to distract the aliens there, with no moves left to fight them off.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Argagarg Garg is the Growth spec hero of the green faction. Outsiders stereotype Argagarg’s fish-like people as being savage and barbaric, but they have it completely backwards; the Merfolk are wise and patient. Just because they look different from humans, doesn’t make them bad!

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Keith Burgun

JANUARY 4, 2023

We’ve watched as this language has developed from MTG, to things like Gwent, Codex, Hearthstone Battlegrounds, and most recently Marvel Snap. I really appreciate the design work that’s happening in this space, and I want to be a part of it.

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Game Design Advice

OCTOBER 5, 2015

In a MOBA the core skills of timing, aiming, and movement are wrapped in a voluminous cloak of knowledge – the vast codex of champions and items, every detail of which can have its own critical impact on the game.

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Sirlin

APRIL 1, 2015

There's also a chance to try out Codex, still in development. Tabletop tournaments: Yomi (2nd Edition) Pandante (2nd Edition, kickstarter link here ) Flash Duel (revised printing, also at the kickstarter link above) Codex The Codex customizable card game will be playable the whole time, but especially on Friday.

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Sirlin

JULY 22, 2015

The higher tier patrons are already playing my customizable card game Codex (tabletop version) and a 1-character prototype build of the Fantasy Strike fighting game showing the gameplay without real art. Patreon If you'd like to support my game development and podcasts, you can become a patron at patreon.com/sirlin.

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Sirlin

MARCH 20, 2016

Tabletop tournaments: Yomi (2nd Edition) Pandante (2nd Edition) Codex (All available at sirlingames.com ) Video game tournament: Fantasy Strike (fighting game, pre-alpha stage of development) (Available ahead of time to $25+ patrons on Patreon ) Get a sneak peek at our fighting game! Tournament finals will take place on Sunday, June 5th.

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Sirlin

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

You can fetch one of those cards without even going through the normal process of teching for it (moving it from your codex to your discard pile, then waiting to draw it). Now that you’ve seen the wide variety of Demonology spells, look back at the hero’s middle ability. On-demand Shadow Blade? No problem.

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