The Design Problem Magic: the Gathering Had to Solve to Survive

When Richard Garfield set out to design Magic: the Gathering he quickly discovered the greatest challenge to making a game with customizable game pieces work. He called it the Queen problem after the idea that if you allowed players in chess to choose their own pieces why wouldn't they choose only the best ones, or all Queens. The solutions he found shaped the game to be able to survive for over 30 years. Join the Distraction Makers Discord   / discord   Host Gavin Valentine https://www.gavinvalentinedesign.com/ Thumbnail Artwork Omniscience by Justin Hernandez & Alexis Hernandez Chapters 00:00 - 00:52 Intro 00:53 - 02:06 Why It Must Be Solved 02:07 - 05:43 Locked Game Piece Solution 05:44 - 10:08 Magic's Game System Solutions 10:09 - 14:57 Magic's Product Solutions 14:58 - 18:47 The Forbidden Solution 18:48 Wrap Up