The Magic of game design
summary
Head designer explains concrete process: exploratory design for 2–3 months, vision design four months, set design over a year, play design overlapping, with R&D (Studio X) ~130 people and 2.5–3 years from concept to product. Gives counts: ~23–24k unique cards and approaching the 100th expansion. Uses player psychographics Johnny/Timmy/Spike to target cards, cites specific mechanics (mutate, companion, cycling), and shows Throne of Eldraine as a top‑down fairy‑tale build that survives editorial resistance.
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chapters (16)
- 0:00Start
- 2:49Vivian Reed
- 5:40Maplestory
- 6:41Mark Rosewater
- 7:37Set Design
- 9:22Mystery Boosters
- 19:10Psychographics
- 25:29How Does a Magic Set Get Designed
- 26:51Vision Design
- 29:46What's the Hardest Part of Designing Magic
- 30:00Rolling the Boulder up the Hill
- 36:32Fairy Tales
- 39:04The Color Wheel Magic
- 42:48Why Diversity Matters in Game Design
- 51:11Value of Execution
- 54:01Barrier to Entry
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