Standoff's Development
TL;DR – (2018-19) I developed a Marvel-themed deck-builder called Marvel: Standoff. (2022) Driven by the goal of creating and publishing my own complete game, I revamped Standoff with original characters based on family and friends, keeping key mechanics while reimagining the design. After two years of extensive playtesting and feedback, Standoff is now preparing for an official release in late 2024.
Standoff Begins
Back in 2018, my friends were really into deck-builders (specifically Star Realms). I thought to myself, “How cool would it be to have a Marvel-themed deck-builder where each player could make their own team of amazing characters and battle it out?”. Thus I began working on Marvel: Standoff.
After about one year of development, the game was solid. I had developed it as far as I wanted to at the time (and ultimately couldn’t go too much farther due to copyrighted material). It had been a huge success with my friend group, often being requested to be brought to parties and hangouts. Even my “non-gamer” friends had a blast playing it!
I would then take a 3-year break from developing or working on Standoff.
The Goal Realized
In 2022, I realized that a “bucket list” entry of mine would be to hold the fully designed box of a completed game I made in my own hands (Marvel Standoff never got a box). “So how do we get there?” First, I had to remove all copyrighted material from my game, which was the whole theme and what the game was built on.
So I started from scratch, keeping a few mechanics in mind. I began by developing new characters and found a way to make them personal to me: basing each character off of family and friends! Whether it was the theme, powers, colors, or name, adding that personal touch gave the characters meaning and was the catalyst for many ideas to come.
As the core of the game was being developed, I wanted to have the mindset of “What will make this game great for everyone, not just my friend group?”. With this in mind, I ended up building the core of Standoff’s “first iteration” completely different than the original Marvel Standoff.
Finding The Perfect Fit
It took a few months of testing before we realized what we were missing: and yes, it was what made Marvel Standoff great! So I scrapped most of the core of “new Standoff”, reverting back to the play cycle, game mode, and overall foundation of Marvel Standoff. However, I did keep numerous new ideas, mechanics, and game concepts. Thus, as Standoff then began the “playtest, break, progress” cycle, we knew what we had found the perfect blend of ideas in order to make Standoff the best game it could be.
From here, hundreds of playtests were held, ranging from 1v1’s to gatherings of up to 30 people. After one year of development, I took the game outside my family and friends group, attending several conventions both in-person and online. I would then open my own Discord server where players could participate in playtests and hear of the game’s development progression. At every turn, we were met with positive feedback from our playtesters.
Mission Complete
As the game’s development progressed, so did its design. Like any game, the first iteration consisted of hand-written cards. Using my software engineering experience, I wrote a program to take all my game’s data from Google Excel and paste it into Word templates I had built for playtesting. This increased the speed of development and allowed me to start thinking about each card’s final design.
I spent the first year playing around with various card designs until I found Dextrous (an amazing tool – highly recommend). With this new software, I designed and printed my very first prototype, complete with fully designed cards, rulebook, and box. I received this prototype in January of 2024. I had reached my original goal after a year and a half.
The End In Sight
Though my goal was met and I felt highly satisfied with it, Standoff was still not done progressing. The card design would receive one major update, many of the character images would be upgraded, and the final touches would be refined. Playtester feedback often mentioned the inclusion of a 2-player version of the game, and this was eventually added in the summer of 2024 and only required a handful of changes that also improved the rest of the game.
Recent playtests confirmed that Standoff was ready for the next big step. Final proofreads were conducted as well, just before two more prototypes were ordered (August 2024). When said prototypes arrive and everything checks out, a final date will be set where Standoff will become live for purchase here, on the Game Crafter, and/or at in-person events (projecting October 2024). We even made a few t-shirts for family and friends!
Special Thanks:
Game Development: Caleb Cornwell, Cade Perozich, Zack Daughtry
Playtesting: Hope D, Jay D, Jenn D, Jeff C, Josh B, Brian E, Brad C, Pat H, Mark S, Matt W, Isaac R, Samantha C, Laurel P, Rachel S, Trevor S, Taylore S, Kristen C, Natalia M, Jamal S, Maria L, Courtney L, Tyler L, Garrett G, Tony P, Emmaline E, Elias G, Parker L, Jon M, Max M, Jeff T, Jacob H, Kim H, Abby A, Wes G, Keyton G, Mike B, Derek P, Don P, Richard P, Robert H, Danni P, Rico S, Diane S, Parker B, Zachary M, Jake B, Geoffrey P, Joakim E, Brooks B, Jan-Thomas H, Kyle C, Joaquin B, Eliska D, Grant V-N, David G, Joe S, Robert D, Enzo V, Alex M, Michael P, Chase P, Ethan S, Natalie C, Nate C, Albert C, Kyle O, Chris A, Josh R, Dustin W, Brigitte W, Nate F, David L, Jonny L, Scott S, Tyler B, Jonathan B, PJ Walker, Charles A
Rules Testing / Proofreading: Jay D, Daniel S, Nilesh D, Florian G, Robert D, Dominic A, Harry M-P
Consulting: Chris Backe, Joe Slack, Matthew Hocker
Prototyping Software: Dextrous (dextrous.com.au)
Icon Art: Rexard (GameDev Market)