Hello and welcome to the Casual Chat!

Some time ago I made a post talking about the card game VCard TCG in which I talked about what the game had going for it but more importantly what issues that the game had upon release. It actually had a decent amount of traction (at least where my blog is concerned) and is one of the more popular posts I’ve made.

Since then there has been discussion from the wider span of TCG content creators and from the makers of VCard TCG and what could be improved with the game and a week ago (as of writing this) there has been a massive update.

With the release (and subsequent selling out) of the Unlimited Rising Stars set there has been a massive rules and game play overhaul. Not only that but there were some additional updates on how to play the game as well as the release of something that I think is helpful to get new players.

While I think there is a lot of good, there are some issues with what was released that I need to speak about to potentially help improve the game in the future, with one major glaring issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Gameplay Changes

As I said earlier, the game has changed completely, and we start by completely changing the way that the play field is structured.

Now there is an Active section where up to one Active VT card can be played and a Backstage section where up to four VT cards can be. In order to start the game one PL8 VT must be in the Active zone and up to four PL8 VT cards can start out.

There is a Mascot zone where up to one Mascot can be at a time, and you can now play up to two Support cards each turn instead of the one in the previous version of the game. This is because Support cards, along with PL8 VT cards and Mascot cards now have updated effects and abilities.

Support cards now have three subtypes, Boost which is a one and done effect, Reinforcement which can be played in response to an opponent’s card effect and can be played on any player’s turn, and Ally cards which are attached to a VT and stays on to that VT as long as that VT is in play.

Mascots, as far as I can tell, have changed in that instead of having three levels of boosting your VT’s PL, there is only two increases, a +1 if the VT matches elements and another +1 if it matches the VT (a Dragoon for Dokibird for example).

The biggest change of course comes from the VT cards themselves, now having keywords for the types of effects as well as a whole host of effects that are tied to the various Elements in the game.

The keywords for ability types include Snap, which is an enters play effect, Swap to switch an Active VT to a Backstage VT or vise versa, Lock when the card is turned sideways for a one time per turn effect and they become Unlocked after combat, Passive is an ongoing effect triggered by other effects, Echo is triggered when played and immediately after combat, and Adjacent which is primarily for Backstage VT’s.

As I said, Elements have abilities that are tied to them and there are too many to list but some include Decay for Grass which reduces a target VT’s PL by 1 after combat and Undertow for Water which forces an opponent’s VT to Lock without triggering its effect. Elements still have a rock-paper-scissors bonus, where one Elements is strong to one Element and weak to another, and you are limited to two Elements when deckbuilding.

In order to win the game you have to get three points by winning combat rounds, in which the VT with the highest PL after combat wins one point or if a player doesn’t have a VT in the Active or Backstage zones then a point goes to the opponent.

Another massive change is that higher PL9 and PL10 cards can only be played by evolving from a lower PL (PL8 can become a PL9 and a PL9 can become a PL10). You can evolve a VT once each turn and you can evolve any number of VT’s each turn, and when you evolve a VT from PL8 to PL9 then you draw a card and if you evolve a PL9 to a PL10 then you draw 2 cards.

There is also an Empty Deck penalty of -1 to PL to all VT’s that player control instead of a loss, and a player with an Empty Deck then shuffles their discard pile back as a deck.

Playability Options

After that huge update on how the game is played, there are also additional things added to how the game is played.

One of those options is the availability of a two player Starter Deck, which contains two decks of 50 cards each that can be used to play against each other and to learn how to play the game. What’s more, any person who bought a First Edition box can claim a two player Starter Deck for free.

In addition to that, there is also currently an official VCard TCG Tabletop Simulator available to play online in Tabletop Simulator. This means that it expands the player base for those who are unable to purchase the product.

All of these changes came with the release of the Unlimited Rising Stars set, which had the updated cards.

With the release of all of this, there was also an accompanying video to show how to play the new version of VCard TCG, along with the new mechanics and how a turn is structured.

To my knowledge, if you have the First Edition of the cards, you can still play them but need to use the newer versions of the effects.

On the Upside

There has been a huge overhaul of the game, and for the most part the changes have been fairly positive.

The game has more points of interaction and actually provides a variety of play rather than the generic play pattern that the game presented in the first version of the game, some work has been put in to make the game actually feel like a game.

Higher PL cards now have a purpose rather than just being pretty artwork, and PL9 actually has a use rather than being the ugly step child that would never be played because PL8 cards had effects and PL10 cards were stronger. Now it allows you to draw an additional card and can be a stepping stone to drawing more cards and getting to a PL10 card.

Mascots have been simplified without losing their function in helping the VT that they are associated with while also gaining additional unique abilities, you can actually play more Support cards and have a way to interact with an opponent’s cards via a Support card.

Gameplay being streamlined from having five points to win to three points should help in their goal in making sure games are quick to play.

I also love that there is an accessibility option in an official Tabletop Simulator version, which can allow players who don’t have a lot of money or are unable to get the cards the ability to actually play the game.

However, this is also where the problems start rearing their ugly head.

The Biggest Issues

While the game has improved, there are still some major issues that need to be addressed, and the biggest one is the availability issue.

I haven’t been actively following VCard TCG, and decided to see if there had been any updates to the game. Luckily there had been an update a week prior to writing this announcing all of these changes along with the availability of the Unlimited Rising Stars booster boxes.

I decided to look to see how much the boxes were selling for, a decent price of $89.99 USD and as I think that things have improved, the boxes have already sold out.

I understand the issues with printing too much and space not being readily available, however they had to have known that with a massive rules update and people who actually want to be involved with the games competitive scene that the company wants to build up, people would want the most updated versions of the cards.

Maybe there were a lot of boxes already sold and I was too late to get one and the cards should be able to go around to those who want them, but knowing how hard scalpers lean into card game products, I wouldn’t be surprised if a limited number was printed and heavily bought by scalpers. On the bright side the Starter Decks still seem to be available at a decent price, but who knows for how long.

I don’t like being pessimistic, but considering how Gamer Supps entire business model seems to be based around FOMO, it’s hard not to be.

Part of the pessimistic line of thinking is that the only reason why a Tabletop Simulator version of the game exists is for people to actually play the game because they knew that they would sell out of the game before people who wanted to play the game could get their hands on actual cards.

If I were to continue that line of thinking, why buy the cards when I could play the Tabletop Simulator version without spending money for it? Why support the hard working artists who made the art for the cards and for future cards, the Vtubers who’s likeness is on the cards, the team who actually did the hard work to update the cards, the company who makes the cards, and most importantly why support the future releases of the new boxes?

Availability is the biggest thing the game needs to address for the future releases because with the way things are going, people are going to be tighter with their money and they need to give a reason why a person would want to buy a luxury item like these cards, especially if they really want to actually be taken seriously and not be seen as a cash grab.

In Conclusion

The release of Unlimited Rising Stars along with the other updates was two steps forward one step back for VCard TCG in my opinion.

The frustrating thing is that the game actually feels like a game and has improved dramatically, but the albatross of a lack of availability is going to be so low that developing an active player base is going to be a struggle, unless the Tabletop Simulator version of the game brings in a massive audience.

The release First Edition of Rising Stars was such a mess, and generated so much negative publicity that a massive change of direction was needed to get the game in a better state, but the issues of availability still need to be addressed.

Maybe release some more Starter Decks of the first set in the interim, focusing on the other Elements to tide people over until a new set comes out.

Then have your First Edition limited release of a new set that has a higher chance of getting fancy cards and have the Unlimited version shortly after be print on demand or have a large number available for release and a two to three month period where people can buy the box but need to wait for it to be printed and shipped.

I hope beyond hope that the next set is much more available and helps to improve the game, but until then I can only give a tentative recommendation to take a look at it. The new game play looks interesting, especially when compared to the original game, and does look like there could be some interesting developments for future sets.

If you can get the two player Starter Deck or more boxes of the Unlimited Rising Stars set become available, then give it a shot.

Here is where you can find information on VCard TCG.

Thank you for reading, see you next time!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual

Socials

Bluesky: @jmcasualnerd.bsky.social

Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/jmcasual