The Making of Alter Ego - Part 1 | Game Box Redesign

The Making of Alter Ego - Part 1 | Game Box Redesign

Published: June 21, 2024


Welcome to the start of my behind-the-scenes “Making of Alter Ego” series.

Before we start - please reply to this email and tell me what you think! I read every reply personally (but can’t always reply to everyone).

The Series 2: Alter Ego Game Box is the result of Beef’s prudent game design knowledge, community feedback, and my personal (borderline unhealthy (jk I’m fine, I promise ❤️) level of) obsession over the details of this project.

To start, here’s what’s included in the box:

  • 1 x Starter Deck (42 Cards)
  • 10 x Effect Pieces
  • 1 x (updated!) Playmat
  • 1 x Dry Erase Marker
  • 1 x S2 Collectable Coin
  • 2 x Booster Packs

Let’s unpack this!

Series 2 ALTER EGO

 

First - one of the most important updates is that you can now choose your own Starter Deck! There are 10 available options, one for each Type (Builder, Balanced, Prankster, etc).


We heard the feedback that people wanted less RNG (i.e. randomization) when it comes to the Game Box, and a better way to ensure they can get a Starter Deck that suits their playstyle.

Series 2 Alter Ego

Easy, right?

Well, from an operations perspective, nooot quite.

When it comes to ecommerce, each new SKU adds an exponential amount of complexity to the supply chain. From inventory management, to customer support, to managing the website, and especially manufacturing. Also, with 10 new Game Box packaging designs, suddenly we’re only making 1/10th the volume for each design, rather than 1 big production run. This decreases economies of scale and therefore increases cost.

Series 2 ALTER EGO

Next - we completely overhauled the Playmat.


Here’s the things we were trying to fix:

  • Decrease size
    • The S1 Game Boards were chonky. The goal was to find a way to slim it down a bit.
  • Get rid of Health Cards
    • They didn’t really fit well on the board anywhere, and further increased the required playing space.
  • Improve Visual Design

Here’s how we accomplished each of these:

First, we started with condensing the Item Cards to be overlapping. This immediately allowed us to reduce the size of the board considerably.

Series 2 ALTER EGO

Next, we got rid of the Health Cards, and added an HP section to the top of the board. The board will also now be laminated, so you can write directly on the board. The lamination is the same process used on the Health Cards, so it’ll feel pretty much the same, just without the need for the bulky Health Cards.

Series 2 ALTER EGO

Finally, we spent a ton of time on the graphic design, with all new custom pixel art icons, and a more cohesive feeling to the design of the entire Series.

Two final things to note is that we’ve done a fancy new design for the S2 collectable coin, and we are also including 2 Booster Packs with each Game Box, as a fun little bonus.

That’s all for episode 1 of Making of Alter Ego!

Again - please reply and tell me what you think :) This is my personal email address, so I read every single reply.


Cheers,

- Luke Chesney

Founder, CREO

P.S. Join the discord! You can ask me questions personally, buy/sell/trade, and even have a direct impact on future products by offering your feedback. discord.gg/creocards

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