Court of Odd Things is a roguelite card builder, not just a deckbuilder. Players construct cards from scratch using the Phrase System, combining Conditions, Activators, Durations, and Tags to write their own effects. Hidden mechanics called Bugs expand the toolkit as players discover them, turning every run into a puzzle of self-authored synergies. Set in Faarwilde, a fey world brought to life through fully hand-drawn sprites.
Responsibilities
- Designing the Phrase System, a grammar of Conditions, Activators, Durations, and Tags that lets players write the rules of their own cards.
- Designing the Bug system: hidden phrase fragments players discover during play, which expand the design space without overwhelming a first-time player.
- Designing the run structure and progression. How cards are acquired, modified, and retired between runs.
- Directing the hand-drawn sprite work for Faarwilde and its inhabitants.
- Writing the design documentation and balancing the phrase grammar around emergent synergy instead of fixed effects.