How Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield wants to bring back the joy of card games

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Richard Garfield remembers the magic of the early days of Magic: The Gathering. The creator of the iconic card game recalled how there was a period of time when people didn’t have access to perfect information about which Magic cards and decks were the best.

This part of the reason he cofounded Popularium, a new game startup. His team’s next game, Chaos Agents, a PC and web strategy game that will have a mix of genres, with multiplayer elements dubbed “auto battler royale.”

Players had to experiment and take risks without perfect knowledge of how to beat rivals in the game. In time, players learned those perfect decks and strategies and rarely deviated from a prescribed path. Garfield wants to make a game that brings back that feeling of risk in the early game.

The team will soon study the results of a playtest that the company recently held where it showed off gameplay from its Chaos Agents game. The company did the playtest in collaboration with Gen Con TV, a popular streaming platform for gaming enthusiasts. This milestone marked an exciting step forward for Chaos Agents, which aims to empower gamers to develop their own unique playstyles.

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Unlike Magic, there is no physical element. It’s all digital. I felt it interesting to hear him say that a good game grows with you, but you should also savor the first moments you play it. And I thought it was very interesting that Garfield viewed Chaos Agents as a simulation