How Stacklands uses simplicity to create a compelling card-based village builder

gamedeveloper.com:

This interview is part of our Road to the IGF series. The IGF (Independent Games Festival) aims to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize independent game developers advancing the medium. Every year, Game Developer sits down with the finalists for the IGF ahead of GDC to explore the themes, design decisions, and tools behind each entry.

Stacklandsis a card-based city-builder built on simplicity and clarity, tasking you with stacking cards just right to keep folks fed and housed.

Game Developer caught up with the lead designer and programmer for the Excellence in Design nominee, Aran Koning, about how the idea of mixing cards and city-building came from thinking about the creator's limitations, how a bouncing animation lead to the game's lively cards, and how they created a feeling of exploration within the cards players could discover.

Who are you, and what was your role in developing Stacklands ?

My name is Aran Koning, and I'm part of Sokpop Collective, a small game studio based in Utrecht, the Netherlands. We used to make a new game every month for our Patreon. I'm also the lead designer and programmer for Stacklands.

What's your background in making games?

I've always liked messing around on the computer and started making games at a young age. I used to do a lot of game jams, and that's also how we met each other at Sokpop. In 2018, we started a Patreon where we released a new game every month for about 5 years, for a total of 100 games. Now we're taking it easy and just trying to make another 100 games before we die.

How did you come up with the concept for Stacklands ? What appealed to you about turning a village builder into a card game?

I've wanted to make a village