Interview: How The Elder Scrolls Online Team Made A Real Tabletop Game In A Digital World
“We pull from our experience a lot - I’ve been a gamer for decades, playing a lot of tabletop card games,” Tales of Tribute lead designer Irenio Calmon-Huang says. “I’ve played everything from Dominion, Ascension, Star Realms, Munchkin, and more. [Saying card games are close to my heart is] an understatement - I would feel that they have a permanent apartment in my heart.”
The Elder Scrolls Online is trying its hand at card games, implementing a whole new minigame as part of the upcoming High Isle expansion. It’s called Tales of Tribute, a more grounded tabletop experience that’s meant to feel at home in the game’s world, like something people get up to on their downtime when they’re not skewering Daedra or going on hunts for minotaur and giant serpents. And part of making it feel at home is baking it into the world, such as retroactively adding it to existing areas, older DLCs, and the base game. But it goes beyond being part of the world, expanding on it, introducing new lore and building on existing ideas.
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“There’s the story content, but each of the decks we have built has its own theme and lore basis,” creative director Rich Lambert adds. “I’ll give the quick example of the St. Pelan patron deck - he was a pretty iconic figure in [The Elder Scrolls’] history and some of the mechanics play into that. He came from Bangkorai Garrison and so there’s stuff related to the garrison in the cards. There’s the order of knights, the portcullis, the reinforcements, things of that nature. So if you look at the card names and a little bit of the art, as well as the patron, you’ll see how some of that comes through.”
Art is an important part of making
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