I've been working in games for over twenty five years, as a designer, producer, coder, and developer.
I'm a bit of a sideways thinker, and much of my career has been about quietly giving teams and colleagues whatever they need to perform at their best.
Over the last five years, I built Threkka – a game designed to help people build healthy habits – solo. Design, code, some of the art, audio, UX. But, it is yet to set the world alight, and so I'm doing what any rational person in my position would do: DESIGNING A CARD GAME INSTEAD hell yeah
I like games that are mechanically simple, but experientially rich.
I think in systems, and I optimise for elegance.
Shitstirrer is very much my kind of thing.
Boy (Pete) and girl (Hel) both love Shithead, but they know different rules, and obviously both Hel's rules and Pete's rules are the best rules, and so my game design brain started thinking... what if?
Shithead's one of those games where everyone has their own favoured ruleset. Hel has three as a Kill Card, for instance, but she doesn't have the 'Jacks give you a free go' rule that I play.
Around the same sort of time, my now-beloved Street Fighter deck of cards turned up, so another bit of my brain was like 'what if playing the Jack of Diamonds, say – Dhalsim – allowed you to streeeeetch out and grab a card?'
So I started wondering... what might Shithead look like if the rules weren't fixed?
Given my career history, I was initially thinking along the lines of a videogame, but Hel's birthday was coming up, so... wouldn't it be awesome if I could sort something out for that?
Indeed it would be.
Turns out fate wasn't on my side.
At the time, I was doing some contract work for Preloaded up in London. Brainstorming, prototyping, pulling ideas apart to see what actually held together.
And during one of those sessions – which very much wasn't about Shithead – something clicked.
This didn’t need to be a videogame. It could be a card game.
But not just any card game. I needed a way to set rules. I needed a way to pin those rules to numbers. I needed special effects you could trigger on your turn – and, while I was at it, effects you could trigger at any time.
That's four things. Four types of cards.
...a deck has four suits. So what if this wasn’t just 'a card game' — what if it could literally be a deck of cards?
That was the 'optimise for elegance' epiphany.
From there, the core structure locked into place: four “suits” – Persistents, Interrupts, Actions, and Smiles – thirteen cards each. Familiar. Portable. Nothing extra to learn before you even start.
Which was great... except it wasn't long until Hel’s birthday.
Clock's a-ticking.
And so it came to pass that I spent ten hours one Sunday afternoon, bashing out designs for an initial prototype.
So long as I submitted my files on the Monday, the card printers – who shall remain nameless – would be able to turn it around for Friday, in time for Hel's birthday the following weekend.
Pretty, it was not. But hopefully it would just about do the job.
Files submitted, confirmation from the printers that I'd have it in time, crossy fingers, nervously wait.
Friday, the cards turned up.
The wrong cards.
Sigh.
Several weeks later, the printers succeeded in delivering what I'd actually designed. Yay!
And you know what? It bloody worked.
Hel and I played. My pal Lord Mark and I played. I got soundly beaten by them both. A lot.
I began to realise that this wasn't just a cute birthday gift. This was a better Shithead.
It started to become obvious that some things worked, but that some things didn't. When it did, it sang. I'll never forget Lord Mark saying – after beating me into the ground, obvs – "I prefer this to Shithead."
So, I tweaked rules, I junked some Shitstirrers, created new ones, played more games, came up with a great name, tweaked more things, and started work on Prototype 2.
I got thirteen decks of that printed – looking waaaay nicer than the original – and sent them out to trusted friends. More feedback in. More tweaks made.
Playtesting is still ongoing. The deck is tightening. The rulesheet is being sharpened again and again.
Assuming that work continues to hold up – and that interest keeps matching the effort – the next step is likely a Kickstarter.
Not to 'find out if this works'. That part’s already done.
But to see how far it goes – and whether there's enough shared appetite to take it properly out into the world.
Redemption next? Here's hoping.
Over to you.
Shitstirrer is still very much a work in progress.
If you’ve got thoughts, questions, feedback – or if you’re an artist or designer who feels a pull towards this project – I’d love to hear from you.
No mailing list. No obligation. Just a message.