Hey everyone, the team at Sparuh Studio here! We’re excited to share a glimpse into the development of our latest project, Tin Tamer – a solo monster-taming card game! It’s been a whirlwind adventure these past few months, and we can’t wait to bring you along for the ride.

From Concept to Compact Adventure: The idea for Tin Tamer sparked earlier this year. We’ve always been passionate about solo adventures, especially through tabletop RPGs. This time, we wanted to explore that same captivating world-building and character (or in this case, creature!) progression in a card game format. We initially tossed around digital options, but the lure of a physical, collectible experience proved too strong.

Mimicking the Monster Taming Journey in Cards: One of the biggest challenges was translating the familiar monster-taming journey – catching your first creature, exploring a region, battling wild encounters and trainers, and ultimately becoming the champion – into a solo card game experience. We experimented heavily with card design, ensuring each “Mintin” card could fulfill multiple functions, simulating the dynamic decision-making of a true solo adventure.

Compressing the Epic into a Tin: We were inspired by classic monster-taming games like those on the Game Boy Advance. Those titles captured a specific flow: acquiring your starter, venturing out, battling wild creatures and trainers, and finally conquering the league. We aimed to capture that progression within a single card game, compressing these elements into a compact and replayable format. We’re thrilled with the results and think Tin Tamer offers a satisfying solo adventure in a tiny package!

Lessons Learned and What’s Next? Tin Tamer’s development wasn’t without its hurdles. We originally started working on another solo tabletop RPG project, but it became clear we needed a fresh approach. Fortunately, the lessons learned from that experience helped us refine and streamline Tin Tamer. Looking ahead, we’re excited to expand the world of Tin Tamer, introducing new lore, collectable mint tins, and potentially revisiting the solo TTRPG project we put on hold. Before diving back in, though, we’ll ensure any existing content is polished and perfect – expect exciting updates by the end of the month!

A Valuable Lesson in Iteration: One key takeaway from this development journey is the importance of iterative design. Since Tin Tamer relies heavily on identical card templates, even minor adjustments to the core mechanics meant revising over 50 cards! This highlighted the value of meticulous planning and a step-by-step development process.

We Want to Hear From You! We’re eager to hear your thoughts on Tin Tamer! What kind of creatures would you love to see as Mintins? Do you have ideas for future expansions? Let us know in the comments below! We appreciate your feedback and can’t wait to continue building the world of Tin Tamer together! https://itch.io/t/3887718/feedback-we-want-to-hear-from-you-