In this episode, we talk about a big part of Mint Condition: Collectable Card Games (CCG). We share our memories about getting into gaming at Mint, the different card games we played, the type of social group it created at the store, and the conversation also leads to other thoughts about collecting and life in general.
We also finally answered a listener question from Sean McNally that was posted in our Facebook group in March and going forward we will answer questions in a timelier manner. So please reach out to us through the Facebook group, Instagram or email.
00:00 We start our conversation about Collectable Card Gaming (CCG) at Mint Condition. Joe begins the conversation by talking about his memories of gaming at the store, then Chris shares his original foray into playing CCGs.
10:00 James begins to recount how he got into CCGs. We end up taking a slight detour into collecting in general and how we still collected comics, even when the books were not that good.
17:00 The conversation turns to the notion of needing a break from feverishly collecting anything as a hobby. We talk about how collecting habits change and how those habits are changed by different priorities in life.
23:40 Joe asks James and Chris if there were any CCG crossovers. Joe also asks Chris and James why many games are based on fantasy and not on other genres. This opens up a discussion about who plays these games versus the perception of who plays these games, game design, and some of Chris’ ideas for game creation.
36:15 Joe also asks whether or not games like Magic: The Gathering were as complex as they seemed and whether or not that was an intentional design choice. This opens a broader conversation about the possibility that this perception is more about how someone teaches you the game vs how complex the rules of the game actually are. Chris compares how he would teach someone to play Magic: The Gathering now as opposed to twenty years ago, and this leads into a conversation about meeting people where they are at when teaching.
52:25 We ask Joe to finish a story about the “Big Figure” controversy in Hero Clix, leading us back to discussing good game design vs bad game design and where making money fits into the conversation.
57:10 We finally answer a question that was posted on the Facebook page from Sean Mcnally: “Who is the most powerful superhero in our opinion, that is not Superman because he is too overpowered.”
1:07:25 We end the show with our audience recommendations.
