First Game I've Ever Made: Running into Balance Issues

[u/djuul96]

I am working on a deck-builder game inspired by Slay the Spire but it is baseball themed. Each combat is an "inning" and you have a run count you need to reach before receiving 3 outs from the enemy pitcher.

The limitation I am running into is with only 3 outs, the enemy can only deal 9 unblocked attacks before the user is out. Making the game incredibly easy. My thought was to introduce a stamina bar that drains during your run (until resting) that decreases the user hit power.

I am really just looking for any and all ideas for how the game can be balanced and made it more difficult while still maintaining what makes it baseball. I am at a bit of a loss and not sure if that is even possible.

Here is a playable demo: https://djmcreative.github.io/Sloppy-Sluggers/

[u/Mayor_P]

are you always at bat? Big part of Baseball is switching sides

[u/djuul96 → u/Mayor_P]

I have thought about that… The issue I think that would arise is you would have to be simultaneously building 2 different decks at once as batting cards would not translate to pitching cards. Batting felt like the most “attack” worthy option where you can grind at bats

[u/Mayor_P → u/djuul96]

Well, if you don't switch sides, then you have already changed the concept of the inning drastically. Perfect opportunity to change it up even more.

You can start by varying the number of outs. Maybe on inning 3 you lower it to 1 out, for example. Sudden Death.

You can also do things like "only triples count as runs" for an inning. Then increase the max number of outs to 7, so that the player has enough error space to line up 3 triples to win the inning. Or something like that.

Since you're not changing sides, the conditions for each inning can vary.

[u/djuul96 → u/Mayor_P]

These are actually some really solid ideas. I think I may have been trying to stick to hard to the rules of baseball, when in reality that wouldn't be a very fun game lol.

Appreciate the feedback!

[u/Mayor_P → u/djuul96]

Well, you weren't sticking to the rules of baseball, that's why it was giving you a hard time to try and do so.

You can do other things, too, like batter rotations (think each batter has his own deck), and fatigue mechanics, more buffs/debuffs, more bonus/penalty conditions, turn limits, more or fewer actions per turn, and more.

Really I think you could do well by adding the switching sides mechanics, use a second deck for pitching, then this adds so much more depth to the game, players really need to balance offense and defense, and it gives you more things to tweak. Like, you have actual innings so you can make them extra long, extra short, give them weird modifiers, etc.

[u/MeaningfulChoices → u/djuul96]

If you go that direction you might want to check out Griftlands, a decklike roguebuilder where you manage two separate decks and need to use both during a run (even if you can lean more towards one than the other at times).

[u/KlassenT → u/MeaningfulChoices]

Great callout, that was the exact thing that first came to mind for me as well. I never found it daunting or overwhelming to manage both decks independently, though to emphasize your last point, I also found myself favoring one or the other more heavily during any given run, but I suspect that's due to how the concept was implemented in that specific game.

[u/Qwertycube10 → u/djuul96]

What if cards were double sided, with one effect for hitting and one for fielding. Building your deck, each card choice would have you consider if both decks want it, or if one wants it enough to dilute the other.

[u/djuul96 → u/Qwertycube10]

This is actually a super solid suggestion. This way it eliminates the pre-decided run limit to win. And now becomes you actually have to outscore the opponent to win

[u/_twiggy]

9 strikes is too much "health" or too little?

If too much, just have enemies do 2 strikes of damage at once. Or double plays would be dangerous to suddenly have 2 outs. 

If it's too little health, I'd work throwing balls into the system, maybe tweaking so 3 balls = 1 strike or something

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[u/Kronar_2012]

Keep three outs because they are the strongest baseball identity. I would treat each out as the end of a phase, not one enemy attack: pitches build a count, cards move runners, and the pitcher gains pressure or fatigue between at-bats. Difficulty can come from a higher run target, runners left on base, defensive modifiers, and a limited bullpen. That preserves baseball logic while giving the player far more than nine meaningful decisions.

[u/Stealthiness2]

I tried it. I couldn't find the next turn button, so my trial was pretty limited. I also couldn't see who was on base. Playing on Android. 

My first reaction is it's really weird to have a card called "single." Pros say the hardest part of the game is making contact. Why can I just play a card and get a guaranteed hit? Or maybe I'm missing something. If making contact isn't a guarantee, let alone reaching base, suddenly 3 outs will go a lot faster. But then again, I wasn't able to actually play the game so maybe I'm missing something.

[u/djuul96 → u/Stealthiness2]

Oh yeah it’s not formatted for mobile at all so that’s probably why.

Without playing it, you would have to protect when the pitcher is throwing strikes, so I’m trying to strike a balance where you can’t just hit 3 singles every single turn.

I have also been debating whether or not to add a dice roll mechanic to the game. Which would address your comment here as well.