Redemption is different than most other collectible card games (CCGs) in a number of ways. Some of the game mechanics differ and the end goal, rescuing a set number of Lost Souls, is something unique to Redemption. While some aspects are different, it also has a lot in common with other CCGs and deck building games. In “Learn from Our Peers” articles, we will take a specific game aspect or mechanic to see how other games handle a similar situation. We might find that some do things well and some do them poorly. We can learn from both and apply what we learn to the game we love when appropriate.
Today we’re going to look at how other popular games implement a mulligan rule. For those unfamiliar with the term mulligan, it means that you get a second try or another chance. It’s usually used when something goes wrong due to bad luck or a mistake. CCGs sometimes offer a mulligan as a way to re-draw the opening hand.
Magic the Gathering (MTG)
This is the first, the longest lasting and the most successful CCG. They have a staff of full time employees to make sure their game runs smoothly. Their mulligan rule allows each player to declare in turn order if they wish to mulligan. Then anyone who wishes to mulligan will shuffle his or her hand and draw a new hand with one less card. Then this process is repeated until each player decides to keep his or her hand. You can do this multiple times until you reach a hand size of 0.
Their mulligan rule has changed since the start of the game but it’s been this way for a long time. I haven’t played this game recently but I used to play enough to testify that the mulligan rule works well with the mechanics of their game.
Pokemon
This long standing game is popular among young people. As far as I can tell, they allow a mulligan if you cannot place an active Pokemon to start the game. As long as you meet that condition, you’re allowed to reveal your hand, shuffle it and draw a new hand. You can do this as many times as you meet the criteria for a mulligan. For each time you mulligan and your opponent doesn’t mulligan, he or she is allowed to draw an extra card.
I played it several years ago when it was first released, but haven’t played since then. If you’re familiar with Pokemon, please feel free to correct me if I’ve misrepresented the rules.
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Here we have another game that is popular with young people. While this is a very popular CCG, I haven’t even seen this played before. From what I understand they do not allow a mulligan in constructed tournament play. It looks like they have more recently added a mulligan in sealed play, but only one per match (best of 3).
Other Games
There are a number of other CCGs, some have come and gone, but for our purposes today I’m only going to focus on the big three. Like Redemption, they’ve withstood the test of time. They also have the advantage of large corporations investing money in them to drive their success. While that has it’s drawbacks, it’s a strong motivator to ensure the rules and mechanics of the game function well.
Conclusion
What is it we can take away from this look at other games mulligan rule? Is there anything here we can apply to Redemption?
Like MTG, will it work for Redemption to have a mulligan with a penalty of one less card? Or, like Pokemon, should Redemption use a mulligan that gave the opponent a benefit for not taking the mulligan? If we use one of those options, should mulligans be unlimited? Or should we limit it to one mulligan per game? Unlike these games, we have Lost Souls to consider. What happens to them when a player mulligans? Do they shuffle with the hand? Do all or some of the Lost Souls stay in play?
Maybe the thing we take away from Pokemon is that a mulligan is only used when a condition is met. Such as we require a mulligan if a player doesn’t draw any Lost Souls with their opening hand. While it’s not the reason people typically think about using a mulligan rule, it could help solve Lost Soul drought.
Maybe we continue with the status quo, like Yu-Gi-Oh!, and we don’t use a mulligan. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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