In order to balance the game I am working on, I am planning to use a somewhat similar automated system (although its good to note, you can get a very interesting statistical analysis by ignoring the AI and just playing random cards/skills/whatever you are testing against each other). This of course works best if you are selecting two discrete subsets of one superset and playing with card variance (random decks, control decks with only one different card between them, etc).
Off topic: I've played Heathstone enough to appreciate it. It is a good game (I'd give it maybe 4.5 stars), but not perfect; my critiques:
- Chance of winning is based largely on luck - the same deck drawn two different ways can be almost a guaranteed win/fail, even if it is balanced.
- Card starvation is way too common of a problem. Could not count how many times I ended up exhausting the deck, even with plenty of cards to counter it. When you only have one card to play at a time, the game becomes rather dull.
- Classing leads to a certain lack of permutation and surprise - most decks have a few basic strategies.
- Cards outside of the class decks tend to be fairly generic feeling for the most part. Many cards feel a bit mundane compared to other CCGs.
- Free to play model hurts the game a bit - I don't mind paying money, but many aspects of the game feel too grindy (in order to get you to pay money).
Off topic: I've played Heathstone enough to appreciate it. It is a good game (I'd give it maybe 4.5 stars), but not perfect; my critiques:
- Chance of winning is based largely on luck - the same deck drawn two different ways can be almost a guaranteed win/fail, even if it is balanced.
- Card starvation is way too common of a problem. Could not count how many times I ended up exhausting the deck, even with plenty of cards to counter it. When you only have one card to play at a time, the game becomes rather dull.
- Classing leads to a certain lack of permutation and surprise - most decks have a few basic strategies.
- Cards outside of the class decks tend to be fairly generic feeling for the most part. Many cards feel a bit mundane compared to other CCGs.
- Free to play model hurts the game a bit - I don't mind paying money, but many aspects of the game feel too grindy (in order to get you to pay money).