Designer’s Cards-or-Tables Dilemma

 “Random chance plays a huge part in everybody’s life.”

— Gary Gygax

To use cards or not to use cards? That’s a question some designers might consider when developing mechanics for a particular game. Cards can deliver a similar infusion of effects we get from rolling dice on random tables. Differences exist in the two systems, but the result — generating a randomized element from a thematic list — remains the same. I’m debating whether to use cards or tables for a game I’m in the early stages of developing, a solitaire simulation focusing on supplying the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. As a player I love cards: the tactile nature, the space for illustrations, blurbs of lore, and stylized icons for values and functions. But at this early stage, and from a designer’s perspective, I’m leaning toward random tables as an expedient to focus more on concepts and system rather than give in to my urge to obsess over physical components.

Sharing Our Toys

 “A toy is seen both as a bauble and as an intellectual machine.”

— Brian Sutton-Smith

Sharing my Star Wars Mos Eisley
toys at a convention back in the
20th century.

I have a lot of gaming toys (some would argue too many) and I don’t share them enough. Roleplaying game books. Boxed wargames. Board games. Piles of material for miniature wargames of numerous kinds. Even a few card games. Having a much smaller circle of acquaintances than in my youth — and hence fewer possibilities to gather folks around the table for a game — I’m always seeking new opportunities where I can share my “toys” with others. I also find taking advantage of playing with other people’s shared toys can expose us to new experiences and help evaluate if they’re something we’d pursue on our own.

Remembering Jean Rabe

 “Virtues are acquired through endeavor, Which rests wholly upon yourself. So, to praise others for their virtues can but encourage one’s own efforts.”

— Thomas Paine

Jean Rabe, 1957–2026

Beloved author and game industry luminary Jean Rabe passed away on January 19, 2026. She was among what I’d consider the “old guard” in the tabletop roleplaying game industry, a veteran of early TSR, head of the Roleplaying Gamer Association (RPGA), host of numerous writers symposiums, and prolific author of fantasy and science fiction literature. She was also a staunch advocate for many who sought opportunities in writing and publishing. Her friendship and efforts helped me during one of the most difficult times of my life: my “Desperate Freelancing Years” after West End Games went bankrupt and dismissed its creative staff.

Exploring Outcomes & Inaction

 “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.”

— John F. Kennedy

My estimation of serious simulation “wargames” — like tabletop exercises (TTXs) and matrix games — has deteriorated in the past 18 months. Many seek to explore outcomes of various emerging issues with an eye toward affecting policy or future action. These rarely achieve any objective on their own beyond educated speculation how different elements affect the situation and where various actions lead, even with post-game discussion; their success and impact requires subsequent, meaningful action to put the conclusions to any effect in real-world policy. And I don’t see that happening against the overwhelmingly indifferent filter of societal and institutional bureaucracy. The past few years we’ve seen several political simulations, some more tabletop exercises than wargame-adjacent matrix games, intended to “game out” what might happen with various developments in American politics. Many came to presciently frightening conclusions. But this kind of simulation means nothing if participants don’t use what they learned to affect policy moving forward.