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My initial idea [for Spirit Warriors II] was that you would draft four heroes, and then get a packet of 8-12 cards per hero, shuffle them together, and draw cards from the resulting deck. When you drew one of your Ranger's cards, that would be something your Ranger could do. Each hero would have two skills and you could build them up as you gained experience. A card might be, deal 3 damage per level of bow skill.

While working on this game I realized that the math was too hard. You look at the first card in your hand. Deal 3 damage per level of bow skill. You look down at your Ranger. Bow level: 2. You multiply, that's 6. Now remember that number and move on to the next card, a sword card for your Paladin. Figure out its total and add it and then move onto the next card. You're looking back and forth and back and forth and remembering numbers. I made a sample situation to test on my friends. People took forever and then got the wrong answer.

What I needed was cards that just said "deal 3 damage." Bam, end of story. But I wanted you to build up your heroes, that was a key fun part. The obvious solution was to gain cards as you levelled up. You'd start with say 2-3 cards per hero, and when your Ranger gained a level of Bow, that would just mean you took the next Bow card and added it to your deck.

Once I had that idea I realized I could make a game out of just that concept - building a deck - with none of the rest of it, no quests and monsters and things. I jotted down some notes on what that game might look like, then went back to work on Spirit Warriors II.

Spirit Warriors II was going to be another 500-unique-cards monster. It was slow going. One weekend in October of 2006, I was desperate for a new game to play that Monday night, and decided, hey, I could whip out the simpler pure deckbuilding thing. It didn't need 500 unique cards; most of the work would be googling for art and cutting and sleeving. So I whipped it out.

After a test game with Feast and Festival to get a feel for how it works, my friend Max went to town in game 5, first reducing his deck to six cards with Chapel, holding on to Festival, Market x2, Moat, Throne Room and Chapel. Then he bought Masq, slowly bought out the Markets and more Festivals and Moats (with me trying and failing to keep pace), then cranked out 55 coins on a single turn. Game over.

In these games money is an imposition. You don't want any! Not a one! Cellar lets you bypass coins in favor of actions, but ideally you want it out. Remodel lets you extract it slowly, while Chapel takes it out in clumps. However you do it, though, your deck will be better for it.

He shows me a few beastly creature "minis", (some of which he insists I don't photograph just yet) with plastic bases covered by numbers, text marking abilities, and defense scores.

Each of the minis – and the board itself – has a series of "microdots". Invisible to the naked eye, these can be read by the game's stylus (currently in an "ugly prototype" stage, Weisman says). Competing players tap with the stylus to make decisions in the game, whether ordering a move, an attack, or other powers. Tap one mini, tap the board, then consult a tablet or smartphone screen to confirm the action you want to take.

That means Chess 2 will involve 21 different matchups. "Longtime chess players and beginners alike will rejoice that that this makes memorizing an opening book impractical," Sirlin boasts. The game also adds a new win condition: Crossing the midline of the board with your king. "This makes the game very aggressive and practically eliminates draws from the game."