We recently had the chance to speak with O.P. Neon Games — the developer behind the massively popular TCG Card Shop Simulator — about the game as part of the Southeast Asian Games Showcase. We spoke about how the game’s taken off since it originally launched in Early Access, replicating the thrill of opening a card pack, and more.
The game is currently available in Early Access for purchase through Steam and on Xbox, with a PlayStation and Nintendo Switch 2 launch set for an unannounced future date.
“Open your own local game store. Stock shelves with the latest booster packs, or crack them and collect the cards for yourself,” reads the game‘s official description. “Set your own prices, hire staff, host events, and expand your card shop.”
Spencer Legacy: TCG Card Shop Simulator was really one of the games that kicked off this boom of “Shop Simulator” games, and it’s had a big influence even on recent games in the genre. What’s it been like to see games take influence from your own?
O.P. Neon Games: It’s a surreal experience. When I started developing TCG Card Shop Simulator, I was simply creating a game for fun because I was a bit bored at the time and wanted to challenge myself with PC game development. I never expected it to reach such a large audience or influence the genre.
What was it about trading cards that had you choose them as the game’s primary product to sell?
One of the main goals when creating the game is to capture the excitement of opening a card pack and getting a rare card. On top of that, I want to enable the players to decide whether to keep it for their own collection or sell it in a shop. As a kid, I really loved Pokémon and Digimon, and felt really happy when I got to collect the cards with my favorite characters. So in this game, I tried to replicate that feeling in the card’s visual style.
Credit: O.P. Neon Games
Opening packs somehow feels as satisfying in TCG Card Shop Simulator as it does in real life. How much work went into truly nailing that specific feeling?
I think I nailed that feeling well because I experienced the pack opening myself. Back then, I used to visit a local game store every Friday night for MTG tournaments. At the end of each event, you’d win some packs and get to open them. Every week I usually find duds after duds, until one night, I opened a pack and found one of the rare chase cards worth $200! My hand was shaking a bit as it was the most valuable card I’d ever pulled from a pack, and the experience really stuck with me.
Because of that genuine experience, I have a pretty clear direction on how I wanted players to feel when opening packs in TCG Card Shop Simulator. I put a lot of effort into creating that excitement, making sure every detail like ripping open a pack, seeing the card being revealed, showing the card price, all to support that feeling.
It’s always challenging to create creature designs that are appealing and memorable. How did you go about designing so many monsters for the cards?
Yes it’s quite difficult because drawing isn’t my best skill, so I worked with a few artists to create the creature designs. The process starts with the concept phase, where I think about a specific animal, object, and element that I want to combine. Then I will find references for the artists to work on. The artists create initial sketches, and I provide feedback until we’re happy with the design. Once approved, we will move on to color and shading. In some cases, I make adjustments to the final artwork myself to get exactly what I pictured, like adjusting colors or features position. There are quite a lot of monsters to design so the drawings are done over a year.
Credit: O.P. Neon Games
Do you have a personal favorite card from TCG Card Shop Simulator? What makes that one stand out to you?
Do you mean which card type? That would be the “Ghost” card, especially the foil ones, they just look really unique and more striking visually compared to other card types. If you mean by which Tetramon, there are a few, but I think my favorite would be Dracunix. I just find the vampire design to be pretty awesome!
