How Ember Tables Works
Ember Tables is a website where people can make card games, publish them, play them, and build new versions of them.
The easiest way to understand it is this:
- Someone creates a game.
- They publish it.
- Other people can play it.
- Other people can also copy it, change it, and publish their own version.
Over time, good games can improve because people keep building on what already works.
What You Can Do Here
Make a game
You can use the Create Game page to build a card game through the website itself.
You can change things like:
- win conditions
- resources
- deck rules
- cards
- player abilities
- card effects
You do not need to code to do this.
Publish a game
When your draft is valid, you can publish it.
Once a game is published, its rules are locked in.
That means players can trust that the published version will stay the same.
Fork a game
If you like a published game, you can fork it.
Forking means making your own editable copy of that game.
You can then:
- change the rules
- add or remove cards
- rebalance things
- publish your own version
You are not editing the original game. You are making a new version based on it.
Why Published Games Stay Fixed
Published games are meant to be stable.
If published games could change at any time, players would not know what version they were playing.
So Ember Tables keeps published mechanics fixed.
If someone wants to improve a game, they fork it and make a new version instead.
How Games Improve Over Time
This is one of the main ideas behind Ember Tables.
Many games get better over time because players:
- test them
- notice problems
- suggest changes
- make new versions
Most of this usually happens through house rules, mods, or private notes.
Ember Tables makes that process part of the platform itself.
Instead of saying, "we changed a few rules at home," someone can actually publish the new version.
Mechanics and Cosmetics Are Different
The rules of a game and the look of a game are not the same thing here.
- Mechanics are the rules.
- Cosmetics are the visuals, sounds, and presentation.
That means a game can keep the same rules while its appearance changes.
FAQ
Do I need to know how to code?
No. The platform is designed so people can build games through the editor.
Can I change someone else's published game?
Not directly.
But you can fork it, make your own copy, edit that copy, and publish your version.
Why can't I edit a published game directly?
Because published games are supposed to stay stable.
If you want to change one, the correct way is to fork it.
Can two people publish the exact same game?
No. Exact duplicates are not allowed.
What is the Generate Random Game button for?
It makes a random game draft using the same editor options a normal user can use.
It is mainly a way to explore different kinds of games quickly.