I've reached the point where I realize that a concept that I've been fiddling with won't work with any of the systems I've designed thus far, so I'm looking for some input, potentially on both concept and system. First, the concept and inspirations:
WOEBEGONEAre you strong enough to lift a spirit?If no one can see the stars beyond the lights of the city, will anyone notice when one of them goes missing? A star has fallen to earth with the hopes of secretly helping ease some of the troubles it saw from above. It manifests as a boy or girl, but found itself in need of help, and asks for assistance from dreamers it encounters, which are the characters. With the characters acting like both caretakers and friends (like in
Yotsuba), they set about secretly helping people (like in
Amelie and
3 Iron), and also helping to lift the star's heavy heart so that it may return to the heavens.
The world of Endless City is inspired by the illustrations by
Imperial Boy. It's not a world filled with magic or great danger, but a lot of rather odd characters. My intention is to make the game seem very playful and always hovering near the edge of fantasy, but the star will be the only thing that is truly magical. There will actually be several stars for the gamemaster to choose from, and which one is chosen will shape the campaign.
As for the system, I want adapt a kid's cardgame that can be played with regular playing cards to give a playful feel to the game. I also want to avoid cardgames that are regularly associated with gambling, like poker or blackjack.
Thus far I've come up with, or had suggested, the following possible games:
War, Go Fish, UNO, Old Maid, Rook, Canasta, Rummy, Crazy Eights, Slapjack, Hearts
Does anyone know any other playing card games they played as a kid that I might look into?