Project Paper-Rock

Overview

Project Paper-Rock is a completed card battler that I developed independently with mentor guidance and academic assessment. It began as a Futuregames exam project, running approximately from March 5 to May 5, 2023, and later continued as a hobby project. I built it in Unity 2021.3.16f1 with C# and HDRP 12.1.8.

The game supports local hot-seat PvP for two players on the same computer and single-player against a rule-based AI opponent.

Gameplay Systems

I implemented the cards, hand, deck/pile, board, turns, targeting, and combat, with responsibilities split across separate gameplay components and classes. The card flow connects drawing, hand limits, affordability and per-turn resources with minion placement and spell handling.

Turn orchestration changes the active player, draws cards, resets resources and minion attacks, and activates the AI when required. Targeting and combat connect attackers and targets across minions, players, and spells, including damage, healing, retaliation, and death handling.

Rule-Based AI

The AI filters currently affordable cards, distinguishes spells from minions, and reads board, minion, and player-health state. Straightforward prototype heuristics compare aggregate incoming and outgoing damage with health thresholds, use simple lethal- and healing-oriented branches, and select cards and attacks. This is rule-based gameplay logic rather than advanced planning or combat simulation.

Mobile Rendering Trade-off

I explored a mobile port, but the project’s HDRP rendering setup was judged unsuitable for the intended mobile hardware. The experiment became a practical lesson in matching rendering choices to the target platform rather than a successful optimization exercise.

Project Reference

The historical project repository on GitHub is available as a secondary implementation reference.