Interview #2: Nostalgix TCG President Hunter Angell

Nostalgix is a trading card game that launched its base set on Kickstarter back in 2021. It combines multiple aspects from different TCGs, to create the ultimate trading card game experience. During Pax East 2023, I also had to chance to get in a quick conversation with the team behind Nostalgix. Also, I had the pleasure to review their products and TCG game. Not only that I have interviewed Hunter Angell also known around and to many as Zaba. With another Kickstarter almost at its close for Nostalgix, I interviewed Hunter once again and here it is!

LOGNET: First, thank you for once again allowing LOGNET the chance to have another interview with you, Hunter. For those who didn’t read the last interview and who are not familiar with the Nostalgix TCG, can you give us an overview of how the game works, the lore, and some of its prominent features?

Hunter: Thanks for having me, always a pleasure. Nostalgix is a game for TCG lovers. We’ve fused multiple familiar mechanics with delightful additions of our own to make something unique and chaotically fun. Imagine Hero vs. Hero gameplay with two-win conditions. Either defeat your opponent’s Hero or 10 of their Fighters that can evolve and become more powerful over time. You can cast Spells and lay Surprise cards face-down, springing these traps to surprise your opponent. Attach Equipment cards to your Fighters or even your Hero and modify the Arena you’re playing in to turn the tide of battle. It’s a blast!

Our lore is spread between numerous intersecting hero stories and takes place in a world called Nosteram. A new elemental magic is discovered in our universe that rips holes in reality, connecting our human world with Nosteram. As creatures approach these void rifts, ones native to Nosteram become corrupted and extremely powerful. In addition, fantastical new creatures emerge from these portals, and this is where we introduce new concepts to our game.

It’s our way of fusing 2 creatures or designs we love from pop culture into something new without breaking the ever-important copyright law. In my personal flavor of creature design, I like to find the origin of characters I enjoy so instead of say referencing Majora’s Mask. I find what inspired it to begin with and then break out the lore of THAT and build a character from that base understanding.

LOGNET: The market for new TCGs can be a rough one to break into. How are you trying to differentiate still but learn from the other TCGs a couple of years after Nostalgix’s release?

Hunter: It certainly is. What I’ve seen industry-wide is an appetite for a more personal touch. An experience you can actively control and have input on. Pokemon and MTG will release sets until we’re all living on Mars, but you as an individual might never have the opportunity to directly affect its development. Indie games fill that void.

Over half the cards in Harmonic Surge and now Cosmic Collision came directly from user-submitted card ideas on our Discord server. I’m active on all our social channels, your ideas matter to me, and if they’re great and our community rallies behind it, there’s a great chance it will exist at some point in the future! Customization of your deck is a huge thing too which is why we encourage proxy heroes and alternate arts to give it your unique flair.

LOGNET: How has the team grown or shrunk down over the past year since our last interview back in May 2023?

Hunter: Our art team has expanded dramatically. We get dozens of emails from new artists hungry to work with a game and through careful vetting, we work with them to fill creative gaps. Limited Releases and Secret Shards are a great way to test these relationships before pulling them on board for the next main set. Operationally our staff on payroll has dramatically been reduced as we’ve seen a greater value in partnerships, volunteer work, and community outreach. Our game sticks when a demo or league event is held at a cadence in a local game store. We’re focusing efforts across the board to open more of those doors.

LOGNET: As I have continued to follow the Nostalgix game, I have seen the continued use of Kickstarter. Last time you talked about how helpful it has been on multiple fronts, so is the sentiment the same, or has anything changed?

Hunter: Kickstarter has been remarkably warm to working with us. I’ve been provided the chance to speak directly with their team, provide feedback that I’ve seen implemented, helping future projects, and been honored with the ‘projects we love’ badge twice now. They even featured us in the #1 slot of a gaming campaigns newsletter. I welcome the audience they bring and the new players who are still looking to play something new on it. I believe that while investor types still lurk on the site, they may for once be outweighed by genuine interest in projects, so I’ve been optimistic about its future use seeing that.

LOGNET: I noticed with the 2nd Kickstarter that you didn’t quite meet the goals you had set out to meet. One thing I will say is I appreciate the fact that you went above and beyond to still do stuff for the backers of that Kickstarter. Why did you want to do those special things that some other Kickstarters wouldn’t have?

Hunter: Yeah we actually canceled that one towards the end and did a smaller direct presale release on our site. However, to prove Kickstarter’s value, the monetary loss from canceling our Kickstarter campaign and going direct on our Shopify site was close to 40%. You get SO much more traction on a reputable platform than you do on your own private sites.

We still wanted to honor those that show up every time as that’s what keeps us in business. So we offered each backer to our Kickstarter and we canceled a free booster case. It’s our hope that from it they get all the cards they want and then share it with someone else who gets into the game, spreading the word organically. Few want to play a TCG alone, it’s much more fun with friends.

LOGNET: How important is this particular Kickstarter to the Nostalgix brand and overall business? Because I saw a tweet where it was said that the “company hangs in the balance.”

Hunter: Significantly important to maintain our current trajectory as a company. Our warehousing for the brand sites is fairly expensive. Now we are in talks with larger partners of ours in the space to move warehouses a 2^nd time here to a shared space for just TCGs and that’d dramatically reduce this cost, but operating a business costs money.

The margins on these things are so tight and I find it incredibly valuable to continue offering new experiences to fans to keep the company growing. We’re seeing tremendous growth in our backyard so to speak. The Minnesota scene is blowing up right now but we need the inventory and opportunity to continue that effort whilst still offering veteran players new cards to collect/play with.

LOGNET: One big thing for me when I play TCGs and I play a lot is the art. Nostalgix has some of the best and most fun art I have seen. Where do the ideas for the artwork come from?

Hunter: Touched on this a bit above, but truthfully we put a LOT of our game’s character stats so-to-speak… into art. Our artists are gamers themselves, who take in a myriad of pop culture, anime, and gaming references. This wide breadth of inspiration lends itself well to making our game feel familiar but new. We also employ many artists who don’t live in the US so their artistic influence is culturally different too leading to cards like our recent Holiday Pack one. I had to look up Omisoka and what that holiday meant. It’s a really cool one. Without our worldwide team, we’d lose a lot of that East meets West art feel, so I’m glad we have it.

LOGNET: What have been some of the challenges the team faces now versus back when you all first started?

Hunter: Business relationship webs. To establish ourselves in a store you need to first demo the game to its owner. Ok, now they like it. Can they host an event? Yes? Awesome. Then have the event and supply them with products. If the event goes well, can they host another in 2 weeks? Is the community growing? It is? Awesome! Now keep on them to keep it up so the community keeps growing. Now multiply that by the potentially thousands of stores in the US. It’s a massive logical and social battery-draining nightmare. That’s why we’ve been calling on and utilizing our community more for this. Players with positive relationships with local game shops (LGS), please reach out to us, we want to work with you.

LOGNET: Recently, my last close LGS kind of got out of TCGs in general due to multiple reasons. So how has the difficulty been trying to get a tournament scene going or just getting the product in LGSs in general?

Hunter: More or less the previous answer. You can’t just put an indie game on a shelf and expect it to sell. Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon. Oh and now One Piece and Lorcana. You’ve gotta show players why our game is also fun, and why they should care. That usually takes a personal touch or a wonderful experience. Doing that in mass is….. time-consuming.

LOGNET: I saw you posted that if Nostalgix’s Kickstarter garners 250 backers you would do a 1 day free sale on the site. What does that entail and how would that work?

Hunter: If we reach 250 backers, I’ll make all items on our e-commerce site free of charge. Just pay shipping. For one day. Reduces my warehousing costs, gets boxes to players who hopefully share it with friends, and stores that need a restock. It’s our way of saying thanks for keeping us in business.

LOGNET: If you don’t mind me asking, are there any sneak peeks or anything you can hint at or reveal for us today?

Hunter: Typically I would! But on this Kickstarter, we put everything we were holding onto out there! I do keep thinking, about set 4, set 5, and themes of these, and what options exist. The phrases Fantastic Feasts and Foxes and Frogs have come to mind. Though I’d love to do a secret shards box with characters in our game recreating memes. That’d be a lot of fun.

LOGNET: With the successful launch of Nostalgix to the Cosmic Collison Kickstarter that didn’t meet your set goals to a new Kickstarter that’s over halfway to your goal, what do you want to say to the Nostalgix and TCG fans out there?

Hunter: You can directly influence our game on a daily basis, and our welcoming community of like-minded players is waiting for you. There are new adventures to be had and new friends to be made inside. Give us a shot and experience what a game made by one of you feels like. I hope you take the time to check out our game and join us over at our Kickstarter and Discord.

Final Thoughts

As someone who has played multiple card games throughout my lifetime, I believe Nostalgix has legs. I don’t have an exact number, but I have played over 50 card games, and I’d say in my short experience so far, Nostalgix is top 10. The game is still in its infancy and only a couple of years old. I wish Hunter (Zaba) and the team nothing but success and hope they succeed in making this a fun card game that can stick around for years to come. Hunter is always very responsive to the community and a good friend to many. Big shout out to Hunter for this second interview and make sure to check out their latest Kickstarter!