Open AccessA Conservative Metric of Power Creep
Author(s) -
Daniel Sumner Magruder
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
games and culture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1555-4139
pISSN - 1555-4120
DOI - 10.1177/15554120211050812
Subject(s) - creep , power (physics) , magic (telescope) , computer science , metric (unit) , economics , operations management , physics , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics
Collectible card games are taking up more space in popular culture with traditional paper card games even embracing e-sports. However, longevity in such games is not as common, with some suspecting power creep as a culprit behind why some of these games fail. Yet, Magic: the Gathering has not just survived but thrived for over 25 years with the game’s designers publicly stating their aim to keep curbing power creep. Therefore, it is of interest to determine the rate of power creep in the game. Herein, we formally define a conservative metric power creep and calculate its occurrence in the game of Magic: the Gathering. Although having an increasing rate, power creep appears low with an average of 1.56 strictly better card faces released per year.