A variation on your idea that I highly recommend checking out is Duel of Swords, which can be found at http://www.ringsofhonor.org. A matrix-based game originally developed as a fencing simulation, it and its two variants, Duel of Fists and Duel of Magic, have supported a healthy freeform roleplaying community since around 1992, through Q-Link, AOL, and now AIM. An easy way to describe it would be RPS, except with a larger variety of moves, a non-zero-sum matrix, and a restriction against playing the same move twice in a row.

It’s a lot of fun to play, and contains a great deal of depth in the psychological facet of the game. I personally do a good portion of my amateur design work designing and implementing tournaments and variants for the games; currently, I’m working on a design doc for a mobile phone version of the game, since I think it’s ideal for the platform.

Tell me what you think!

I’ve just read through all 52 of your ideas, a fantastic collection, some are simply yet fun (particularly for the handheld market), and others are highly ambitious and marketable. Thank you for keeping me entertained.

My aim wasn’t so much trying to come up with the first swordfighting card game, just a very simple combat system. Any type of combat could work… it could be a close-quarters gunfight, with “dodge” replacing “block”. But the metaphor of swords just worked so well.

Here’s what the cards look like: http://boardgamegeek.com/image/106538

The first commenter mentioned “Kung Fu Fighting” which is also published by Slugfest Games and is very similar. If you’re interested in games like this check out boardgamegeek.com, or find a local board game store. There are a ton of fast and fun card games that fit what you have in mind.