(Back with a real post)
So - I not-so-secretly love card games/board games. I play more tabletop games than I play video games, or watch movies/tv, (I think I read more comics than I play board games though, but it's a close one.)
I wanna eccho @jpnakashima on how card games aren't a "lazy" version of board games (and I would argue that the production costs of competitive card games like MTG/Netrunner is significantly MORE expensive than a one-and-done board game like Settlers of Catan, or even, more than a crazy glossy mega-board-game like Twilight Imperium in the long run.
This is because Competitive card games tend to regularly update in order to keep the competitive scene from getting stale, and to capitalize on dedicated fans (and competitive card games have VERY dedicated fans.) The development cost of designing, playtesting, and acquiring art for 500+ cards every set, completely overshadows the development and printing costs for even the glossiest of board games. Don't forget that you have to support and maintain the organized play of a card games as well, because a big draw to these games is the social dynamics of playing with a regular group of people, and the draw of their competitive scenes.
Okay so competitive card games 1) aren't lazy, 2) aren't cheap. What about stand-alone card games like Sushi-Go or LoveLetter?
Well, these games definitely don't compare in any way to the massive scale of a CCG, but, they tend to be very carefully designed so that you can get a lot of mileage out of as few components as possible. Many of these games start off as a labour-of-love sorta project, and many of them are either self-published, or published by smaller independent companies. The size of these games is one part of technical restriction, or is seen as an interesting challenge to overcome by their designers, giving a quick google search for "Micro Games" will let you find a great many of these small, tightly designed games.
I recently started designing my own micro-game as a side-project, it's a fun little exercise in creative limitations, and it engages a different part of my mind than making comics does, if you have an interest in board games/card games, I'd highly encourage trying your hand at making your own! Back before I started getting more serious about my comics I was focused on being a freelance illustrator, and one of the key markets I had set my sights on were board game/card game publishers. I'd still like to do illustrations for a game someday, but right now I'm just not interested in the lifestyle of being a freelance illustrator.
