The Game I Never Planned at 55

I did not plan to design a card game at 55.

Born in the fifth month, I spent years playing poker for a living. In college, I played a trick game almost nightly with a friend who never let the bidder win. He never let anyone breathe easy. I lost touch with him years later. He became something I didn’t recognize, and the game nights stayed with me more than he did.

Those nights stayed with me. They still do.

My Game – Apex 55

Apex 55 started as a page of notes. Just thinking.

What if the player could fight back?

What if control had to be earned? That is where I introduced a key twist to the game, a mechanic that shifted power and strategy in ways the original never did.

I refined it.

Relentlessly.

Logic.

Probability.

Pattern recognition.

I used AI to stress-test every edge case.

What came out almost made me faint.

Every swing felt earned. Every moment carried tension. The risk weighed heavy.

The Sun Brings Light

I believe there is nothing new under the sun. Every idea is a remix of cycles we have seen before. I have lived long enough to respect that.

But when I finished this design and ran it through AI, I almost fainted. The verdict was unanimous. This is strong. This is different. Not common in the standard deck space today.

I have an MBA. I understand marketing. I understand positioning. But I have never released a tabletop game. I have never built game production or game distribution.

This is not my lane.

I’ve learned from great players, some gone, some distant, that mastery isn’t just skill, it’s knowing when to ask for guidance.

And that is exactly why I am writing this.

This publication is about humility.

About knowing when veteran intuition must ask for guidance.

If you, or someone you know, has built and released a card game. Navigated production. Fulfilled orders. Grown a community. Survived the trenches. I want to talk to you.

Not for hype. Not for applause.

For weight.

Apex 55 is personal. It carries my age. My birth month. My history with cards. College nights. My old friend. The discipline of poker. The patience of Mediterranean mountain life.

I am ready to move. I just want to move in the right direction.

If this is a calling, it arrived by accident. But I am not casual about it.

ABOUT THE 55/35 METHOD
Veteran intuition meets modern velocity. Pattern recognition from decades of cycles applied to today’s tools. We move fast. But we move with weight.

THE ARMORY
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If you, or someone you know, has built in this arena, reach out. Let’s compare notes in the trenches.

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V➤ Knowing when to ask for help is part of staying real.