After being utterly crushed by the VR demonstration match in PixelPioneers' Yu-Gi-Oh!, Louis shifted his focus back to the game itself. Looking down at the cards in his hand and then at the gigantic Blue-Eyes White Dragon dominating the field before him, he made a wise and immediate decision: He surrendered.
There was no Magic Card. No Trap Card. The hand contained only a single ordinary monster with no special effects. Since only one monster could be summoned each turn, there was simply no way to turn the situation around. How was he supposed to fight that?
Rather than jumping straight into another challenge, Louis cautiously selected the beginner tutorial. After all, he had only just managed to put a respectable hat on his head. If he immediately revealed himself to be a complete novice, it would be embarrassing.
Of course, from the perspective of a livestream, watching the streamer get humiliated could be entertaining. But this was the launch day of Yu-Gi-Oh!. There would be plenty of opportunities for comedy later. For now, it was more important to understand the game properly.
"This is the correct tempo!" Louis shouted excitedly. "Isn't this the same deck Kaiba uses in the anime? This feels amazing!"
Just like before, when Kaiba's commanding voice echoed across the battlefield, and the majestic Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared once more, Louis felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
The viewers in the livestream chat, however, were completely speechless.
"Look at him getting excited over the tutorial."
"Champion! We are witnessing a champion!"
"Too powerful! He actually defeated the beginner AI!"
"You're unbelievable!"
The chat instantly filled with sarcastic comments.
Louis, however, was already immune to this sort of treatment. The viewers in his stream had long mastered the art of speaking in exaggerated irony. Every message carried a layer of mockery hidden beneath apparent praise.
For ordinary streamers, such a barrage would be enough to drive them crazy. But Louis had developed a unique philosophy: people needed to learn how to discover positivity in negativity.
As a streamer, the key wasn't to argue with sarcastic comments. The key was to ignore the thousands of sarcastic messages and focus entirely on the single compliment hidden somewhere among them. Or, if no such compliment existed... Create one yourself.
Louis switched chat modes and carefully scanned the comments. Seconds later, he gave up. Finding a genuine compliment was far too troublesome, so he simply made one.
"Oh, this viewer has excellent taste," Louis announced seriously. "'I'm just a passerby, but the streamer is incredibly skilled. The chain of plays he just demonstrated was genius. I've already followed the channel. From today onward, I'm a fan.'"
He nodded in satisfaction. "That's right. You've only seen the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned, and you'll witness even more shocking plays in the future."
The viewers erupted. The streamer had actually fabricated his own compliment on the spot.
Meanwhile, from a gameplay perspective, the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh! weren't nearly as complicated as many people had expected. John had intentionally designed the early experience to be easy to understand and accessible to newcomers. This was actually one of the most important aspects of game design.
Hardcore games could certainly attract dedicated fans and create passionate niche communities, but a game that was too difficult to understand would never achieve true mainstream popularity. History had already proven this countless times.
For example, Magic: The Gathering existed long before Yu-Gi-Oh!, yet in terms of overall popularity and audience reach, it never managed to surpass it.
Likewise, after Yu-Gi-Oh!, another card game emerged that fundamentally changed the genre and pushed card games further into the mainstream. That game was Hearthstone.
Originally created as a spin-off of an existing IP, Hearthstone eventually became a phenomenon in its own right. The reason was simple: it lowered the barrier to entry while preserving strategic depth. Players could learn the basics quickly, but mastering the game remained a challenge.
One could argue endlessly over whether Yu-Gi-Oh! or Magic: The Gathering possessed more strategic complexity or artistic value. Yet nobody could deny Hearthstone's greatest strength: it made card games approachable. Easy to learn but difficult to master. Many successful games shared this philosophy.
Take Super Smash Bros., one of the most iconic fighting games in Dream Memory. Unlike traditional fighting games that demanded complicated directional inputs and lengthy combo strings, Smash allowed players to execute powerful attacks with simple button presses and directional controls.
But that simplicity didn't make it less competitive. In fact, at the highest levels, the game could be even more demanding than many traditional fighting games. The secret was that it lowered the entry threshold while preserving the skill ceiling. Ordinary players could enjoy themselves immediately, while experts could spend years mastering advanced techniques.
The same design philosophy was deeply embedded within Yu-Gi-Oh!. When designing the game, John didn't simply copy the original card game. He also drew inspiration from successful modern designs such as Hearthstone and Nintendo's fighting games.
A truly classic game wasn't remembered solely because of its gameplay.
Its story mattered.
Its innovation mattered.
But most importantly, it introduced ideas that were ahead of its time, and those ideas were what truly changed the industry.
For example, today both first-person and third-person shooters are commonplace. Players barely thought about the distinction anymore. But imagine a time when every developer was making first-person shooters and every player expected first-person shooters; then, suddenly, a high-quality third-person shooter appeared, the impact would be explosive.
Years later, people might view that game as merely another entry in gaming history. But when it first appeared, it would feel revolutionary.
The rules used in Yu-Gi-Oh! primarily drew inspiration from the Duelist Kingdom and GX eras, the first and second generations remembered in Dream Memory. These versions weren't necessarily the most balanced iterations ever created, nor were they the most mechanically complete. However, they were unquestionably the easiest for new players to understand.
Compared to later mechanics involving Synchro Summoning, Xyz Summoning, Pendulum Summoning, and Link Summoning, the early rule sets were far more approachable.
John also borrowed another excellent idea from Hearthstone. At the start of a duel, players could redraw unwanted cards from their opening hand and receive replacements from the deck. In his opinion, this feature was essential. After all, reality wasn't anime.
In the anime, Kaiba could conveniently draw every card he needed and dramatically summon three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in succession. In actual gameplay? You were more likely to draw three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and a pile of unusable cards.
At that point, all you could do was stare at your hand and question your life choices.
"It's incredible!" Louis declared after completing the tutorial.
"Seriously, everyone should try this game. If you own a VR headset, download it immediately. If you don't, visit a nearby VR experience center. Trust me, you won't be disappointed." His praise came without the slightest hesitation. Then, without warning, he selected Joey's deck.
The audience instantly filled the screen with question marks, but Louis remained perfectly calm.
While Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon deck looked overwhelmingly cool and powerful, and Yugi's Dark Magician deck featured flashy combinations of magic and traps, Louis understood a very important truth. He knew exactly how good he was at card games. And because he knew that, he also knew which deck suited him best.
Joey's deck.
A deck built on luck.
A deck capable of creating unbelievable moments.
A deck perfectly designed for livestream entertainment.
Whether he won or lost, the results would be spectacular.
Everything was proceeding exactly according to his calculations. At least, that was what Louis told himself.