Head Designer Mark Rosewater to Debut Brand New Card Game in Vegas

Last updated on February 6, 2026

Triple Triad | Illustration by Ben Wootten

Magic Head Designer Mark Rosewater dropped a potential bombshell on Tuesday, announcing the debut of a new game that he personally designed, one that’s not directly Magic-related. People will get a chance to play this early May at MagicCon Las Vegas, across three separate events. MaRo’s been with WotC for over 30 years, so he probably knows a thing or two about card games.

The Announcement

Source: Tumblr

MaRo took to Tumblr on Tuesday to shout out the introduction of his “Non-Magic Redacted” card game. According to him, it’s “a new game, designed by [him], and is not Magic.” Three separate events featuring this unknown game will happen at MagicCon Las Vegas, at the following times:

• Friday, May 1: 5:00pm-9:00pm
• Saturday, May 2: 12:30pm-4:30pm
• Sunday, May 3: 12:30pm-4:30pm

The post is very secretive about the full scope of the game, though it’s described as something “entirely new” and promises that players might earn some sort of prize or participation item. There’s also a direct reference to Urza’s Saga, a notoriously broken set in Magic history, though it’s unclear if that’s a hint at what to expect, or just further description for people who might not be as familiar with MaRo’s involvement in Magic.

Let the Rumors Begin

The Tumblr post doesn’t betray too much information, but some commentors believe they’ve figured out what the game will be. There are plenty of callouts to something called “Mood Swings”, which is a game Mark Rosewater has brought up in the past. A post from February 2012 describes Mood Swings as a “mass market trading card game”.

MaRo was asked about Mood Swings in 2013, where he expanded that the game is flavored around emotions and is intended to be played in roughly 5-minute games. He also acknowledged that “mass market trading card game” isn’t familiar terminology, and claims that’s one of the game’s big innovations.

Without going too deep on the subject, “mass market” is exactly what it sounds like: It more or less means trying to sell something to the widest audience possible. You might think of mobile games like Angry Birds or something like Minecraft as mass-market games because they have extremely broad appeal. TCGs tend to be a bit more niche, but MaRo seems to think he’s designed something that pretty much anyone can pick up and play. At least, that’s assuming he means “mass market” in the typical sense, and he’s not being his usual cheeky self and hiding something else in the subtext there.

You could think of something like Apples to Apples as a mass market game, but what makes this Vegas announcement interesting is that the game’s described as a mass market trading card game, so the intention is to collect, trade, and likely deckbuild the way you would with Magic, while still being something that just anyone could pick up and get engaged with.

Back on October 12, 2010, MaRo mentioned in a Star City Games interview that he’s “forever playing and fiddling with Mood Swings, my mass market TCG that will probably never see the light of day.” We can rewind to 2007 where MaRo mentions in his article Onslaught Machine that he’s been testing the game with his wife for years (decades now), and he states that “all the cards in Mood Swings are named after moods and emotions.” He goes on to mention that the naming of his daughter was partially settled with a match of Mood Swings with his wife Lora.

All this to say that MaRo’s been working on Mood Swings for what seems like forever, and this latest announcements seems like it might finally be time for the rest of the world to figure out what it is. Even if it’s not literally Mood Swings, we’re still getting a new game from the long-time Head Designer of Magic, so it’s bound to be something worth keeping your eye on.