Should we support game replays?

Question

This is another one of those "How can we be unique" things.

In my Minesweeper Flags online game, I think that replays is probably one of the best features that I have. (Together with the huge statistics database and the possibility to observe other people playing in real time)

Should we support full game replays in our TCG?

If yes, should players have the ability to watch other people's games or just their own?

If yes, then we need to remember during the implementation that a played game should be serializable somehow. Either using JSON, XML or as pure text.

Answer 1

Yes!

This feature is not a common one in today's TCG's. Many times when I have played HS I wish there was a replay feature so that I can go back and analyze my game to improve my skill.

Having the ability to watch other people's games can be a privilege-related thing, but at least players should be able to watch their own games.

Replays is also greatly useful for data-mining, to be able to see how good certain cards are, detect which cards are used, detect which cards are being used together, etc.