A game-combination card should survive a small screen

A crossover directory has more to communicate than a title and image. The reader needs to distinguish the two source games, the project’s own name and the action available now. Shrinking a desktop card without prioritising those facts makes every item harder to understand.

I maintain Merging Games, a directory of sourced mashups. Here is a compact review checklist for anyone presenting this kind of collection. These are design checks, not claims of measured conversion improvement.

Keep the pair as text

Two familiar logos can help recognition, but they are poor substitutes for searchable names. Keep both names in readable text, with a clear separator. Let a long name wrap rather than reduce it until it becomes a decoration. The project name needs its own line: the same pair may produce several different projects.

Explain the image

A video thumbnail is not necessarily an in-game screenshot. A source credit and an accurate image description keep that distinction visible. If a card uses a brand graphic because no suitable screenshot is available, say so rather than presenting it as gameplay.

Make status readable without colour

A yellow or green badge needs words that carry the meaning on their own. The useful question is whether the creator provides files, demonstrates an idea or describes work in progress. Those states need different actions. A small label that becomes illegible on a phone defeats its purpose, even if its colour remains visible.

Put the requirement beside the action

“Minecraft Java” helps someone assess a mod before leaving the directory. A generic platform badge may be too broad if a specific host, edition or version matters. Keep the detailed requirements on the project page and point the action at the original source.

Test one awkward card

Use a long pair of game names, a multi-word project title and a status label together. Check reading order, wrapping, keyboard focus and the accessible name of its link. Also inspect the card without the image. If the remaining text cannot explain the combination and next step, the screenshot is doing too much work.