Inks, Fourth Walls, and Fan Power: Charlie on MetaZoo’s Lore and Community Future

The July 8th MetaZoo Monday wasn’t just about sales numbers and gameplay—it also offered a window into the creative heartbeat of the game. Charlie Hurlocker touched on how lore is evolving, the role of Fourth Wall mechanics in future formats, and how MetaZoo is leaning into content creation and community involvement as part of its long-term growth strategy.

The Future of Inks: Myth, Language, and Purpose

When asked about the potential for MetaZoo to expand on the “Inks” concept, Charlie gave a hint of what’s to come. The plan? Tie Inks into the game’s core mythology—and give them a bigger narrative role across products and stories.

What we have planned in the universe of MetaZoo is to give purpose to the different inks and define their relationship to collectively all written language. Leaning into the tensions of these beings that exist in a legendary status and have both individual and collective agendas.”

- Charlie Hurlocker

This signals a shift toward deeper world building, with Inks acting as a kind of mythological or linguistic framework around which other elements of the MetaZoo universe might revolve. That opens the door for creative storytelling across sets, formats, and even digital experiences.

Fourth Wall Format: Not Dead, Just Reimagined

This topic has been touched on in nearly every MetaZoo Monday showcasing the continued community interest in the evolution of the fourth wall. For many longtime players, the old Fourth Wall mechanics—where real-world conditions could impact the game—were a hallmark of early MetaZoo. And while they’ve been phased out of competitive formats, Charlie sees potential in bringing them back in more playful or event-based ways.

4th wall is a fun concept that is a bad basis for the game to succeed broadly. But I think it’s an awesome format. And our game absolutely has options built into it where you could comfortably build fun play mechanisms that engage with this.

- Charlie Hurlocker

One idea he floated was the possibility of convention-exclusive formats where Fourth Wall effects return:

The idea that excites me the most is an event, maybe at cons or something, where unique rules kick in based on a 5th ever-present terra or something.

- Charlie Hurlocker

Charlie also hinted at even more ambitious possibilities in the future—like hybrid digital/physical experiences that could take Fourth Wall ideas to a whole new level.

I also think that there is infinite potential here for digital/physical hybrid play. But most of that is pretty far out in the future still.

- Charlie Hurlocker

Creators Welcome: Building with the Zoo

When asked what kind of content he’d like to see more of, Charlie made it clear that now is the perfect time to create.

I just love seeing people create with Zoo. I think there’s a lot of content of basically every category that is not being made that could be made.

- Charlie Hurlocker

He acknowledged that content creation becomes easier and more rewarding as the card pool grows and the game stabilizes—something MetaZoo is actively working toward.

And while fans often praise MetaZoo’s most visible artists and designers, Charlie reminded the community that most of the people who make the game possible work behind the scenes:

Most of the contributing team is not public-facing. Invisible people make everything possible and we are forever grateful for them. Being a company face is really a role unto itself and necessarily conflicts with a lot of what has to get done to make sets real and deliver on time.

- Charlie Hurlocker

Getting Your LGS on Board

One player asked how to help their local game store start carrying MetaZoo. Charlie offered two direct suggestions:

First, they should ask their distributor for MetaZoo. Those requests matter a lot...Second, Carde.io is always available to onboard for everything and because the OP software will be with them, it should be the most straightforward way.

- Charlie Hurlocker

This kind of LGS advocacy—from customers as well as stores—is crucial to expanding the game’s physical presence as OP grows. The future of MetaZoo rests with you, casters.

Stay tuned to MetaZoo News for continued coverage of MetaZoo Mondays and all the latest headlines!