:ad: Codex: Card-Time Strategy //
Codex is a deck-building "card-time strategy" game from Sirlin Games. Like an RTS, players build units, workers, and tech buildings; like MtG: Commander, they select three heros, who fight, cast spells, and determine what cards are available in their "Codex". Every turn, players secretly add two cards from this codex to their 10-card starting deck, attempting to anticipate and counter their opponent's strategy.
re: :ad: Codex: Card-Time Strategy //
There are six colors, five corresponding to the MtG colors, plus purple, which is focused on time as a mechanic (fading and suspend). Each color has a fixed 10-card starting deck and three heros corresponding to three specializations* There is also 'neutral' starting deck, and two neutral heros/specs (Bashing and Finesse). Each specialization gives the player its hero and access to 12 pairs of cards: 3 regular spells, 1 ultimate spell, 2 tech I units**, 5 tech II, and 1 stalemate-busting tech III super-unit. There's a small penalty for mixing colors, but you're otherwise free to mix and match as you please; if you qualify for more than one starting deck, you get to pick which.
All 330 cards can be found here: http://codexcarddb.com/
(If that seems like a lot, remember that any given 1v1 game will only require you to be aware of your cards + your opponent's 10 starting + 3 heros + 36 codex cards, most of which will never be played in any one game.)
Crucially, this really is *all* of the cards -- there's no booster packs, no expansions. The explicit design goal is to create something with the competitive depth to still be played in tournaments decades from now, as-is -- *not* to engineer the perfect addictive money sink with random loot crates & booster packs, requiring constant engagement to keep up with never-ending expansions and DLC.
* e.g., Red has Fire, Blood, and Anarchy; Black has Demonology, Disease, and Necromancy; Green has Balance, Feral, and Growth, &c.
** most specs have an upgrade and/or a special building replacing one of the units.
re: :ad: Codex: Card-Time Strategy, con't //
a few notes –
- Only the player whose turn it is can make decisions, allowing the game to be played asynchronously with players posting their entire turns.
- Combat is halfway between Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering. Like Hearthstone, active player chooses what unit/hero attacks what thing, and damage is persistent. Like Magic, the defending player can choose blockers, by putting their untapped units/heros into the "patrol zone" at the end of their turn. Attacking critters have to attack a patroller over other heros/units/buildings, if possible, and the designated Squad Leader over other patrollers. There's five patrol zone "slots", each of which gives the defender a small bonus to keep things balanced.
- Because there are no interrupts, there are no counterspells. But you can prevent your opponent from doing things: all of their capabilities are on the field and have hit points. If you kill their Fire hero, they can't cast Fire magic until they resummon her (which they can't do until after their next turn.) If you blow up their Tech II building, they can't build Tech II units until they rebuild it (which is free, but does take a full turn.) Since it takes a full turn to construct a tech building and casting an ultimate spell requires starting the turn with the hero at maximun level, you generally have a full turn to prevent or prepare for the really nasty stuff.
- Opponents can't just play any card from their codex. Besides requiring the correct hero in play to cast specialized spells, they also must choose to specialize in one of their three specs when they build their tech II building, further limiting which tech II and III surprises they can throw at you. There is a generic add-on building that all players can construct to get access to a second spec, however, and some spells and abilities can get around this restriction in various ways.
- you are probably going to lose your first 2-4 games. I promise it's fun anyway, and I'd be happy to play with you online.
- actually please play with me online my local board & card game shop closed down.
re: :ad: Codex: Card-Time Strategy, con't //
@pastelbat no client that I'm aware of, I'm sure someone has made a way to import it into TTS by now, but I've been… inexplicably distant from the actual playing community? When it first came out I played a lot of forum games, just putting the board state into a post & typing it out. I stopped, partly because that way of playing was leading me to put hours into every turn.