The Art of War: Card Game

It all started when the final version of the video game “Gwent: The Witcher Card Game” was released, which was completely different from the beta version.

The nostalgia of forever gone beta-Gwent inspired us to create our own game. We decided to recreate what we really loved in the old Gwent and improve other aspects that were missing in other similar games. Our game was intended to be playable in both tabletop and video game form, to be non-collectible and be as simple to new players as possible. And on top of that, the game should become more social and can be played with more players at the same time than comparable games like Gwent, Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh!

And in the end, we succeeded and “The Art of War” was born...

The Art of War: Card Game is a card battler game in a fantasy-medieval setting. The  story of the game is based on the conflict between four kingdoms, each of which pursues its own interests in the ongoing war on the continent. The player will have to try on the role of the leader of one of the factions and lead it into battle against other players from around the world.

The battle between factions is made in the form of a card duel. Only the player who can competently gather his troops and take advantage of random cards will be able to emerge victorious in a duel. The outcome depends only on the tactical abilities of the player.

By valuable features of The Art of War: Card Game can be called the fact that it is tactical game, and not have no collecting mechanics. There are enough cards in the game, but much less than in other games, and all cards are available to players from the start. 

The video version of the game is a port of the tabletop version of the game, which is planned to be crowdfunded on Gamefound. This fact also influenced the rules of the game - the game mechanics are designed so that the game can be played on the table without using computing tools.

Four factions of your choice:

• The Kingdom of Etlia is a kingdom of the middle lands, which for a long time existed without wars and gave the world many literature and art masterpieces of. Its culture is known far beyond the borders of the kingdom, but the civil war made the country easy prey in the eyes of its neighbors. The self-defense units of Etlia are not so strong, but the heroes of these lands are able to inspire the troops by restoring their health and recruit additional units under their banners.
  
• Nordkönigreich is the kingdom of the north, a nation that has tempered its character in centuries of incessant wars. Artillery, battle mages and warriors of this faction can unleash all their power and fury on the enemies of the Kaiser and inflict large damage upon them, from which they can never recover.
  
• The Sarioantian Empire, which was once the most powerful nation on the continent, is now in a political crisis. Despite the shaky position and unrest in society, its new leader intends to return the empire to greatness. This faction specializes in covert operations that can leave the enemy without an army and disrupt enemy strategy before Sarioantia deploys its main forces.
  
• The Greatunion Tsardom is a religious kingdom of the east, in which the practice of magic is prohibited. However, despite the absence of magicians in the ranks of its troops, the troops of this nation are the most powerful and disciplined, and clerics give protection to soldiers from enemy magic attacks.

Ten cards

Each player starts the game with 10 cards in their hands. Players draws cards only between rounds, so during a round you can only count on card you have in your hand. Use your cards wisely! Before the game you can construct your main deck in Deck Builder or you can play with default one.

Best out of three

To win the game, you need to score two Victory Points. The loser of the round gets 0 points, and the winner gets 1 point. A draw gives 1 point to each player. If two rounds did not reveal a winner, then an additional (third) round is played.

Two rows

Each player's field, which is called the player's side in the game, consists of two equal rows in which the player places his cards. The rows are no different from each other and only allow you to disperse your forces, depending on the tactics chosen.

Six cards per row

Each row is limited to 6 cards. Player cannot place another card in a row with 6 cards. Also, the accumulation of the main forces in one row can be a good target for an enemy attack or effect.

One turn - one card

During player's turn, each player must play one card from his hand and if they can't, then they must pass. The passing player no longer participates in the round and passes the initiative to the opponent.

Winner of the round

At the end of each round, the health of all units on a player's side is calculated. The player who controls the army with more health wins the round. If the combined health of units is the same for two or more players, then a draw is declared.

Do you want to know more? 
Check out the RULEBOOK of the game.