A Monstrous Mosaic
As the Norns look to stop Ragnarök, they must see if the heroes can complete different Quests. In God of War: The Card Game, these Quests are played out in Scenes. Each Scene is created using a mosaic of double-sided, oversized cards that form a playing space that the Heroes will move around, creating a thematic battleground as players combat the forces of evil. In this article, we take a deeper look at how the Scene mechanics work and how they create a dynamic, exciting experience on the tabletop.
God of War: The Card Game is fully cooperative. As such, the Scenes take on the role of the enemy that the players will fight, as well as the battlefield upon which they will be engaging in combat. Each Scene is made up of eight or more oversized double-sided cards.
The cards are numbered, so players know which Quest the individual cards belong to, as well as marked with a grid, showing where in the mosaic it should be placed. This grid is also color-coded, with white squares representing the front side of the card, and red representing the back. When put together, the cards form the Scene’s location, be it a lava field filled with angry elves, a giant dragon, or a frost-covered plain with enemy giants. The cards have different information on them based on their overall role in the Scene. For example, many have enemies that the Heroes must defeat if they want to stop Ragnarök. The card will display the enemy’s health total, as well as what type of attack it will make when activated and how much damage it does. Melee attacks have arrows indicating which columns they deal their damage into, while ranged attacks go against the column farthest from them. Enemies may also potentially deal special damage, such as Stun or Poison, which will result in cards going into a player’s deck that will hinder them when drawn.
Another type of Scene card is a location on the battlefield such as an enemy base from which reinforcements are continually coming. These spots may not attack the Heroes directly, but they will be referenced by other cards in the Scene. For example, the enemy cards might continually respawn after the Heroes have defeated them unless their base has been destroyed. Or a location might be a place of importance and without its destruction, Ragnarök will certainly continue unabated.
A Scene card might also be a tracking card. This type of card is where players will keep track of how much damage they’ve done to a certain enemy on the field. Different rules might come into effect when enemies have reached certain damage thresholds, making the battle an ever-changing swirl. The tactics that had seen the Heroes winning in the beginning might no longer be optimal after certain events have happened.
Many of the Scene cards have flip conditions on them. Flipping a card might be triggered by dealing damage to a location, killing an enemy combatant, a player discarding a certain type of card or cards, or when an enemy activates and makes an attack. When flipped, the Scene card may show a new threat the Heroes have to face, new conditions that affect the battlefield, or possibly rewards for having defeated an enemy. This side, too, might have its own flip conditions. As such, the Scene cards will always be in motion, changing as the battle rages on. It is not a simple, static game board, but a living landscape where the rules of combat might change quickly… either for or against the players.
Scene cards are activated at the end of every player’s turn. A player will draw the top card from the Upgrade deck and flip it over. Every Upgrade card has a rune on it that will correspond to one or more Scene cards. When activated, enemies will attack, Scene elements might flip, or other events might trigger. Players must always be ready to defend against the Scene cards, as there’s never a way to really tell when one will trigger next.
God of War: The Card Game’s Scene cards evolve the game from a simple deck-builder into a tactical adventure card game where player’s maneuver around a play space, attacking and defending against elements that are continually changing. Their actions will be reflected in the Scene as they defeat enemies and destroy elements, while the cards will react back by being activated via rune cards. It creates a truly unique gaming experience as players look to complete three Quests and bring Ragnarök to a halt forever.
You can read more about the Heroes in God of War: The Card Game here.
You can read more about God of War: The Card Game here.
