Genre: Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Indie, Card & Board Game
Kards: The WWII Card Game
A New Skirmish Event is Live
A new Skirmish event is live now until April 23rd!
Here’s everything you need to know.
Skirmish is a special game mode in KARDS where you play with alternate rules. These rules vary; you’ll face something different at every Skirmish event. Read more about Skirmishes in our announcement blog New game mode: Skirmish.
For this Skirmish, we welcome the pauper ruleset! This means that only Standard and Limited rarity cards can be used in your Skirmish deck.
The prize for your first victory in this Skirmish is a random card pack!
Access the Skirmish event from the game's main screen to get an overview of the game mode, rules and prize.
This Skirmish is accessible from April 21st at 12:00 GMT until Sunday, April 23rd at 18:00 GMT.
Join this special event - win your Skirmish to claim victory and the spoils!
Please let us know what you think of the event in the comments below or on the KARDS Discord.
See you in the Skirmish this weekend!
Coming Soon: New Card Set Structure and Content Cycle
Hello everyone!
Earlier this year, we announced several details surrounding our plans for KARDS content going forward. Here’s a brief summary of the main points in Director of Game Design Keli’s dev blog:
Two major releases each year. Major updates with new cards and features, potentially with some smaller content releases in between.
Card rotation with major releases. Equal number of cards are moved to the Reserve pool as cards that arrive with the release.
Hand-picked rotation. Cards entering the Reserve pool will be hand-picked, with new expansion cards being safe from rotation for at least 1.5 years.
Keep using Reserve cards. Play in AI training matches, challenge matches with friends, and an upcoming PvP gamemode.
Reserve cards reintroduced. Cards may return to the game with future expansions.
Card set simplification. All cards, except the latest expansion (currently Legions), enter the Core set.
Shop changes. World at War bundles retired from the Shop, Theaters of War temporarily removed and reintroduced at a later date without card rewards.
Crate system rework. More things will contribute to filling up the crate, which fills up more frequently but with reduced rewards each time, providing overall similar gains.
Duplicate protection. Card packs and rewards will not give duplicates if possible.
At the end of April, we commence the first phase of the new content cycle. At that time, the following happens:
All cards, apart from the latest expansion, Legions, become part of the new Core set.
Theaters of War campaigns and World at War bundles are removed from the shop. Theaters of War will return at a later date in a reworked state, without the card rewards.
Five very infrequently used cards move into the Reserve pool.
Which Cards Are Rotated Out?
For this first rotation, only 5 very infrequently used cards enter the Reserve pool. This first rotation is primarily intended to test the Reserve pool system before the first major rotation happens this summer, when the summer expansion is released.
The cards to be rotated into the Reserve pool at the end of April are:
AT ALL COST
SUPPRESSION
F4F-3 WILDCAT
QF 40mm Mk III
SHIBATA REGIMENT
These cards are present on average in 0.79% of all decks of players playing in 2023 and were played on average in only 0.78% of matches in March this year.
Going forward, when the first major rotations kick in, you can expect a similar amount of cards to be rotated out and into the game - so if 80 new cards come into the game, you can expect about 80 cards to move into the Reserve pool at the same time. We also aim to communicate about cards moving into the Reserve pool with at least 4-6 weeks notice.
Why Do a Rotation?
There are many reasons why we are introducing a rotation at this point in time. With a plan of up to 200 new cards entering the game each year, this could lead to a number of issues, such as:
Power creep. When introducing new and exciting cards and mechanics through expansions, without a rotation, we risk a power creep issue, making it less appealing to play anything other than a narrow range of the top cards. We want to support a variety of decks and strategies and create an environment where cards in a new expansion don’t always have to be more powerful than previous content, which in turn could continuously make older cards less relevant and lead to balance issues.
Deck building difficulties. With an ever-expanding pool of cards, deck building would become increasingly difficult. Recalling all the different cards and possibilities can take a lot of mental energy and building new decks can become tedious with too many cards.
Inaccessibility for newer players. As the amount of cards in the game grows, newer players have more and more of a difficult time getting into the game. Collecting all available cards will be challenging and wrapping your head around all the available cards will become increasingly daunting for newer players.
Balancing difficulties. Balancing the game becomes more challenging as the card pool expands. With a card rotation, we are able to more effectively balance the game, providing a consistently fun and engaging experience for our players.
For this first phase, since only five very infrequently used cards are rotated into the Reserve pool, we have not planned for a specific compensation. However, we are planning a one-time larger compensation when the first full rotation cycle happens with the summer expansion, the details of which will be revealed closer to the summer expansion release. Going forward from there, the reworked crate mechanic will serve in part as a compensation mechanic, as we plan on cards moving into the Reserve pool contributing to filling up your crate.
We Want Your Feedback!
To collect feedback from various sources about the new content cycle and card set structure, we’ve set up the Content Cycle Feedback channel in the official KARDS Discord server. Please join us in Discord and let us know what you think - your feedback means a lot to us!
A New Skirmish Event is Live
A new Skirmish event is live now until April 9th!
Here’s everything you need to know.
Skirmish is a special game mode in KARDS where you play with alternate rules. These rules vary; you’ll face something different at every Skirmish event. Read more about Skirmishes in our announcement blog New game mode: Skirmish.
In this Skirmish, you choose your own deck to battle with. Tanks and Infantry units have Blitz. When a unit is deployed, it gets an attack bonus equal to its operation cost, then the operation cost is set to 0.
The prize for your first victory in this Skirmish is a random card pack!
Access the Skirmish event from the game's main screen to get an overview of the game mode, rules and prize.
This Skirmish is accessible from April 7th at 12:00 GMT until Sunday, April 9th at 18:00 GMT.
Join this special event - win your Skirmish to claim victory and the spoils!
Please let us know what you think of the event in the comments below or on the KARDS Discord.
See you in the Skirmish this weekend!
April Update - Patch Notes
Hello everyone!
This April update contains some bug fixes and other improvements, mostly related to the new user interface. Some of the highlights are:
The collection overview has returned! Go to your card collection to find the collection overview button on the top bar.
Fixed a bug with rewards at the end of a game always requiring two clicks.
Fixed a bug where the card collection would sometimes show up on the board in battle.
Fixed a bug where you would get a "please delete deck" error for no apparent reason.
Fixed bug where sometimes you would see wrong icons in help bubbles.
Fixed bug where you would get stuck in the Campaign menu after buying a campaign.
Fixed a bug where draft admissions were sometimes not updated until after restart.
Fixed Elite cards not showing up in collection until restart.
Fixed Campaign rewards not showing up until restart.
Fixed issue with target arrow sometimes showing wrong info.
Fixed issue with Friends list sometimes getting messed up.
Fixed a few blinking issues in the menu.
Several other small fixes and improvements have also been made.
We thank you all for reporting on bugs and giving us your feedback! We continue to monitor all your reports, fix any issues that crop up and make adjustments to the new UI based on player feedback. We welcome your feedback in the comments below or on the KARDS Discord.
KARDS Living Roadmap 💥 Update
Dear KARDS players, friends, and WWII enthusiasts,
We are thrilled to bring you an updated KARDS roadmap!
What is the Roadmap?
The roadmap is a regularly updated, high-level overview of the milestones and important events for KARDS. The roadmap contains only the highest level of features.
The roadmap does not display regular game updates and improvements, seasonal in-game events, the esports calendar with monthly opportunities, and general KARDS refinements. Also not listed on the roadmap are balance changes, even though they are a key part of our ongoing work on KARDS.
Let’s have a look at some of the exciting things we can look forward to in KARDS in the coming months!
KARDS Living Roadmap
March: New User Interface Live
The new user interface went live in March. The new user interface is an important part of developing the mobile version of the game, providing a consistent experience regardless of which device you’re playing on. It’s also an opportunity for us to improve many elements in the user interface that we always wanted to improve, and which player feedback throughout the years has suggested could use improvement. You can read more about the new user interface in our dev blog: The New User Interface is Here.
April: New Card Set Structure and Content Cycle
In April, the first phase of the new content cycle will go live! In this first phase, we streamline existing content, with all cards becoming part of the Core set of cards aside from the most recent expansion, Legions. Five very infrequently used cards move into the Reserve pool at the same time, primarily to test this new pipeline and verify that all is working as intended before the first full cycle hits with the new expansion this summer. World at War bundles and Theaters of War are removed from the Shop, with a revamped Theaters of War returning at a later date. Check out more details about the upcoming content cycle and the plans surrounding this in Lead Game Designer Keli’s dev blog: The Cycle of KARDS.
May: Shop Update
The Shop will receive a big update in May! We’re going to be reworking some elements of how offers are presented and which offers are available at any given time. Stay tuned for more details on this!
Summer: KARDS Mobile Release
The release of KARDS mobile is just around the corner! After two beta tests and tons of hard work developing the mobile version of the game, KARDS mobile will become available this summer on both the Google Play and Apple App Stores. Get ready to enjoy KARDS from anywhere with your mobile device!
Summer: Summer Expansion
A new major expansion is coming to KARDS this summer! Similar in size to the Legions and Breakthrough expansions, you can expect somewhere around 80 new cards and potentially some new mechanics with this summer expansion. Get ready to enjoy a load of new content in KARDS this summer!
Winter: Winter Expansion
The summer expansion isn’t the only big new content release this year - a second large expansion will be dropping this winter! Get ready to enjoy even more new content in KARDS towards the end of the year!
Winter: World Championship
The KARDS 2023 World Championship will be held again this year, with the qualification period starting in the latter half of the year and the Grand Finals planned for the first weekend in December. Keep an eye out for more news and updates regarding this in the upcoming months!
This roadmap provides a broad overview of what we have planned for KARDS. We will also bring you many smaller features, improvements and events throughout this period.
The whole team is incredibly excited for what’s ahead and we would love to hear your feedback! Join us on the KARDS Discord and let us know what you think!
KARDS Living Roadmap 🌟 Update
Dear KARDS players, friends, and WWII enthusiasts,
We are thrilled to bring you an updated KARDS roadmap!
What is the Roadmap?
The roadmap is a regularly updated, high-level overview of the milestones and important events for KARDS. The roadmap contains only the highest level of features.
The roadmap does not display regular game updates and improvements, seasonal in-game events, the esports calendar with monthly opportunities, and general KARDS refinements. Also not listed on the roadmap are balance changes, even though they are a key part of our ongoing work on KARDS.
Let’s have a look at some of the exciting things we can look forward to in KARDS in the coming months!
KARDS Living Roadmap
March: New User Interface Live
The new user interface went live in March. The new user interface is an important part of developing the mobile version of the game, providing a consistent experience regardless of which device you’re playing on. It’s also an opportunity for us to improve many elements in the user interface that we always wanted to improve, and which player feedback throughout the years has suggested could use improvement. You can read more about the new user interface in our dev blog: The New User Interface is Here.
April: New Card Set Structure and Content Cycle
In April, the first phase of the new content cycle will go live! In this first phase, we streamline existing content, with all cards becoming part of the Core set of cards aside from the most recent expansion, Legions. Five very infrequently used cards move into the Reserve pool at the same time, primarily to test this new pipeline and verify that all is working as intended before the first full cycle hits with the new expansion this summer. World at War bundles and Theaters of War are removed from the Shop, with a revamped Theaters of War returning at a later date. Check out more details about the upcoming content cycle and the plans surrounding this in Lead Game Designer Keli’s dev blog: The Cycle of KARDS.
May: Shop Update
The Shop will receive a big update in May! We’re going to be reworking some elements of how offers are presented and which offers are available at any given time. Stay tuned for more details on this!
Summer: KARDS Mobile Release
The release of KARDS mobile is just around the corner! After two beta tests and tons of hard work developing the mobile version of the game, KARDS mobile will become available this summer on both the Google Play and Apple App Stores. Get ready to enjoy KARDS from anywhere with your mobile device!
Summer: Summer Expansion
A new major expansion is coming to KARDS this summer! Similar in size to the Legions and Breakthrough expansions, you can expect somewhere around 80 new cards and potentially some new mechanics with this summer expansion. Get ready to enjoy a load of new content in KARDS this summer!
Winter: Winter Expansion
The summer expansion isn’t the only big new content release this year - a second large expansion will be dropping this winter! Get ready to enjoy even more new content in KARDS towards the end of the year!
Winter: World Championship
The KARDS 2023 World Championship will be held again this year, with the qualification period starting in the latter half of the year and the Grand Finals planned for the first weekend in December. Keep an eye out for more news and updates regarding this in the upcoming months!
This roadmap provides a broad overview of what we have planned for KARDS. We will also bring you many smaller features, improvements and events throughout this period.
The whole team is incredibly excited for what’s ahead and we would love to hear your feedback! Join us on the KARDS Discord and let us know what you think!
A New Skirmish Event is Live
A new Skirmish event is live now until March 26th!
Here’s everything you need to know.
Skirmish is a special game mode in KARDS where you play with alternate rules. These rules vary; you’ll face something different at every Skirmish event. Read more about Skirmishes in our announcement blog New game mode: Skirmish.
In this Skirmish, you choose your own deck to battle with. You start with an extra Kredit slot and, at the start of your turn, choose CARELESS TALK, IN THE NAVY or INTERCEPTION to add to your hand and set its cost to 0.
The prize for your first victory in this Skirmish is a random card pack!
Access the Skirmish event from the game's main screen to get an overview of the game mode, rules and prize.
This Skirmish is accessible from March 24th at 12:00 GMT until Sunday, March 26th at 18:00 GMT.
Join this special event - win your Skirmish to claim victory and the spoils!
Please let us know what you think of the event in the comments below or on the KARDS Discord.
See you in the Skirmish this weekend!
The Frontline: A KARDS Podcast - Third Episode Available Now!
Hello KARDS players!
We are thrilled to bring you the third episode of the official 1939 Games podcast - The Frontline: A KARDS Podcast! Join us and get an exclusive insight on the exciting future of KARDS in a discussion with the developers.
The KARDS Podcast is a monthly podcast featuring different KARDS developers in every episode. This is where you’ll hear about all the latest things in KARDS and get a closer look at the team behind KARDS, as we explore developers’ varied work and contributions to the constant development of the game. The podcast is conveniently available on Spotify, Apple and Google Podcasts, as well as on the KARDS YouTube channel.
The Frontline Episode 3: Let’s Discuss the New User Interface
In this third episode, KARDS Community Manager Elín and host Christo welcome Senior UI/UX Designer Juha and UI/UX Designer Frikki to discuss the recently released new user interface. Join us as we go over the user interface changes, the thought process behind them, and discuss the design process.
Tune in Now!
Tune in to The Frontline podcast on the following platforms:
Let us know what you think of this third podcast episode and if there are any particular questions or topics you’d like us to cover in the future!
The New User Interface is Here
Hello everyone!
🎉 The new user interface is here! 🎉
After months of designing, testing, tweaking, and fine-tuning, the new KARDS user interface is now live for all players. Read on for more details about the new user interface.
We’ve also prepared a short video overview of what you can expect with the new user interface:
https://youtu.be/KxxZzNwxeT0
We’d love to hear your feedback on the new UI! Please head into the NUI Feedback channel on the official KARDS Discord server to leave any thoughts, comments or suggestions you have on the new UI.
New User Interface: Overview
From our own insight, community feedback, and the ambition to run KARDS for many years to come, we’ve seen that the KARDS user interface could be improved. In developing the mobile version of the game, we saw an opportunity to overhaul the user interface, to streamline it and improve the overall user experience. The new user interface will be available on both the PC and mobile version of the game, so players will have a consistent experience regardless of which device they are playing on. Here, you can find an overview of all the changes you can now experience in your game.
KARDS Home Screen
The KARDS home screen is changing fundamentally with the new UI. The KARDS Home Screen has a new look, allowing for increased flexibility and for us to communicate better about all the exciting things going on in and around KARDS.
1. The Top Bar
On the far left, you’ll find the Home button. Simply click on the KARDS logo to take you back to the home screen from almost any other part of the UI.
Next is the button to your profile - indicated by your current rank and player name.
Then, the resource overview - the amount of gold, diamonds and wildcards you have.
Finally, on the far right, you have the Friends and Settings buttons.
2. The Main Menu
PLAY navigates to Battle, Training, Campaigns, or any other game mode. More on this below.
CARDS gets you to your decks, deck builder and card collection. More on this below.
SHOP takes you to the shop.
3. Content Carousel
The content carousel is a rotating banner on the home screen that keeps you updated on all the latest things in KARDS. This can be information about a recent expansion, decklists, guides, dev blogs, news, store offers, tournament info, etc.
4. The Right Side Buttons
The buttons on the right side will vary depending on the content we want to highlight or feature at any given time. They will mostly be reserved for shortcuts to specific events or game modes, such as Skirmishes.
5. The Progress Line
On the bottom of the new UI you will find your national progress - the UI will by default show you the last main nation you progressed in, but you can also switch to a different nation. Your missions are accessible in a separate button next to the progress line.
PLAY Button
The Play button determines how you enter any given game mode.
Under the Play options, you’ll be able to select any of the game modes available at the time:
Battle (PvP) - with a toggle between Ranked or Casual
Training (PvE)
Draft
Campaigns - starter campaigns or Theaters of War
Battle Code
Skirmish - when available
Select Deck
After picking a game mode to enter, you’ll be prompted to select a deck from your library to play with. Scroll up and down to browse your list of decks. Decks will be ordered by usage (last played, last created, etc.).
On the right hand side, you’ll see the selected deck and interact with it through the buttons provided. Customize the deck (swap card-back, board items or emotes), or hit the star button to favorite the deck, so it’ll always show up at the top of the deck list.
Below the selected deck you’ll be able to toggle between ranked or casual mode, and, finally, hit the play button to head into the game!
CARDS Button
The CARDS button on the main menu allows you to explore your decks and collection of cards.
Click the PACKS button on the Top Bar to open your unopened packs.
Click the COLLECTION button on the Top Bar to access your card collection.
Browse through your library of decks by scrolling up and down.
Click the empty deck slot to create a new deck.
Click any of your existing decks to bring up details about the deck and edit it.
On the right hand side, use the buttons provided to delete the selected deck, mark it as a favorite, customize the deck elements, copy the deck code to your clipboard or edit the deck.
Deck Builder
The layout of the deck builder has changed quite significantly. These changes are done with consideration of a lot of community feedback we’ve received throughout the years. The goal with the new deck builder is to improve accessibility, provide an improved deck overview, have a consistent and clear UI for the upcoming mobile version of the game, as well as introducing various improvements for power users (especially on desktop). The new deck builder is split into three main areas:
The Top Bar, with a search bar, a “show all” button to include unowned cards, a wildcard overview, and a button to access filters.
The Card Collection, filtered by the nations in the deck. Scroll up and down to view all the cards. Right-click a card for more details and the ability to create a card with wildcards.
The Deck Overview is visible in its own panel on the right side. On the top of the deck overview, you can access details about your deck composition and change the name of the deck. Within the deck itself, using the edit button next to the top two cards, you can change the card-back and edit your HQ/battlefield. On the bottom you have an overview of the number of cards from each nation in the deck, the overall number of cards in the deck, as well as the “Done” button for when you’re finished editing.
Still to Come
The changes we’ve introduced so far to the user interface are quite significant, but we still have a few additional things ahead in the interface!
Still up ahead you can expect some changes to the battle scene and the shop. We’ll be overhauling the keyword and ability icon system to, among other things, give players clearer visual feedback on what is happening on the board and to function better on mobile devices. We’ll also be improving the battle history to enhance its readability. Finally, the Kredit overview UI is receiving improvements as well. We’ll communicate more details about the upcoming changes as we get closer to their releases.
We’d also like to note that, as we move forward, we may still tweak and fine tune some elements of the new user interface.
Let Us Know What You Think!
We’d love to hear what you think about the new user interface! Please join us in the New Interface Facility in the official KARDS Discord server and let us know any thoughts, suggestions or other feedback you have on the new user interface in the NUI Feedback channel.
You can also report any bugs you run into with the new UI in the NUI Bug Reports channel, get assistance with the new UI in the NUI Help channel, and engage in general discussions with other players about the new UI in the NUI Discussion channel.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the new UI!
KARDS Open XV Grand Finals Broadcast
Get ready for the Grand Finals of the KARDS Open XV!
Two qualifiers were held in February and March where over 150 participants battled it out for a shot at earning their share of the 1500 USD prize pool and the title of KARDS Open XV Champion. The top 8 participants in each of these two qualifiers have now made it to the Top Cuts weekend. These top 16 players now face off against one another to try and make it to the top 4. All the action of the top 4 Grand Finals will be broadcast live on the KARDS Twitch Channel on Sunday, March 19th @ 13:00 GMT.
KARDS Open XV Broadcast
Make sure to follow us on Twitch and tune in for the broadcast, as we’ll have giveaways going throughout the broadcast with card packs, draft tickets, and more!
Type OPENXV into the Twitch chat during the broadcast on March 19th to enter the giveaway!
The Grand Finals games are all best of 5 series with 1 ban in Conquest format. Deck lists are open - type !decks into the Twitch chat to bring up deck lists for the top 4, including the deck import codes that you can use to try them out yourself!
KARDS Open Prizes
The KARDS Open has a prize pool of 1500 USD that is split the following way:
1st: 600 USD
2nd: 450 USD
3rd: 250 USD
4th: 200 USD
5th - 8th: 500 Diamonds and 2000 Gold
9th - 16th: 200 Diamonds and 1000 Gold
17th - 32nd: 1000 Gold
Diamond and Gold prizes will be delivered to participants’ accounts immediately following the KARDS Open Grand Finals.
Join us on Twitch on March 19th at 13:00 GMT and find out who will be the KARDS Open XV Champion!
