Genre: Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Indie, Card & Board Game
Kards: The WWII Card Game
Announcing World at War - A new expansion series in KARDS
Thrilling news from the KARDS development front: New cards and other excitement will arrive in KARDS much faster and more continuously!
Enter World at War.
The World at War Series
With World at War, we introduce a new series of updates that stretches over the next half year and brings regular updates rapidly: A new update will arrive almost every month now!
Let’s go over the why and the what: Why are we switching to the World at War update cycle, and what will you get from it?
With the World at War updates, we want to satisfy several demands:
Release new cards more often
Provide strong, coherently themed, and history-aligned bundles to ease access to KARDS
Deliver regular exciting content for new and veteran players alike
Trying out new methods to deliver exactly defined content (additional to the current card draws from packs)
Each of the World at War updates focuses on a specific historical theme and comes with a bundle of new and existing cards to support each theme.
The reason to also include already existing cards in the World at War bundle is twofold.
KARDS already has a good variety of cards that align well with a historical theme. Providing these cards strengthens the theme and supports the bundle.
A strong bundle with a mix of new and existing cards will help especially new players (but not only those), a lot more than a bundle with only new cards. We want players to be able to see a specific theme, fall in love with it, and then get the cards for that theme without the need to look through all the various different sets one by one and pick all the individual cards one after another. This should also help with getting competitive decks more efficiently..
World at War bundles will be available in different flavors: A standard version (available for gold) with all the cards, and a premium version that includes all the cards plus exciting additional goodies like new board decorations and alternative art.
The reason to offer standard and premium versions is also straightforward:
The standard version is perfect if you just want the cards (you can either use gold or real currency to get the standard version).
The premium version is ideal for those who love to have exciting extras to further enjoy KARDS and stand out from the crowd with exclusive decorations and items. Additionally, the premium version comes with a sizable number of wildcards providing additional value.
If this got you excited, then there is even more good news!
World at War: Battle of Britain
Our first World at War update is themed around the famous Battle of Britain and focuses on air operations - just like its historical counterpart.
This first World at War update comes with 18 unique cards (35 in total), which are 7 completely new (18 in total). Included in the premium version will also be the first alternative art in KARDS!
We will reveal World at War cards in the coming days as we get closer to the release date. You can find spoiler cards in various places; we recommend especially keeping an eye on our popular KARDS Discord!
World at War: Battle of Britain will be released on November 18.
Let us know what you think of our new World at War updates in general and the update with the Battle of Britain on the 18th of November!
War on Bugs
Best KARDS community,
Following our recent update and the bug fixing bonanza on October 29 with more than 60 resolved bugs, we noticed a keen interest to learn more about our War on Bugs. How did we prepare for this major assault?
We would like to provide some insight here, especially since a significant share of our success stems from community bug reports.
Let’s together inspect the troops and arsenal ready at our hands to continue the war on bugs and the various stages, which involve the gathering of intel on the enemy, secret operatives, our war machine, and of course, glory.
Let’s dig in!
Long Range Intel
As in any war, the first step to success is gathering intel about the enemy and actually knowing what is going on. Therefore, we first must watch out for and collect bug reports.
We have several channels for reporting bugs, and we continuously monitor all of them. Think of internal reports within the team (we have recently expanded our QA team) and external channels such as Discord, QQ, Customer Support, Social Media, direct messages, etc.
Yet, missing in this arsenal is the ability to report bugs directly in the game client and some standardization. This is something we are looking into.
Secret Operatives
Even though we at 1939 Games have our own descent QA capabilities, bug reports from you, the player community, are invaluable!
Over time, we have received thousands of reports and reviewed them all. The most popular reporting methods are via the KARDS Discord #bug-reports channel and our QQ group, both closely monitored by our QA team. The next most popular method is via customer support tickets.
Not all reports there, however, are pointing to actual bugs. Sometimes, good gameplay gets mistaken as a bug (e.g., Countermeasures not triggering due to a C6N Saiun on the battlefield). But even in cases when a report was not pointing to a bug, we still get valuable information as those reports point us to general improvements (e.g., making players better aware of what is going on).
Many thanks to all of you for your constant support and passion for helping improve KARDS by reporting bugs and perceived issues.
The War Machine
Once we have received a report about an issue, the war machine kicks in!
In the first step, we examine the report and see if it actually points to a bug or, as mentioned above, is a misunderstood regular game mechanic.
Then, if the report describes a real issue, we categorize it and compare it with our internal list of unresolved bugs. If the bug hasn’t been reported before and is new, we prioritize it according to its potential severity and reach.
Investigating the bug (reproducing in a controlled environment such as a test server is a good step) and finding the root cause can be challenging. At other times, the investigation is straightforward. Each bug can be quite different and could lead down a rabbit hole (or not).
After a bug fix has been developed, it goes through several test cycles to ensure its correctness. All these individual bug fixes then get bundled together into a release to resolve all those issues.
For Glory
We earlier mentioned that many bug reports originate from within the community; they were not idle words. We are truly grateful for all the reports and the various pointers we receive.
The ideal bug report includes:
A screenshot of the issue (if possible)
A short description of what the situation was at the moment of the bug manifestation
The expected outcome, and
The actually observed outcome
A bug report doesn’t need to be long or complicated; it can be very brief and to the point. But even if you don’t write an ideal report, we still encourage you to join our War on Bugs.
Keep the reports coming!
We hope this short overview gave you some exciting insight into our ongoing War on Bugs. Our recent breakthrough effort with more than 60 resolved game issues left us with only a few more known bugs to wrangle with.
Keep an eye open for more info!
Celebrate the group winners of the 2021 KARDS Worlds Championships!
Attention soldiers!
The round-robin in the KARDS 2021 World Championship has now concluded, and 32 elite players have reigned supreme! These players will now face off in a Double Elimination bracket to find out who among them will be one of the four to make it for the final face-off in Reykjavík, Iceland!
Your 32 contenders
Out of the field of 2000 players that played the open qualifiers, only 32 contenders remain fighting for their spot in the Grand Finals! These are your first-round matchups for the double-elimination bracket!
We congratulate them all on the incredible achievement of making it this far and wish them good luck for the rest of their journey!
Decider broadcast - October 31st
This Sunday, October 31st, we will broadcast all 4 deciding series for spots in the Grand Finals live for your viewing pleasure! This will be an extremely intense series as the winners will continue to compete in Iceland while the defeated player will exit the tournament.
Join Olikrummi, Admirable, Spooz, and Bubbles for all of the exciting World Championship action on our Twitch channel, www.twitch.tv/kardsccg starting at 13:00 GMT on October 31st!
Make sure to follow us on the following channels to never miss a beat!
This year's Halloween in KARDS has something special for everyone: Test your resolution with unique challenges on the Halloween-decorated battlefield between October 28th and November 1st!
Are you in for a treat, or will you get tricked?
Read on and dive into the details!
KARDS during Halloween
To honor the efforts at the homefront during Halloween (more about this below), we have a special battlefield ready for you and extra challenges.
We dare you to try the unique Halloween challenges between October 28th and November 1st. These challenges are fun and exciting tasks to complete for a yummy prize at the end. Check out the Mission tab and snatch your treats!
The Halloween challenges are, of course, sweetened by some fantastic offers available only during the Halloween festivities. Check out the KARDS Store and give yourself some extra treats!
As Halloween also marks the end of the month, you can further benefit from climbing up the ranks and earning bigger rewards from the ladder.
Historical background
Traditionally, Halloween is a night of great mischief from young and old alike.
The wartime Halloween, however, was very different. Halloween's focus changed during the critical period when all efforts were towards out-producing the enemy and surviving the harsh realities with food shortages and rationing of essential goods.
Some people considered the Halloween mischief to be sabotage and treason, helping the axis powers. Treat-or-trick activities were considerably reduced. Evening ringing doorbells to collect candy was not welcome: Government reasoning for this drastic change was that tired factory workers needed all the rest they could get; war efforts should not be disturbed by pranks.
Instead, there was a surge in organized activities, and the movies ran double shifts. Costumes and parades were wildly popular.
We hope you can join this extravaganza from October 28th to November 1st. There is a lot of fun waiting!
PS: The second round of the Community Emote event is live. Cast your vote!
October Update - Bug Fix Bonanza
Best KARDS community!
Welcome to the latest KARDS patch and our Bug Fix Bonanza!
With great delight, we have released this newest patch full of bug fixes on October 28th. The team has waged a full-fledged war against bugs and rooted out a massive amount; more than 60 bugs of all sorts were crushed. We also made some minor improvements to the backend system.
Additionally to the bug fixes, we have made preparations for Halloween. More about the Halloween activities will follow shortly in a separate article.
All feedback is appreciated and most welcome. Please either use the comments below or join us on the KARDS Discord.
Important Changes
SAIUN DEPLOYMENT
We have changed the deployment process of the C6N SAIUN. Until now, any activated countermeasure could trigger during the deployment process of the Saiun. This has changed. Now when you deploy the Saiun, it will disable the triggering of active countermeasures.
Example of the change
Your opponent has an active CARELESS TALK countermeasure. You play Saiun in an attempt to deploy it.
Old behavior Careless Talk triggers. The Saiun gets damaged and destroyed, never reaches the battlefield.
New behavior Careless Talk doesn't trigger. The Saiun will get deployed and reaches the battlefield.
IMPROVEMENTS
When your opponent is choosing between 3 cards (e.g., using A FEW GOOD MEN), you will now see that he is choosing something (not what, of course).
Playing TYPE 98 KE-NI and ENCIRCLEMENT was incorrect. Fixed.
LONG RANGE DESERT GROUP wasn't working correctly when affected units were attacked by a No 1 COMMANDO. Fixed.
LONG RANGE DESERT GROUP was sometimes not triggering on affected units that dealt damage on destruction. Fixed
FIRST TO FIGHT effect was removed when the affected unit was being taken control by its enemy. Fixed.
When IMPERIAL STRENGTH was countered by ULTRA, the rest of the active countermeasures would still act as unactivated through the turn. Fixed.
YAMATO's effect would damage the wrong HQ when the affected unit was destroyed while being taken control by the enemy. Fixed.
845th RIFLES was adding the wrong amount of defense when attacking 756th REGIMENT. Fixed.
STUKA's and LANCASTER B.III's effect was triggering when ROYAL ULSTER RIFLES redirected all damage from the HQ. Fixed.
OBICE's was triggering cancel deployment effects but shouldn't. Fixed.
GROUNDED would put the card in the wrong deck if being controlled by the enemy. Fixed.
2nd CALIFORNIA's effect was being triggered by damage orders while affected by OUTMANUEVER. Fixed.
175th MOTORIZED was not working correctly with spawned tanks. Fixed
P-40 K was not correctly working when destroyed at the same time as a bomber. Fixed.
P1Y GINGA was triggering when removed by SENDAI REGIMENT. Fixed.
PARADE was not duplicating costs correctly in some cases. Fixed.
SPITFIRE MKII buff not removed when taken control of. Fixed.
RAF GROUND CREW was sometimes not lowering the cost of cards drawn in enemy turn. Fixed.
RAPID ENGAGEMENT effect sometimes did not leave the unit as intended. Fixed.
ROAD TO BERLIN was sometimes counting damage at the start of an enemy turn. Fixed.
The hand target selection of the PBY CATALINA was bugged when its owner was disconnected. Fixed.
Fury wasn't working correctly when given to non-tank units that can move and attack during the same turn. Fixed.
T-70 with "Destroyed at the end of the second turn on the battlefield." are no longer discarded when sent to hand and will not be destroyed until the end of the next turn after being played back from hand.
In some cases, after a card was played from hand due to another card's effect (for example, with Special Assignment), the next card that takes a target on deployment would target an incorrect card. Fixed.
Units that had attacked twice with Fury then lost Fury and gained it again, all during the same turn, could attack once more. Fixed.
JUGGERNAUT's death effect was being removed when the unit was taken control by the enemy. Fixed.
SENDAI REGIMENT returned the card it had removed when taken control by the enemy. Fixed.
There was an issue with EMBARGO and spawned units. Fixed.
There was an issue with Destruction and the T-28 Soviet tank. Fixed.
The tooltip of the T-60 didn't show the card it spawns on destruction (a T-34 1942). Fixed.
Countermeasures that had been activated while SAIUN was on board would not trigger the turn it was removed from the board. Fixed.
AI-specific
22. INFANTRY REGIMENT and Ki-83 were sometimes triggering when they shouldn't. Fixed.
STUKA and LANCASTER B.III were triggering when damage was redirected to ROYAL ULSTER RIFLES. Fixed.
LONG RANGE DESERT GROUP wasn't triggering on affected 152mm HOWITZER GUN's destroyed effect. Fixed.
In rare cases, the destruction effect from AKITA REGIMENT was triggering twice. Fixed.
When the AI attacked with No. 1 COMMANDO and killed it purely with the attack, it could sometimes trigger the destruction of the killed card twice. Fixed.
ARGYLLSHIRE HIGHLANDER did not lose its bonus attack immediately after guarding unit lost guard from T19 HOWITZER's attack by AI. Fixed
AI's damage orders weren't dealing damage to GLADIATOR ESCORT when it was defending a STIRLING. Fixed
QF 40mm Mk III wasn't correctly working on AI's turn. Fixed.
125th RIFLE REGIMENT's trigger effect dealt damage equal to its defense while ROYAL WEST KENTS was on board. Fixed.
YAMAGATA REGIMENT was not getting its passive effect when played by the AI as the last card in hand.
Visuals (gameplay function worked correctly)
The MIKAWA REGIMENT had a tooltip for Fury. Fixed.
The operation cost reduction of PANZER 35(t) didn't show after fast playing. Fixed.
The visual location when retreating multiple targets was sometimes wrong (e.g., guarded units not appearing adjacent to guards). Fixed.
When the opponent had connection issues, the "move to top of deck" visual was bugged. Fixed.
There was a visual bug on STARS & STRIPES. Fixed.
Countdown on Double XP events was showing the incorrect time. Fixed.
The WELLINGTON had a trigger icon. Fixed.
The 48e 48E RÉGIMENT D'INFANTERIE lacked the icon for passive effects. Fixed.
The frontline disappeared in some cases in lower graphic settings. Fixed.
Fixed match history bugs. For example, Countermeasures not showing or their actions, damage/destroy multiple units from indirect actions, and play directly from hand action not showing.
The title and text of the Polikarpov PO-2 were incorrect. Fixed.
Polish dates in the World Championship were incorrect. Fixed.
Some cards of the recent balance patch showed Polish text instead of Portuguese. Fixed
Card reward images for Theaters of War for Spanish and Italian used the English version. Fixed.
Various localization bugs for French and Polish have been fixed.
We welcome your feedback! Please either use the comments below or join us on the KARDS Discord.
HOTFIX ON OCTOBER 29th
We deployed a hotfix on October 29th to address some issues with the previous update. Here is what we worked on.
BUGFIXES
In rare cases, the game crashed at the end of the match. Fixed.
The effect bubble from cards like LONG RANGE DESERT GROUP was still showing when the card had retreated to hand and then got replayed. Fixed.
There were some issues with the card animation in hand. Fixed.
In some cases, the new animation for selecting 1 of 3 cards got stuck on the enemy; the three cards on screen then did not disappear and blocked the battlefield. Fixed.
In some cases, the drawn cards went to the wrong position in hand. Fixed.
Using Countermeasures left a blank space in hand where the countermeasure card initially had been. Fixed.
The monthly KARDS Open series returns With Kards Open IX!
Hello Kards community!
Lace up your boots and put those helmets on, because it’s time for another KARDS Open!
1939 Games presents the KARDS Open IX, powered by 983 Media. In this Open tournament players will have two chances to make it into the Open top 16 through one of the two Swiss Qualifiers held on November 6th and November 20th.
Read on for a detailed breakdown of the different tournament stages.
STAGE ONE
Starting Saturday, November 6th with the swiss qualifiers, you will compete in a best of 3 free-for-all deck format. This means you can bring any deck you want and play it as many times as you'd like. No deck submissions and no deck restrictions! If you make the top 8 in this stage, you will advance to stage two.
The second chance qualifier will be Saturday, November 20th. This swiss bracket is open to any player who has not already made the top 8 cuts.
STAGE TWO
If you finish in the Top 8 from either stage one weekend, you will be qualified for the next stage - Saturday, November 27th to compete in the single elimination best of 3 conquest. In this stage, you will submit four of your best decks from four different main nations. (you will only use three of these decks for the first half of this bracket) You will ban one deck from your opponent and play a best of 3.
STAGE THREE
If you've made it to the Top 4 on November 27th, you've made it to stage 3! In this stage you will break out your 4th submitted deck and play in a best of 5 single elimination with one ban. These games will be broadcast live on Sunday, November 28th.
Join the 983 Discord: https://discord.gg/dAbfkYF
FORMAT & SCHEDULE
Swiss Qualifiers
Compete in one or both qualifier swiss bracket weekends.
Top 8 from each weekend bracket moves on to Top - Cuts weekend
Closed deck lists with no deck restrictions! Play whatever you want, whenever you want!
Best of Three matchups
Swiss Bracket with 128 player maximum (7 swiss rounds)
Swiss Qualifier Bracket A November 6th @ 1300 GMT
Swiss Qualifier Bracket B November 20th @ 1300 GMT
Top Cuts
Bring three decks from three different main nations
A fourth deck must be submitted, which will only be used if you make it to top 4
Top 16 Conquest format best of 3 with open deck lists and one ban
Top 4 conquest format best of 5 with open deck lists and one ban
Top 16 Bracket November 27th @ 1300 GMT
DECK LIST SUBMISSION DEADLINE: November 27th @ 1200 GMT
Top 4 Bracket & Live Stream November 28th @ 1400 GMT
Open qualifiers for KARDS World Championship are completed!
Hello all!
After 12 days of intense competition over six weekends, the two open qualifiers for the KARDS 2021 World Championship have come to an end! We offer our congratulations to the players that qualified; making it to the knockout stage of the World Championship against thousands of competitors is a great feat.
What lies ahead, however, is an even greater challenge: A group stage into a double elimination tournament all with the final goal of being one of four players left standing, earning a free trip to Iceland to compete in the Grand Finals in front of a live audience for the $10.000 prize pool and the title of World Champion!
If I made it, what happens next?
First off, congratulations, you are a hardened soldier and live to fight another day! We will contact you via email with practical information for the next stage of your mission.
The next stage of the tournament is the knockout stage, where we slim the playing field from 128 players to the top 4. We do this by first playing a round robin with 16 groups of 8 players with the top 2 players advancing from each group into a 32 person Double Elimination bracket that will bring us down to the final 4 players.
The round robin will take place during the weekend of 23rd and 24th of October, with 3 rounds being played on day 1 and 4 rounds being played on day 2. This means that even if a player ends up 0-3 after day 1, they still have a chance to make it through if they play well during the second day.
The double elimination bracket will be played during the weekend of 30th and 31st of October. On the Sunday, October 31st we will broadcast all the decider matches for who makes it to Iceland, so make sure to tune in to some of the highest stakes KARDS games so far.
Important: If you qualified, please make sure your account has an up to date email associated with it so we are able to contact you with details on the next stage. This will require action from your side as the remainder of the World Championship will be played outside the client.
Drawing show
On Friday, October 22nd at 16:00 GMT we will do a live drawing show for all the groups. The show will be broadcast live on Twitch, Youtube, Facebook and Steam. Make sure you tune in to see what the groups look like.
This will be followed by a steam article with the groups and an update to the World Championship hub showing the groups on Tuesday the 19th of October.
How do I get my rewards from the open qualifiers?
All of you who competed fought valiantly and deserve to be rewarded for your efforts. As was stated, anyone that completed three qualifying sessions in either of the two Open Qualifiers will receive the exclusive 2021 World Championship cardback.
These will be added to eligible accounts before the 31st of October 2021, no further action on your side is needed to claim the cardbacks.
We are extremely excited for the remainder of the World Championship! To make sure you don’t miss a beat, make sure to follow us on social media.
With great excitement, we want to give you the opportunity to shape KARDS even more with your feedback and suggestions.
For the first time in the history of KARDS, you can suggest emotes that may appear in-game! Submit three emotes in the link below during the next 7 days.
Between Sept 30th and Oct 7th, you can submit your emote suggestions. After that, the final emotes will be selected over three rounds of voting, including a community vote. Every winning emote creator will receive the full community set of emotes.
We especially thank our excellent community contributors Arizonakid and Joseph T. Krixten, for suggesting this event, working on its framework and implementation, and their outstanding support in general.
For legal reasons, we want to point out that by participating in this event, you agree to the rules laid out in the KARDS Community Contributor License, especially point 7.
Good luck to all - and have fun!
Join the KARDS Mega Weekend
Best KARDS enthusiasts, veterans, and new players alike!
This weekend, already starting this Friday (Sept 24) and until early Monday (Sept 27), we have something special for you. In fact, we have several rewarding events ready!
Here is a quick overview; more details are further below:
Double XP Weekend to double your rewards
Mess Hall Brawl: Bootcamp event
World Championship Qualifier #2
New-player friendly offers
The final weekend of this season
Have a look at the details and let us know what you like most in the comments below!
Double XP Weekend
We kick off this KARDS mega weekend with a Double XP event!
Get double the experience points on your national progression between the 24th and 27th of September.
Double the experience = double the rewards!
All experience points you earn between 10:00 UTC on Sept 24 and 12:00 UTC on Sept 27 will be doubled! This allows you to collect rewards from the national progression system twice as fast and collect double the rewards.
New-player friendly offers
We have special offers ready this weekend as a special treat for new KARDS cadets and those who want to explore different playstyles.
Each offer comes with a selection of cards (and a national pack) that supports a specific iconic playstyle. We have a British Mobilization, German Blitz, Japanese Air, Soviet Offensive, and the USA Bolster.
Have a look at the KARDS shop and learn more about these offers!
World Championship Qualifier #2 kicks off
While the double XP weekend is on, we kick off the second World Championship Qualifier. This is your second chance to qualify for the World Championship if you didn’t make it through the first qualifier.
This second qualifier stretches over the next three weekends with two sessions each weekend (six sessions in total). A particular World Championship qualifier queue will be available for the bravest among you during each of these sessions.
To enter a game, simply open the World Championship hub during a qualification session, press the battle button, and select your deck for battle.
One of the long-anticipated highlights this weekend is the Mess Hall Brawl: Bootcamp event!
Four world-famous and highly-skilled CCG players are paired up with four of our most renowned veteran KARDS players as coaches in this event. Then, they fight in the ultimate showdown for the crown.
The coaching has been in full swing since our initial announcement a fortnight ago. Now, with the candidates ready, we have the final showdown live on multiple streams!
Join this massive spectacle, enjoy the show, get lucky during the numerous giveaways on multiple streams, and have lots of fun!
The Bootcamp event starts on Sept 25 at 17:00 UTC on multiple streams:
Last but not least, we have the final weekend of this season ahead of us.
Use the remaining time to gain as many ranks as you can to get a big payout! You advance ranks by winning PVP matches. This is the perfect opportunity to get a nice boost - especially combined with the Double XP weekend.
We hope that you enjoy all of these events. Let us know what you like most in the comments below and feedback on other future events.
Get ready for the second World Championship qualifier!
Hello Kards players!
The first open qualifier for the 2021 KARDS World Championship has concluded and we offer our congratulations to the 58 players that qualified! Check out the sidebar of the in game World Championship hub for a complete list of qualified players.
Now it’s time for a second chance! Starting next Saturday the 25th of September the second open qualifier will start.
The qualification sessions in Qualifier 2 will be held on the following dates:
25th of September - 12-16 UTC
26th of September - 16-20 UTC
2nd of October - 12-16 UTC
3rd of October - 16-20 UTC
9th of October - 12-16 UTC
10th of October - 16-20 UTC
Each player needs to successfully complete a minimum 3 out of 6 sessions to post a legal qualifier score.
Competing in a qualifier session
Each qualification session lasts for 4 hours. During those 4 hours, a special World Championship qualifier queue will be available for the bravest among you.
Participating players have to complete at least 9 games during those 4 hours to successfully complete the qualification session. Note that additional games after the required games are important for tiebreakers; we recommend playing a few extra games during the session to improve your chances in tiebreakers.
To enter a game, simply open the World Championship hub during a qualification session, press the battle button and select your deck for battle.
For each win during the first 9 matches, the player receives 5 points for the qualification ladder, and for each loss in these matches the player receives 1 point. A player’s final score is the combined total score from their best three sessions out of six sessions in the qualifier.
Tiebreaker system
If players end up with the same score, a tiebreaker system is used to order them. Tiebreakers are based on several things, the most important being the strength of your opponents. So being matched against a very strong player might make for a difficult match, but at the very least your tiebreakers will improve regardless of the result. For further info, check out the full rules here
