A new card game by the designer of Magic: The Gathering and Ascension is out this week!
The creators of two of the most popular tabletop card games of all time have brought back their SolForge card game with a new twist. This week, Stone Blade Entertainment will launch SolForge Fusion, a revitalized, physical version of the digital SolForge game created by Richard Garfield, the maker of Magic: The Gathering, and Ascension creator Justin Gary. The game utilizes algorithmically created"half-decks" that can be merged together to create a unique deck.
While SolForge was built using concepts optimized for digital use, Gary approached Garfield several years later about making a physical version."It was Richard's other brilliant designs with KeyForge and the idea of an algorithmically generated deck that really unlocked it for me," Gary said."You could sell these things in chunks that helped you to create the idea of these level up cards and these kind of units that come together that made it seem possible to me.
The designers also slimmed down the deck sizes, from 30 cards in a deck to 20 cards, and decreased the number of rounds before cards leveled up. Players also gave the ForgeBorn special powers that activated every time they leveled up, giving each deck more of a flavor and personality."Really, the whole thing exemplifies this well known fact that, oftentimes, creative endeavors thrive on restrictions," Garfield said.
One other unique part of SolForge Fusion is that the game will include a branching storyline influenced by events held at various game conventions."Players will influence not only the lore and the story, but also the cards and the way that they evolve in the future,"Gary noted."We actually had our first storyline tournament at Gen Con and our game's lore actually references the events that happened in the Gen Con storyline, including who has control of the SolForge currently.