When I was a little kid my brother would sit around on a blue carpet and spend countless hours playing trading card games. I remember that some of these games had very serious aspects of resource management, which was simplified a lot when digital card games became popular.
When I was growing up, I played some of these digital card games. The idea for Cardaclysm (or shard as it was called at the time), I wanted to see the cards I was playing in 3D, fully animated, responding to my attack orders or hit. I also wanted to add a more serious version of resource management, similar to the card games I played as a kid.
shard started as a fast prototype, and at first it was all about the battles. I wanted to develop a new multiplayer card game. In addition to the different attitudes towards resource management, I also wanted creature upgrades to be a core feature. By summoning two creatures to the same battlefield slot, you could get an upgraded, more powerful version of that creature.
A few years ago, as digital card games became increasingly popular, I realized that a multiplayer card game was no longer feasible as an indie developer. Most indie multiplayer games like this one shut down their servers and then years of work are thrown out the window. Instead, I decided to add a world map to the game concept and steer it towards a single player experience with light RPG elements.
I’ve rebuilt that shard Prototype with a tutorial map and a randomly generated forest map. It included chance encounters and very early versions of the deck and upgrade systems. After I finished this demo, I sent it to Headup (my editor) to try it out. I also built a single boss into the game, a fiery demon named Infernal.
The head-up people were great, they provided valuable feedback right away, and some of their staff were delighted shard quite fast. They recommended that we include the four horsemen of the Apocalypse as main bosses, not just the infernal. The name Cardaclysm was born and we hired more artists to complete more than 100 cards planned for the game.
Almost two years later, we far exceeded that plan with over 240 cards and 40 artifacts. I’m really proud of what we’ve created and how far the game has come since that little first prototype. I hope we can take the game even further at some point as I have a lot of ideas about where to go Cardaclysm next.
Cardaclysm: Shadow of the Four is available today in the Xbox Store for Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S.
Cardaclysm: Shards of the Four
heads up
$ 14.99
$ 11.99
You’re a dark wizard who shouldn’t have tinkered with magic and spells that are far too powerful for you. But you did it. And this time you screwed it up right: you let loose the four horsemen of the apocalypse and their minions on the world! Well done … So hurry up, grab your magical cards and send them all back to their hellish dimension before the apocalypse destroys everything and everyone – and more importantly, before the old wizarding council discovers what you’ve done … Cardaclysm: Shards of the Four is a procedurally generated trading card game mixed with action RPG elements! Collect creature and spell cards during your journey and unleash their power when someone opposes you! The world of the game is generated endlessly, there is always something new to discover! Fight Collect, combine and unleash the great powers of monsters, mystical creatures and magical spells in turn-based card battles! There are more than 200 cards in Cardaclysm: Shards of the Four, each with their own unique abilities, graphics, and 3D animations! Biome Face your opponents and fight them in arenas that are located in different biomes: Move through burning deserts, eternal ice or dense jungle – but watch your step: deadly monster encounters lurk around every corner! The Pub In between your quests, visit the Interdimensional Pub: accept and master challenges, trade powerful cards and store your excess spells in your personal chest until you use them in your next epic card battle against the forces of the dark realms !
