Battle of Aeons

Now, for those unfamiliar with card game terms, what is ‘burn’? Burn mechanics in a card game are abilities/effects that aim to damage your opponent without directly battling them. In Battle of Aeons, there are currently 4 cards that can impact your opponent’s total heart count without needing you to directly attack them. The latest being...

Design-wise, it wouldn't be wrong to say the idea was inspired again from Yu-gi-oh! Ring of Destruction was the father of this idea--a fun mutually hurtful card with the possibility to facilitate draws and just fun risky plays. I am also just fond of cards that really tell your opponent where to shove it ya know?

I believe this for sure will bring up burn in possible strategies, however it isn’t the first true blue burner type introduced into Aeons. That honor goes to one of my personal favorite monsters...

Say hello to the biggest king of sting, the one hit killer Turn Bomb! This monster isn’t directly inspired by any cards, but more from an encounter I had in a video game a long time ago. In Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga (late game) there was an enemy introduced that would stand to the sidelines during your boss fight who after a certain amount of turns, would instakill both the Mario bros. Conceptually bombs with feet that kill Mario aren’t anything new to the series, but I really vibed with the idea of an entity that would KO a player in a designated time slot if it wasn’t dealt with fast enough. So the idea of a burn card with an activation counter was a obvious and fun idea to me. Of course when reading it however you noticed probably that it kills you not your opponent. Oh no, what shall you do new Aeons player?

Bam! Trade it with em’! Like some sort of sick hot potato, you give them this self-destructive goober and get off scot-free. For a while in earlier betas of our game, this was actually a legit easy strategy. Though of course since then it has become way easier to find an out. For now, the crown of mischief no longer belongs to the Turn Bomb, but maybe again one day.

Final Thoughts

This post really was just a fun way to talk about two burn cards in our game. Burn mechanics should never be a meta contender of course, but I think for sure burn should always be a valid option for players to build around. Because what’s funnier than knocking your opponent out without needing to even throw a single punch?

The Cards

The new monster is the mighty "Vylldestus The Ancient"

A strong LIMITBREAK type beast, that is accompanied by two spells "The Lost Sanctuary" and of course the "Key to The Lost Sanctuary"

Lore

Although this is just a silly little card game, there is some lore to be shared about the world and its monsters. This ancient dragon holds high importance not just because it’s a divine entity, but also due to it quite literally being a demigod. This dragon is the direct spawn of the Dragon Goddess Xarallyon, a creation deity (among others) who, as her name states, is the god of all dragons. Being the direct spawn of a powerful god came with some respect, having their own religious followers and temple to live in and rest in. This dragon wasn’t known as a malicious being, instead more as a benevolent local god. Protecting its followers from those who would cause harm to them. However, 500 years is a long time and followers tended to rise and wane and the dragon eventually entered a period of inactivity--resting for hundreds of years. Nowadays, this temple is long forgotten and the dragon deeply slumbers, but someday may reawaken once more.

Inspiration

The idea here is a monster so powerful it was locked away. In order to summon it and use its power to defeat your enemy, you need to find it and use an ancient key to release it. Though there are some other inspirations included for this idea, I was specifically inspired by an old anime exclusive Yu-gi-oh card called Ancient Dragon.

(Amazing image i know)

When I was a kid, the idea captivated me--some powerful monster locked away? Elaborate summoning rituals? Count me in! And I thought it’ll be fun to sorta, pay homage to it now in my very own card game here.

Closing Thoughts

I am not sure how exactly this monster will impact the game, but I am sure of one thing, I’ll have fun with it (and some other people might too)!

But hey, I hope y'all enjoyed reading some card game design nonsense and look forward to another card update post!