Players have numerous strategies they can employ when using cards in a game, from real-time strategy to turn-based systems.
For those that enjoy building strategies, here are five excellent card strategy games. They will challenge both your brain and allow some element of luck into the mix!
1. Aliens: Dark Descent
Aliens: Dark Descent has created an opportunity for itself in the genre-defining games market – it stands out by offering real-time squad-based tactical action game developed by Tindalos Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment that pits players against legions of lethal xenomorphs on an alien planet.
One of the unique aspects of this game is its atmosphere. Even when not fighting off xenomorphs, their presence can still be felt through ticking heartbeat monitors, acidic blood spattering from other marine corpses killed, and overall oppressive settings; all contributing to heighten tension.
Add an extra element of danger by having moral decisions affect how your character engages in combat. This mechanic allows the game to connect more closely to Alien movies while giving an added depth to gameplay.
2. Othercide
Othercide is an isometric turn-based strategy game with a strong noir aesthetic, featuring an army of dark-haired Daughters with deadly grace that rivals 2B from Nier Automata or Dante from Devil May Cry ninjas in terms of movement. Although its concept may seem simplistic, Othercide manages to immerse you into its world and lore quite effectively.
At its core, this game entails manipulating time to ensure your Daughters strike at optimal times against enemies. Unfortunately, this focus on time management may lead to repetitive battles against similar foes.
Othercide attempts to break up this repetition through its Remembrances system, where players can unlock passive upgrades for their Daughters at the beginning of every run. Unfortunately, Othercide often comes off more like flash than substance.
3. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Alien invaders have invaded Earth and started abducting humans for unknown purposes, creating havoc among civilians and taking hostages in return. To defend ourselves against their onslaught, humanity forms an elite global defense force known as XCOM to defend itself. Players of this game manage the bureaucratic functions of this organization during base management while engaging in tactical squad-based combat during missions.
Enemy Unknown brings together all the best elements of genre tropes into a compelling narrative experience, including doom, sacrifice, luck, surprise and revenge. XCOM stands out among videogames by using loss as an emotive thread to tell an impactful tale.
This new take on the franchise features a Genetics Lab which allows players to customize their soldiers genetically and cybernetically, as well as MELD, an alien resource which unlocks advanced upgrades.
4. The Resistance
One of the world’s acclaimed board games, Subterfuge is an engaging drama of deceit and betrayal. Each round begins when a Leader hands out Missions to selected players (possibly including themselves); these selected players then make decisions regarding support or sabotage of these missions; ultimately the Resistance wins when three missions succeed while five missions fail for Spies to win!
What we love most about The Resistance is its combination of depth of strategy and social engagement that makes it such an enjoyable experience. There can be plenty of finger pointing, accusations and distrust to navigate during a game – making it the perfect way to start or cap off an evening of board gaming! A standard game takes roughly 30 minutes so make it the ideal way to start or close down any evening!
5. Kards
Kards is an innovative free-to-play card game with a distinct approach to card gaming: instead of featuring fantasy elements typical of other titles, Kards recreates WWII combat with each nation having different strengths and weaknesses to reflect its reality.
Cards in this deck are organized into various units, such as infantry, tanks and fighter/bomber types. Each has an operating cost and attack/defense value; many cards also possess special abilities that enhance gameplay further.
Kards offers an unconventional yet accessible take on CCG mechanics, making it simple for players familiar with other games in its genre to pick it up and start playing without much difficulty or confusion. Plus, its wide variety of factions to unlock provide plenty of replay value!
