A card-based board game adapted from Age of War. Lead one of three races,
recruit allies and deserters, defend your base, and destroy the enemy base to unify the realm.
Overview
Age of War Card Game is a strategic card-based board game that continues the world of War of the Ages . After a century of peace, the
realm is shattered. Players take command of one of three distinct races—Human, Beast, or
Shadow—and must recruit allies and deserters, defend their base, and destroy the enemy
base to unify the realm.
This project transforms the video game world into a tactile tabletop experience, designed
for strategy enthusiasts who enjoy deep thinking and tactical decision-making.
GameView
This is a card-based board game adapted from the War of
the Ages , featuring Humans, Beasts, and Shadows as playable factions. A century
of peace has been shattered, and players must lead their chosen race to victory.
Players recruit allies and deserters, defend their base, and destroy the enemy base to
unify the realm. The game combines tactical map movement with deck-building elements for
a fast-paced card battle experience.
Inspiration
This card game project is a continuation of War of the Ages. The characters continue the
Human, Orc, and Shadow factions from the original Era War, now reimagined in card form.
🎴
Card Game References
Legends of Kingdom Rush, Duelyst, Eternal Cards, Wargroove, Warcraft, and Fantasy
Combat Reference inspire the card mechanics and visual design.
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Gameplay References
Legends of Kingdom Rush draws inspiration from turn-based strategy games and
character skill selection. Duelyst features turn-based head-to-head battles with
constantly added characters.
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Art References
Eternal Cards inspires the card border design and dark-style characters.
Wargroove provides tactical board maps and grid-based movement systems.
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Story References
Warcraft features a rich backstory with races such as Humans, Orcs, Night Elves,
and the Undead, which form the foundation of the game's narrative.
Factions & Unit Cards
The game features three distinct races, each with unique units, abilities, and strategic
playstyles:
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The Human Race
A balanced faction with versatile units. The Human Race excels in strategic
positioning and defensive tactics, making them ideal for players who prefer
methodical gameplay.
🌑
The Shadow Race
A dark faction specializing in stealth and assassination. Shadow units can move
unseen and strike from the darkness, perfect for players who enjoy surprise
attacks.
🐺
The Beast Race — Sinit Danon Clan
A fierce faction of powerful creatures. Beast units boast high attack power and
raw strength, designed for aggressive players who favor overwhelming force.
Card Anatomy: Each unit card features four key stats—Top Left: Cost, Top
Right: Range, Bottom Left: Health, Bottom Right: Attack. Understanding these stats is
essential for building effective strategies.
How to Play
The game follows a structured turn-based flow with clear phases and objectives:
🎯
Setup
2 players, 1 map, 44 cards, 1 die. Both players start with 7 HP (base health).
🃏
Draw Phase
Gain 2 cost per turn, up to a maximum of 6. Spend 1 cost to draw a card or play a
card from your hand.
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Placement
Units can be placed in your base or adjacent columns. Spells have no placement
limit and can be played anywhere.
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Action Phase
Units reset each turn. Choose to move, attack, or use a special skill. Tactical
positioning is key to victory.
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Win Condition
Discard used cards. Reshuffle when the deck is empty. Destroy the enemy base to
win the game.
Core Actions: Deploy units near your base → Move 1 space per turn →
Attack enemies within range → Destroy the enemy base to achieve victory.
Design Goals
The design philosophy behind Age of War Card Game focuses on creating a deep yet
accessible strategy experience:
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Balanced Gameplay
Create a balanced game where different strategies can be combined. No single
faction or tactic dominates, encouraging creative deck building.
📜
Accessible Rules
Make the rules easy to understand and play. The game is designed for ages 8 and
up, with intuitive mechanics that teach strategy through play.
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Command Experience
Give players the experience of leading an army to conquer. Every decision
matters—from unit placement to resource management to tactical timing.
Development Journey
This card game project represents the evolution of the War of the Ages from digital to physical form. The
design process involved extensive playtesting, balancing three unique factions, and
crafting a ruleset that captures the epic feel of the original game in a compact
tabletop format.
Tabletop Design3 Factions44 Cards2 Players
Paper Test
Online Simulation & Balancing
To validate the card game before committing to a full physical production, a digital
online simulation was built alongside the tabletop version. The simulator recreates the
full ruleset—cost, draw, placement, movement, combat, and win conditions—so the game
could be tested rapidly and repeatedly without printing a single card.
It served two purposes: playtesting playability, and tuning the design numbers behind the
three factions.
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Digital Prototype
A playable online version of the card game that mirrors the physical rules,
allowing 2 players (or AI opponents) to run full matches remotely and iterate
far faster than paper testing.
🧪
Playability Testing
Rapid sessions verified that the turn flow, card placement, and mask-free combat
loop were understandable and fun, catching confusing rules and dead turns early.
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Number Balancing
Repeated simulated matches were used to tune key values—unit Cost, Range, Health
and Attack, cost gain per turn, and base HP—so no faction or card dominated and
every strategy stayed viable.
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Fast Iteration Loop
Adjust values in the simulator, run dozens of games, compare win rates across
Human, Beast, and Shadow, then lock the changes into the physical rules. This
loop shaped the final balanced ruleset.
Outcome: The simulation proved the core loop was solid and gave concrete
data for balancing the three factions, resulting in the finished 44-card, 2-player
ruleset.
Reflection
For Age of War Card Game, two kinds of design had to happen at the same time. The first
was game design: three races, four numbers on every card, movement, attacking, cost, and
enough balance that neither side wins by accident. The second was card design:
forty-four cards, each one needing a picture, a name, numbers, icons, and a short
description. Both were necessary, and both took real time.
The game design had to come first, because it decided what each card needed to say. If a
unit's attack and health are the core of how the game works, then those numbers have to
be the most visible thing on the card. Every rule I changed in the game design changed
what the card had to show. So card design was not decoration on top of the mechanics —
it was the place where the mechanics became something a player could actually use.
Most of my hours still went into the cards themselves. I spent a long time on the art,
giving every card a special illustration and special decorations. They looked nice on
their own, but when a friend played, he kept squinting — first looking for the numbers,
then for the icons, then asking me what something meant. The pretty pictures were
sometimes in the way. A card that looks beautiful but makes people ask "what does this
number mean?" is not finished.
Now AI can draw a whole set of beautiful cards very quickly, so the art half is much
easier than when I made this. But that made the other half clearer: where the numbers
go, which icons stay the same across every card, what each color means, and whether a
player can understand a card in one glance. AI can draw the picture. It cannot decide
how the card should read — and it cannot decide what the card should do in the first
place. The game design still has to come from me; the card design still has to make that
design readable.
