Page 31 - PC Gamer - UK (February 2020)

E ARLY AC CES S PRE VIE W

Kards

NEED TO KNOW

RELEASE DEVELOPER PUBLISHER LINK
Spring 2020 1939 Games In-house bit.ly/347tfWx

“definitely try and respect historical
K ARDS standpoints”. Germany emulates its
Blitzkreig strategy with a high-speed early
game, while Britain is more defensive,
relying on a powerful navy and air force.
Soviet units are cheap and plentiful, while
the USA’s powerful economy dominates in
the late game. In spite of historical
Ex-CCP developers making CCG precedent, those American units do
set in WWII. OMG! actually fight in the first few turns.

BUILD A DECK
To offer a little more strategic depth,
f we were making a game with new
factions can be combined, and at this
I mechanics in the fantasy realm, I would point historical fact is allowed to fall by the
be much more worried,” says
wayside. Gudmundur says that for
Gudmundur Kristjánsson, former deck-building “we opted for better
project lead at Eve Online developer CCP. “There gameplay than accuracy, because you get
the competition is so big, there are so many strong so many possibilities”. Kards allows
titles that are already out there.” Germany to fight alongside Britain against
a united USA/Soviet front. In these
Gudmundur left CCP in 2015 to found new situations, one nation will take the lead,
studio 1939 Games alongside his brother, with its ally contributing 12 out of a deck’s
former CCP CEO Ivar. Their first game is 40 cards. The game’s most recent
Kards, a WWII-themed collectible card expansion introduced France and Italy as
game which entered Early Access in April supporting factions, which only able to
2019, and is set for a full release in bolster the forces of a major nation.
early 2020. “It’s pretty traditional in FIRST It’s not just national identity that
many ways,” Gudmundur tells me. LOOK sets these factions apart – Kards’
“But then we added quite a lot of artwork has real-world precedent.
innovations that tailor to our Iconic propaganda posters like ‘We
inspiration of the Second World War, and Can Do It’ and ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’
strategy and board games.” are often used to portray spell-like Order
The biggest of those inspirations is the cards, but the studio has also licensed a
Frontline. In order to attack the enemy number of images from classic model
base, you need to first gain control of the companies like Matchbox and Airfix. “We
battlefield, moving infantry or tank units embrace the differences,” Gudmundur
forward to fight directly against your tells me. “You have Japanese poster art
opponent. Longer-range units can deal which is completely different from the US
damage from further back, but are sitting posters. We like to highlight that. It’s so
ducks if they’re caught in close-quarters important in a CCG. It’s just sets of
combat. A mana-like system called numbers – the artwork needs to bring it
Kredits dictates which cards you can play alive, to tell a story.”
on a given turn, but more powerful units It’s been a tricky time for CCGs. The
will also sap your resources when moving genre boomed after Hearthstone’s launch
or attacking in an attempt to emulate in 2014, but now shows signs of slowing
WWII’s all-important supply chains. down. But Ivar says he’s not worried, “A lot
Each of Kards’ factions is based on one of the players playing CCGs, they want to
of the war’s five major powers, and try something new. They’ve been playing
Gudmundur says that the developers fantasy games for decades, and they
really like having a different setting. But
we’re also introducing war and strategy
“THE ARTWORK NEEDS gamers to the genre, and they’re finding
TO BRING IT ALIVE, TO that card games can be pretty cool. We’re
seeing a lot of people enjoying card games
TELL A STORY” for the first time in their lives.”
Alistair Jones

FEBRUARY 2020 31