Arena of The Gods!

Welcome to the Arena!

What is Arena of the Gods?

Arena of the Gods is a strategic Card Game based on ancient mythology, where the emphasis is on complex combat encounters, and accessible deck building opportunities. 

By backing this product, you will receive the Arena of the Gods: Starter Box Set, which contains 9 fully built decks, that are ready to play right out of the box. With a total of more than 450 cards and 160+ unique designs, you can begin building your perfect deck straight away. 

All 9 God cards have their own unique abilities that will change the way you play each card, and pilot your deck. Every God is part of 1 of the 3 pantheons, Egyptian, Greek, and Norse which the majority of cards will also be part of. While cards that share the same pantheon as your chosen God may get some inherent bonuses, combining cards of different pantheons and finding new synergies may lead to untold potential. 

By giving all players access to every card from the start, the deck building process is one of skill and self expression, more so than who has the most expensive cards. Card rarity has actually been removed all together, so that every card in Arena of the Gods can be designed with playability as the top priority, instead of just as pack fillers.
 

Meet the Gods:

The main aspect of the game that sets it apart from other TCGs, are the Gods.
 
The game begins by selecting a God, which will represent you the player, and change how your deck is played. Each God card has written on it the starting resources you will begin the game with, as well as two unique abilities that you have access to at all times. The combination of these abilities is what sets each God apart from each other, and is the foundation that the rest of your deck will build around.

Zeus:

Zeus is the king of the Greek gods, and requires less Favor when calling upon Greek Units to fight for him. He is also pleased when his Units perform heroic deeds, and grants Favor to those who are brave enough to slay their foes in combat.
The Zeus starter deck has a midrange, tempo oriented playstyle, that has the ability to gain extra resources through combat, and play cards at a reduced cost.

Athena:

Athena is a master of strategy, and is able to use her knowledge of combat to keep Greek Soldiers at the advantage, so that they receive less damage while on the offensive. With each new victory, she is able to capitalize, and return a Combat Evocation back to her hand.
 
The Athena starter deck focuses on a fast, beat-down style of play, revolving around getting as many of your units out as quickly as you can.

Horus:

Horus is the very embodiment of kings, and each Pharaoh was said to be his physical representation on Earth. As such, each game starts with selecting a pharaoh of his choice to add to your opening hand. The Pharaohs who serve Horus might be gone, but not forgotten, as each one can be played again from the Afterlife with enough Favor. The Heroic pharaohs who fight for Horus are also granted enhanced durability and offensive capabilities.
 
The Horus starter deck looks to support it's powerful Hero cards through stat bonuses, and by continuously bringing them back from death.

Sekhmet:

Sekhmet has the dual roles of fire and healing, destruction and restoration. This provides her with the ability to either heal her friends and allies, or to burn her foes down to ash. As a master of medicine though, anytime a Unit under her care received treatment, the potency of that healing is strengthened.
The Sekhmet deck is a control heavy deck, that is able to sustain it's self with powerful healing abilities, and mitigate threats with it's strong removal options.

Odin:

Odin is the supreme All-Father of the Norse gods, and inspires his Norse troops to fight even harder once they've been bloodied. His wisdom is the ways of battle, also grants the power to play his Combat Evocations for a reduced cost.
The Odin deck is a combat heavy deck, that is able to gain surprise advantages during battles through the use of special Combat Evocation cards.

Frigg:

Frigg will stop at nothing to protect the ones she cares about, and ensures that her chosen Norse Unit is able to survive at least one fatal blow each turn. Her ability of foresight also allows her to see further into your deck by drawing you one extra card, at the cost of discarding one you already have.
The Frigg deck is a control focused late game deck, that can prevent incoming damage, and get long term value out of it's cards.

Isis:

Isis is the undisputed master of magic. As she weaves her powerful web of magic, each new Evocation played builds upon the last, and costs less Favor for every one that came before it. When she has finished casting her spells, she is able to summon a champion to fight for her, based on how many Evocations were played.
The Isis deck is a spell slinging power house, that aims to systematically remove all of the opponents threats, before bursting them down all at once.

Ares:

Ares loves nothing more than war and combat, and the bloodshed that comes along side it. Every time a Unit falls in combat, friend or foe, Ares grants his attacking Greeks newfound strength. Each turn Ares may choose a Warriors fighting under his banner, and fill them with the rage needed to launch a second attack. 
As the father of the Amazons, the Ares deck is a all about playing strong Greek Warrior Units that work together to crush their enemies.

Loki:

Loki is the father of many a monster, and as such, grants the ability to summon his Mythical children for less Favor. Being the trickster that he is, enemies attacking his children will have to second guess on who they are fighting, with his ability to redirect attacks each turn.

The Loki deck highlights the powerful Mythical Units unique to the Norse pantheon, and plays a tight line of trying to take just enough damage to take advantage of Loki's cost reduction, while not going low enough to be taken out.

Card Types:

Units: These are the Cards that represent your army. Units are the only type of card that can declare attacks. They have a Power stat indicated by the number on the bottom left of the card, and a Health stat, shown on the bottom right. Units are divided into 3 main Classes; Mortal, Mythical, and Heroic. There are also a  number of Sub-classes, such as Soldier, Warrior, Beast, Ruler, etc...
Both Classes and Sub-classes have no inherit properties to them, but many of the card interactions will specify different classes in their text. Evocations: These Cards represent the powerful abilities and tactics provided by your God. Evocation Cards primarily use Favor to play, and are also split into 3 main Classes; Binding, Ceremonial, and Combat.

Binding: These Cards are played directly onto a player, and provide either a Blessing or a Curse to them. These Cards will stick around on the Battleground until they have been actively removed by another Card or Ability. Ceremonial: These Cards can only be played on the active player's turn, and cannot be played during a Battle. Once played, they have an ability that will resolve, and then the Card will be sent to the Afterlife. Combat: These Cards can be played on any Player's turn, but only during a Battle. They have effects that can change the course of a Battle, and are sent to the Afterlife once they have finished resolving.Buildings: Cards that represent your infrastructure. Markets and Temples are Buildings, and will be the main way for gaining resources.Supplies: These Cards represent the items used by your Gods to strengthen those who serve them. Supply Cards stay on the Battleground, and have passive or active effects that can be used.

What make Arena of the Gods different from other card games?

Aside form the unique God cards that change how each deck is played, there are a few big game mechanics that make Arena of the Gods stand out from every other card game.

There are two resources to manage, Gold and Favor, which accumulate at the start of each one of your turns, and accumulate until spent. Knowing when to spend your resources and when to save them, will be key in paving your path to victory. The action never stalls, thanks to the innovative draw mechanic, that has you always drawing back up to 5 cards in hand at the start of every turn. This means that games never come down to no cards in hand "top-deck" wars, where players have no agency in what they play each turn. This combined with the ability to discard any amount of cards from your hand at the end of each turn, leads to intense discission making on which cards are worth holding on too, and which ones can be parted with for the opportunity at an extra draw next turn.

Direct combat decisions allow for the player to chose the target of each attack they make, but defending players also have an important choice to make in when to use their once per turn "redirect" ability, to take an attack directly to their God, instead of letting it hit their Unit. Knowing when to let an attack go through, and when to take the damage directly, will be vital in dictating battle in your favor. 

Damage dealt to Units is permanent, so even mighty monsters can be felled by a simple soldier, given enough time and support. 

My Story:

Hello, my name is Tosh Votry and I am the sole creator and developer of the game Arena of the Gods.
Arena of the Gods has been a passion project of mine for a long time, and after many hundreds of hours, I am thrilled to finally present it to the public!

Growing up, I always had a deep love of ancient mythology, and read every book that I could get my hands on. From the trials of Heracles, the magic of Isis, and Loki's many tricks, I've spent my whole life daydreaming about the Gods, Goddesses, and mighty heroes of these epic legends. 

The other constant in my life is that of card games, and deckbuilding games in general. I first learned to play games like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh with my friends from school, and later moved on to games like Magic the Gathering and Hearthstone as I grew older.
These games shaped my love for strategy and deckbuilding, and the only thing I enjoyed more than the hours spent carefully crafting the perfect deck, was to see it all come together in an actual game. 

I also can't understate the social aspect of these games, that have gifted me some of my best memories. I remember countless nights of coming home from school and eagerly waiting for my Dad to get back, just so that we could play a few rounds of Yu-Gi-Oh before dinner. And getting together with a couple good friends to laugh and catch up over a game of Commander, is still to this day one of my favorite ways to spend a day.

Arena of the Gods is the blending of these two things that have meant so much to me my entire life, and getting to watch it grow into something real has already been such a rewarding experience. Getting the chance to introduce these characters and stories to people who may have never heard of them, as well as getting people to have fun playing a deckbuilding game who never would have tried one otherwise, is everything I ever wanted when I began working on this game. 

I wanted each card in this game to tell a story, and bring to life aspects of the character or myth it's based on, so that even after a game is over, players may be inspired to seek out those stories and find out more about the history they came from. 

My hope in running this Kickstarter campaign, is to gather the funds I need in order to produce Arena of the Gods, and get copies out to the people who want it, and continue sharing it with others.  
Thank you for taking the time to look over this project that means so much to me, and I hope that you will consider backing my campaign, and step foot into the Arena!

-Tosh Votry