This card game involves players taking on the role of forest spirits to battle a destructive industrial force. Players collect powerful cards, build combo-strategies, shift locations, and aim to earn Acorns while preserving their ecosystem from pollution and greed.
by JD FitzRoy
In the development of this card game, I decided the primary focus for the “battle” would be players assisting in a shared fight and/or competing against a mighty industrial machine. The evil force wants to rip the forest apart and consume it for resources. And so, the player battle is a personal crusade to protect your life, the source of your energy and, your home.
In this, cards containing key characters could be paired like spirits with their magical weapons to fight against the invading force.
This is my initial outline to establish the game’s beating heart:
From the depths of the ageless forest, there resides an ancient and forgotten temple. The temple’s human builders mysteriously vanished aeons ago. Roots of thousand-year-old oak trees have invaded the remaining rocks, extracting magical spirits that now fill the hollows, the creeks and dark undergrowth. These spirits look after the forest, they become the trees, they emerge through the fungus, they are the leaves, they nurture growth and keep the ecosystem in balance. But a malevolent force is invading, seeking to rip the forest apart for profit.
You take on the role of a character within this forest. A spirit animal or sprite tasked with preserving the ecosystem and protecting your home. As the darkness spreads, you build your capabilities, build your deck and destroy the invasion. You can assist with other spirits or you can battle against them to build/bolster your own capabilities.
- The ancient temple represents the long-gone humans that lived in harmony with the forest. This gave rise to spirits that could manifest and utilise elements of the nature around them to directly fight against invasion and destruction.
- Victory points are Acorns (the symbols of new growth and new life). Your objective is to gain the most Acorns to win the game and be the best protector of the forest.
- Weapons are spiritual and magical abilities – these are theme-appropriate.
- Objects are mushrooms, magic staffs, objects from the ancient temple ruins or natural elements carved and shaped by the residents.
- The dark malevolent enemy is represented by capitalism, the force for greed and destruction of the natural world in order to seek profit.
- The weapons of the enemy are dark aspects of its tools and byproducts: Pollution, rampant infection, destruction of diversity, machines of destruction and heavy industry. As well as themes of invasion, ownership, privatisation, colonialism.
Images from the production of “The Mists of Ermwood” outline.
Terminology Key
- OBJECT | Cards to obtain that contain a weapon or power ability
- PLANTING | The action of placing a card to one side to gain subsequent benefits
- SHIFT | Moving a card from one saved location to another
- ENTANGLEMENT | Cards within the play area that provide battles or abilities
- INFECTION | Cards picked up by players that dilute their capabilities
- DECK | Shuffled stack of face-down cards to be acquired during gameplay
- SACRIFICE | To trash a card from the game
- RUNES | Mini tiles added to a placed card in order to boost its capabilities
- PLACEMENT | The action of placing a card into the main WOODLAND
- THE VERGE | Cards placed in the main area ready to be SHIFTED in a later action
- SEEDS | The matching hands too which each player begins the game
- ENEMY / POLLUTION | Cards that are revealed in the WOODLAND area that need to be eradicated by players
- PLACED | Placing a card from a player’s hand onto any location permitted
- MIGHT | The ability of any card to give strength against an ENEMY or POLLUTION
- LINK | Join two cards and PLACE them together
- ACORN | Victory points
- WOODLAND | the main play area for all actions inc. THE VERGE
Using the terminology above, what I settled upon was this outline of gameplay basics:
(Note: Capitalised words are core components of gameplay (see Terminology above))
- Collect new, more powerful cards and synergise abilities and gameplay focus.
- Collect OBJECT cards to bolster those cards with combo actions.
- PLANTING cards for ongoing effect benefits and later SHIFT into an ENTANGLEMENT.
- Try to remove collected INFECTION cards that dilute your DECK.
- SACRIFICE (trash) older cards to maintain focus and strengthen your DECK.
- Collect RUNES from cards and PLACEMENT on THE VERGE cards in preparation for SHIFTING to an ENTANGLEMENT.
- SEED powerful cards to one side in order to pair them with special cards, to gain ongoing effect and SHIFT later in the game.
- Use gained RUNES to bolster your PLACED card MIGHT, reduce ENEMY/POLLUTION capabilities.
- Win ENTANGLEMENTS with ENEMIES and POLLUTION before they spread within the WOODLAND and destroy the ecosystem.
- Gained cards with increasing abilities to SHIFT, add, LINK cards or change the dynamics of other cards PLACED at the WOODLAND area.
- Players compete against each other for better cards and in some ENTANGLEMENTS whilst in others, they collaborate (most effectively in POLLUTION) to win ACORN before the forest is destroyed!
Recap and Summary:
After the initial concept emerged from the modification of an already existing card game, a theme and setting was settled upon and research done to provide a solid underpinning for theme, visual style and lore.
Now an outline is emerging that will combine all aspects into a full document of terminology, gameplay mechanics, components, set-up and endgame criteria.
This is perhaps the most tricky aspect and will be handled in my next article.
© J.D. FitzRoy 2024-2026
Leave a Reply