City of Heroes Collectible Card Game
Overview
The City of Heroes Customizable Card Game (COHCCG) was designed by David Williams and produced by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG). There were a total of two sets of cards released for the game. The first, Arena, was released in January, 2006. The second set, Secret Origins, was released in October, 2006. Since then, there have been no releases. An interview with AEG CEO John Zinser notes that the game line was discontinued due to failure to reach critical mass.
Distribution
Both Arena and Secret Origins were released with the traditional 11-card booster packs. However, instead of the traditional 50-60 card starter deck, COHCCG used "Battlepacks," 25-card packs in foil wrap similar to boosters, with a rules sheet, 10 fixed cards (including 1 Hero, 2 starting powers, and other cards useable by the Hero) and 15 randomized common cards which were designed to be useable in most decks. This design was created to allow for random, yet still playable decks, while minimizing cost to consumers. Some promotional and preview cards were available at conventions and as pack-ins with other products (like the City of Heroes Comics). Rare versions of the cards were also available with foil printing.
Arena Retail Packs
The primary packs available at retail for the Arena set included Battle Packs and Booster Packs.
- Battle Packs consisted of 25 cards -- 11 fixed cards, 13 mixed cards, and 1 rare card.
- Booster Packs consisted of 11 cards -- 7 common, 3 uncommon, and 1 rare.
- Battle Pack Boxes contained 22 Battle Packs
- Booster Pack Boxes contained 24 Booster Packs
- Battle Box Starter Kit contained 4 Battle Packs, 4 Booster Packs, and 3 copies of the "Provoke" promo card. The box doubles as a 1000-card storage box.
Secret Origins Retail Packs
The primary packs available at retail for the Secret Origins set included Battle Packs and Booster Packs.
- Battle Packs consisted of 25 cards -- 11 fixed cards, 13 mixed cards, and 1 rare card.
- Booster Packs consisted of 11 cards -- 7 common, 3 uncommon, and 1 rare.
- Battle Pack Boxes contained 16 Battle Packs
- Booster Pack Boxes contained 24 Booster Packs
Gameplay
COHCCG was designed to be a quick game. Rather than using a turn structure where each player takes multiple actions in a row, the game uses an alternating action structure. This leads to faster and more interactive games.
Each player is represented by a Hero card, which begins in play along with 2 starting powers. As their action, a player has many choices, including:
- Play a card, either:
- a Sidekick
- a Power that can be used by the Hero or a Sidekick
- an Enhancement on a Power already in play
- an Edge card with the keyword Action
- Activate a Power already in play
- Move the Hero or a Sidekick
- Search your draw deck for a Sidekick
- Recharge your Powers
- Play a Mission card
- Use the Defeat text on a mission to complete it
- Draw 2 cards
Unless otherwise specified by the cards played, play continues until only one Hero remains, who is declared the winner.
(Please see the Official Rules Sheet for more details.)
Building Your Own Hero
In addition to the 33 Heroes available in Arena and the 22 Heroes available in Secret Origins, players can create their own hero, using "Paragon" Hero cards. These cards allow a player to create new combinations of powers that are not available on existing Hero cards. Players can either play solely with the Paragon Hero cards available in the Arena set, or go online to access the HeroBuilder which allows players to create Hero cards in the same template as the already available Heroes, including a picture uploaded by the player.
Unofficial Expansion
With the official game discontinued, two players, who go by 'nlesgold' and 'Landar', took it upon themselves to create cards for the remaining City of Heroes powers (excluding any powersets added or changed after Issue 11), in an unofficial expansion called "City of Heroes: The Hamidon." There are two ways to access the files, a set of web-accessible text files and a zip file of those same text files.
See Also
Links
- City of Heroes CCG Official Website includes Rules Sheet and Hero Builder
- Hero vs Villain includes Deckbuilder, Card Lists and Card Spoilers
- Alderac Forum post announcing Unofficial Expansion (login required)