SpiritWars, an Online Card-and-Board Strategy Hybrid, Is Out

Kellogg Creek Software has formally released SpiritWars, an online-only strategy game that crosses a collectible card game with a board game. The goal is easy to pick up: tear down your opponent’s castle before they tear down yours. The pieces, called Spirits, sit on the board like traditional game pieces but behave like trading cards, with enough variety in units and spells that no two players have to fight the same way. The theme runs deep on old mythology and folklore, dressed up with an art gallery drawn from history’s great painters and some colorful literary flavor besides.

The pitch I like most is the modem angle. SpiritWars is built around low bandwidth requirements, so players on slow connections (and players overseas) get a real game instead of a slideshow. With Internet gaming leaning so hard toward twitch action right now, a thinking game that respects your phone line is a welcome change of pace.