Sanctum

Sanctum is a 1998 online collectible card game and turn-based strategy title developed and published by Digital Addiction. Players assume the role of a mage aligned with one of twelve Houses, each specializing in two of six opposing mana types: Order vs. Strife, Clarity vs. Mystery, and Will vs. World. Matches unfold on a hex-grid battlefield where both players summon minions, capture resource-generating towns, and cast spells drawn from a custom-built deck. The goal is to breach the opponent's Sanctum or force a concession. Games typically last 15–25 minutes and emphasize careful planning over speed, with no real-time elements beyond the turn-based structure. The client was free to download with a starter pack of 60 cards; additional booster packs (15 cards each) could be purchased through a secure online store for $9.99 per set of five. There was no single-player mode or AI opponent, Sanctum was exclusively a live online experience, hosted on Digital Addiction's servers. The service launched in June 1998 and required a Windows 95/98 PC with a 90 MHz Pentium, 16 MB RAM, SVGA graphics, and DirectX 5.0. The game's servers were eventually shut down in the early 2000s, leaving no official way to play. Despite its brief lifespan, Sanctum attracted a dedicated community with its deep tactical interaction, collectible deck-building, and the strategic tension created by random spell draws. Its marriage of card mechanics with positional strategy made it a distinctive entry in the late-1990s online gaming scene.