Card Wars

Card Wars is a small turn-based tactics game that started as a paper game in a middle-school classroom. Two knights face each other across a 9x5 board split by a river. Each turn you do one thing: move, attack, use a card, or build something. Last knight standing wins.

Cards, not decks. Every match deals each player 6 random cards from a pool of 33: swords, bows, shields, and items. Weapons and shields equip for free, so you can switch between a sword and a bow mid-fight. Items are one-shots: a Lighter that sets your next hit ablaze, a Grappling Hook that drags the enemy to you, Caltrops only you can see, a Phoenix Feather that brings you back once.

Build the battlefield. Watchtowers extend your range, a Pontoon Bridge opens a new river crossing, and Cannons, Mortars and a Ballista can be fired by whoever stands on them, including your opponent.

Play it your way.

- Hotseat for two on one screen, with an optional hidden-hands mode that hides the other player's cards between turns

- Three AI difficulties: the Hard AI looks two full rounds ahead

- Danger zone overlay shows every cell the enemy could hit next turn

- Optional turn timer, turn limit, and sudden death from round 25 so nobody can turtle forever

- Every card is shown big at the start of the match, so you can actually read what you drew

Rules are one screen long (How to Play in the menu). Matches take 5 to 10 minutes.

Made by Khan Studios. Feedback and card ideas are welcome in the comments.