Join in and celebrate with us the fantastic year we had with KARDS in 2019! Enjoy daily gifts, raffles, giveaways and special offers in the shop!
Holidays have arrived early in KARDS! From December 20th to January 2nd, we have a good number of special things with something for everyone! Read ahead and check for yourself.
Ho! Ho! Ho! - Share the Holiday Spirit
To celebrate the holidays, we have special offers for 7 packs, 15 packs, 40 packs, and 60 packs in the KARDS Store waiting for you! This is valid for both classic and Allegiance packs. Dig in!
10 % additional discount
Special "Ho! Ho! Ho!" emote
1 free draft ticket with all 15 packs
2 free draft tickets with all 40 packs
3 free draft tickets with all 60 packs
The emote "Ho! Ho! Ho!" is the perfect opportunity to share your merry mood with your opponent during a heated battle!
These offers including the unique emote are available only between December 20th and January 2nd (midnight to midnight UTC)!
Daily RAFFLE for card packs
As a special bonus, we raffle out every day a nice chunk of card packs!
Everyone who is playing KARDS (i.e. has connected to the KARDS server) enters automatically a raffle. At the end of the day (UTC), we randomly pick 10 players. Those lucky players will get 3 packs of cards each, except for one super-lucky who gets 12 packs!
During the Christmas days (25th, 26th) and New Year's (31st and 1st), the raffle prizes are boosted to 10 packs and 50 packs respectively.
We will give away a total of 1260 packs!
But wait! There is MORE...
Additionally to all these goodies, you can revel in daily giveaways on the KARDS Social Media channels (plus selected partners from the community)!
The giveaway codes can be used by everyone once and are valid for a specific day only. Each day starts on 00;00;01 UTC and ends at 23;59;59 UTC. If you miss to redeem the daily code in time, it becomes invalid. Make sure that you redeem the codes right away!
You can collect gold, resources, a draft ticket and even a Allegiance card pack over the holidays. Keep your eyes open for daily updates.
The first code for December 20 is here:
The code for December 21 is here:
Thecode for December 22 is here:
The code for December 23 is here:
The code for December 24 is here:
The second code for December 25 is here:
The code for December 26 is here:
The code for December 27 is here:
The code for December 28 is here:
The code for December 29 is here:
The code for December 30 is here:
The code for December 31 is here:
Happy New Year! Make sure to review ALL PREVIOUS codes so far. Maybe you can get some extra ... The code for January 1 is this:
The final code in the holiday giveaway series valid on January 2:
Today, December 17th, marks another huge step for KARDS. We have released the first version of our Early-Access localization project; you can enjoy our wonderful WWII Card Game in seven different languages now!
This initial step of our localization project sees the arrival of the following six languages:
Click the cogwheel in the top-right corner of your screen to open the menu.
Click on the new LANGUAGE button in the menu
Select the language you want to see in the drop-down menu
Click ACCEPT to switch to the new language.
To switch back to English, simply do the same with English (EN) as the new language.
The localization project so far
We have been busy with the game localization for a while now, the actual work has started several months ago. Now, we are excited and happy to open this project for public testing and broad feedback.
What is translated so far?
We translate card names including names of units, orders, and countermeasures
UI elements are translated including buttons and help texts
The tutorial is translated
Ranks and Achievements are translated
Having the names of cards translated means that you have to search for the translated term in the collection view, not the English original term!
What is not translated so far?
Some history texts are not available or not translated
We plan to add these missing translations as soon as possible.
Let’s have a quick look back on how the localization project has progressed so far before we look ahead.
Initial Review
During the past weeks, we have received assistance from selected, very dedicated multi-lingual players that assisted us in doing an initial review of the localization. The focus was twofold with this initial review and tried to answer the following questions: Does the language match the KARDS theme of WW2 and strategy? Are there any factual mistakes in the card translation?
Let’s give the following players a round of applause for their help in this large project:
Zaabluc (Polish language)
Isenberg (French language)
Vimesey (Russian language)
Y-crad (Russian language)
[V_M]_MorS_{Ldr} (Russian language)
Fenrir (Simplified Chinese)
Any errors or mistakes that are still with the translation are on us, 1939 Games, and not caused by any volunteers or volunteer work.
Choosing the right mood and style of the language is a difficult task and can be influenced by personal preference. There exist objective criteria for selecting the correct translation, for example, choosing the right military terms (e.g. Ambush, Smokescreen). However, in such a complex and large project as translating KARDS, these criteria are a bare minimum only and not enough for a successful translation.
Community feedback is important and together with you, we have come a long way already.
Now, we have decided to open the localization project for comments and share it with a larger audience - with you! Please keep in mind, however, that we are still in Early Access.
Help us help you: Feedback required!
If you are a native speaker or fluent in one of the newly added languages, we invite you to share your feedback with us!
We welcome your feedback! You decide if and how much you want to assist here. All of the below is welcome, some of it takes only a few seconds, other feedback up to several minutes.
General feedback like a rating between 0 and 10.
Additional feedback about specific elements (e.g. cards and UI).
Detailed feedback, for example, errors on specific cards.
We are excited to see how you like the translation so far and are looking forward to your feedback!
Next steps
While we are looking forward to your feedback, we are also working on adding the remaining translations (e.g. some historical texts are missing) and fixing the bugs (e.g. text in rare cases not fitting on the card).
As localization is an ongoing project, we won’t reach an official “done” state. However, we aim to complete the first step of localization by end of January.
Allegiance, the enormous first KARDS expansion, introduces 150 additional cards along with the two new ally nations of France and Italy.
The additional allies add new flavors, enable interesting new battlefield tactics and significantly increase the strategic depth of the game. Numerous balance updates and bug fixes round up this completely free expansion.
Completely for free, Allegiance was published on December 10 and is an automatic update for all KARDS players.
A new era for KARDS
With the arrival of Allegiance on December 10, KARDS entered a completely new era.
These are the highlights of Allegiance:
Two new nations become playable as ally nations: France and Italy
150 new cards in total with 22 for each of the existing five nations
Elite cards can no longer be used for ally nations
3 new core abilities: Resistance, Mobilize and Alpine
26 completely new achievements and tweaks to existing achievements
Balance updates for eleven existing cards
Draft matches include now France and Italy as ally nations, and yield expansion card pack as reward until the end of this month
Join the friendly community and KARDS developers on Discord.
Two new Nations
With new abilities and keywords, the new ally nations let you explore and develop completely new strategies!
The French cards span the entire war effort with units from before the Fall of France through to the Free French Forces. With a strong Resistance theme, the French cards bring a new mechanic designed to disrupt enemy play and to disrupt your opponent’s hand.
The Italian forces are more aggressive as they are designed to seize the initiative by taking the frontline and overwhelming the enemy. Italian units benefit from operating together as they give buffs when played in unison.
Expanding player choice and versatility, Alliance introduced new abilities to KARDS closely tied to the new ally nations. The new abilities in Allegiance are called Mobilize, Alpine and Resistance.
Alliance also introduces new mechanics related to choice, the power of choice in playing a card and in drawing cards and selecting the right tool for the task.
Alongside the two new nations, the existing five nations receive 22 new cards each as reinforcements as well. These cards bolster current strategies and enable you to explore fresh directions with each nation.
Part of Allegiance is also a balance pass on eleven existing cards.
To celebrate the arrival of our latest KARDS reinforcements, we have added 26 new achievements! Prove that you are a worthy leader, can you claim all the new achievements?
We have also added new daily missions for new players!
Allegiance, the enormous first KARDS expansion, introduces 150 additional cards along with the two new ally nations of France and Italy. Numerous balance updates and bug fixes round up this completely free expansion.
Allegiance is an automatic update for all KARDS players.
Published on December 10.
Summary of changes
Two new nations become playable as ally nations: France and Italy
150 new cards in total with 22 for each of the existing five nations
Elite cards can no longer be used for ally nations
3 new core abilities: Resistance, Mobilize and Alpine
26 completely new achievements and tweaks to existing achievements
Balance updates for eleven existing cards
Draft matches include now France and Italy as ally nations, and yield expansion card pack as reward until the end of this month.
Further details
We have three detailed dev blogs with great information about the changes in Allegiance, please have a look at them for all the details:
France and Italy are now available as ally nations to support the existing five nations.
Three major abilities have been introduced:
Mobilize: A unit with Mobilize gets +1+1 at the start of their turn and loses Mobilize when damaged but not the accrued buff
Resistance: Resistance cards always go to the enemy and clutter up their hand, potentially completely bogging down your enemy!
Alpine: When an Alpine unit is deployed or added it gets +1+1 for each other Alpine unit you control.
26 new Achievements are now available, mainly in conjunction with the new nations.
Draft matches include now France and Italy as ally nations and yield expansion card pack as reward until end of this month
New daily missions for new players have been added.
General Changes
Elite card can now only be used for the main nation of a deck and no longer for the ally nation as well.
Overhaul of the KARDS in-game Shop for easier navigation and the arrival of Allegiance expansion packs. You now can purchase expansion card packs from the shop!
The deck viewer UI has been updated
The game history sidebar has been improved. Cards that trigger at the start or the end of a turn are now shown as entries. You also see which cards were triggering damage (e.g. No. 10 Commando).
Card Changes
CRUSADER Mk II: Removed Smokescreen
SEXTON: Removed Smokescreen.
PANZER III-L: Changed the buff conditions from “Has +1 attack if you control infantry or air unit. Has +3 attack if you control both” to “Has +1 attack for each non-tank unit type you control”.
YAK 3: Increased deployment cost from 3K to 4K. Increased damage from 2 to 3. Added: Costs 1 less to deploy if you control a French unit.
Ki-27 NATE: Increased operation cost from 1K to 2K. Increased damage from 2 to 3. Removed Ambush ability.
J1N1 GEKKO: Reduced deployment cost from 6K to 5K.
PRECISION BOMBING: Increased cost from 3K to 4K.
RESCUE MISSION: Increased cost from 3K to 4K.
COMBINED ARMS: Combined Arms take into consideration now tank types as well increasing the maximum buff you can get by +1+1.
WE CAN DO IT: Upon play, you no longer receive an extra Kredit slot. The remaining benefits are unchanged.
SEABORNE INVASION: The two random US cards you will receive in the frontline when playing Seaborne Invasion are now limited to those that cost 3 Kredits.
Bug fixes
When cards were spawned into an empty deck, the visual of the empty deck were not updated and showed the deck to be still empty. Fixed.
When AWOKEN GIANT destroyed a unit with more than 2 defense, you didn’t receive a card draw. Fixed.
P-40 N-5 didn’t trigger before enemy units were deployed. Fixed.
When 756th REGIMENT and SHTURMOVIKk attacked targets with active Ambush and got destroyed, they still dealt excess damage to the enemy HQ. Fixed.
ENEMY SPOTTED didn’t get triggered when the enemy took over the frontline by spawning cards there (e.g. with SEABORNE INVASION). Fixed.
NAVAL BOMBARDMENT didn’t work correctly against the AI. Fixed.
In the pack opening scene, the Resources counter didn’t update even though you received the correct amount of Resources. Fixed.
Some card backs and cards where missing shadows when opening packs. Fixed.
As always, please let us know what you think about this update and please report bugs either on Discord or directly via a bug report ticket.
The first-ever KARDS expansion "Allegiance" is ready for release on December 10. With Allegiance, we will see fundamental changes and exciting new opportunities coming to KARDS. Fantastic times!
So far, we have revealed that new nations and new mechanics will arrive with Allegiance (check out the previous two blogs here and here). In this blog, we are going to cover several other changes and adjustments coming with Allegiance.
Before we go into the details, here is a quick refresher about Allegiance:
Two new nations become playable as ally nations: France and Italy
150 new cards in total with 22 for each of the the existing five nations
Elite cards can no longer be used for ally nations
3 new core abilities: Resistance, Mobilize and Alpine
New in this blog: 26 completely new achievements
New in this blog: Balance updates for eleven existing cards
New in this blog: Draft matches include now France and Italy as ally nations and yield expansion card pack as reward until end of this month
Let's dig into the details!
Allegiance Lands
The new expansion has 150 brand new cards that are only available by opening Allegiance packs or National packs. As bonus, if you are a new player, the starter decks have been adjusted a little and have a few Allegiance cards each.
Draft will include choices from both sets. The new ally nations - France and Italy - are available as options, but only as allies. To compensate for their limited card pool the rules for picking a card for them is a bit less restrictive than for the other nations, so you can expect a bit more variance in rarity picks when it comes to these two ally nations.
To celebrate Allegiance, the guaranteed fixed you get as a reward for drafting will be an Allegiance pack until the end of December! After that, the pack will be of the base set again. Other rewards remain the same.
We’ve also updated the store to allow for purchase of Allegiance packs, because that’s how we can buy our kids new shoes.
Achievements Unlocked
We are adding 26 new achievements to the game.
In addition to achievements based around playing some of the new cards (for instance playing French cards or Alpine units), we have also added achievements for ranking up and for drafting. Plus, we finally have the Countermeasure achievement. There are also two new hidden achievements to discover.
Because of the new achievements we have reconstructed the achievement rewards a bit to stretch them over more achievements. We also used this opportunity to make the rewards more consistent based on levels, which will result in some early achievement having better rewards, at the expense of some of the later ones. This, alongside the new achievements, should help brand new players gain cards faster.
Card Balances
Finally, we are making slight adjustments to 11 base set cards. Some of these changes we’ve been sitting on for awhile but didn’t want to deploy because of the World Championship, others are linked to the localization project, and some we just wanted to fiddle with. Without further ado, let’s get to them.
The Crusader is a mainstay of many British decks, often paired with Commandos. Having two key units both having Smokescreen puts too much reliance on enemy having removal orders as an answer, so we decided to remove Smokescreen from one of them. The Crusader seemed a better fit for a change, and the higher defense can actually be relevant, for instance against Gunship Mission and Eagle Claws. Plus it aligns it better with other British tanks, which tend to have higher defense than attack.
This change was actually prompted by localization requirements, but we actually find it hits the mark balance wise as well. Swapping Smokescreen for 1 defense weakens the unit a little bit, but the unit was a tad too powerful beforehand, so we’re very happy with this adjustment.
Another victim of the too-many-words committee, but here we felt we had wriggle room for an improvement. The new version not only reads better and fits better with similar effects on other cards, but also is slightly better in most cases. So a win-win on all fronts.
This one is a result of the thematic-matter committee poking its nose in. As can be seen on the picture this particular version is being flown by a French pilot, a member of the Group the Chasse Normandie 3, a regiment of French pilots that flew for the Soviets. To reflect that partnership we are altering the Yak 3 slightly, making it particularly powerful when allied with France.
Yet another victim of wordiness, the Ambush ability had to go. Increasing the attack to 3 is particularly powerful for this unit because you want to trade it with another unit to trigger the destruction effect and now there are many more trading partners to choose from. To reflect this, we increased the op cost to 2, as air units with attack of 3 with an op cost of only 1 is too powerful.
This seems like an innocent change. It’s not like increasing the damage of your orders has been lighting up the big stage recently, right? Right? Guys?
Now that winter is finally here, the bad-weather committee informed us that, due to heavy blizzards, achieving precision with your bombing was getting progressively harder. So we promptly changed this card, end of story.
This was a tough choice to make, because Rescue Mission is such a fun card. But sometimes tough love is what the baby needs and this card was becoming too ubiquitous in durdly decks all over. And we are not fond of cards being ubiquitous because it’s such a difficult word to spell.
Data indicates that players are not interested in combining their arms to get the most out of Combined Arms, so we are improving Combined Arms to allow for stronger combination of arms. Simple, right?
They said we couldn’t do it, but we didn’t listen to the naysayers and went ahead and did it. There are a bit too many ramp cards in the environment and more coming in the expansion. Changing this card was best because it already does a bit too much and we want pure ramp cards to shine more.
The variance on this card was already a tad high and with numerous new US infantry units arriving with the expansion, we felt the variance needed to be reigned in a bit. There is still a fair amount of randomness in the card - you can get a 2/2 or a 5/5 for instance, but it is getting more reliable.
That’s it for the base set changes. Note that as there are a few elite cards changing, if you feel this negatively affects your recent crafting decisions, feel free to contact us and we’ll work something out.
Otherwise, we are getting super stoked for delivering Allegiance. Keep your eyes out for the patch notes that details all the features and fixes found in the update.
In a dramatic and nerve-wracking World Championship finals on December 8, Gearbot won the best-of-five series against GKZhukov with 3-2.
Over the past three months, more than 1,000 players from around the globe have battled to reach the finals for a chance to compete for the title of the first KARDS World Champion and for part of the $6,500 prize pool.
The four best players were ready to battle it out at the KARDS Headquarters in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The Four Champions
Before we go into the details, let's have a look at our four champions qualified for the semi-finals!
Have a look at each of the info sheets.
First: Honourable Mentions
This final weekend of the World Championship kicked off with the semi-finals and the battle for 3rd place.
GKZhukov and Gearbot won the semi-final matches relatively clearly against Drogear and Fenrir with 3-0 and 3-1.
Fenrir won the match for the 3rd place against Drogear and scored a solid 3-1 victory.
Reaching the semi-finals of the KARDS World Championship against almost 1000 contestants is a major achievement. Congratulations to Fenrir and Drogear!
The Final Battle
The final battle between Gearbot and GKZhukov couldn't have been more dramatic. The pressure on both players was immense.
While Gearbot was considered by the community to be a tad bit stronger, GKZhukov certainly had shown a convincing and strong presence in the semifinals.
The five final matches showed a tug of war between Gearbot's unconventional and strong LAST RITES + M6A1 SEIRAN combo featuring a more defensive style throughout the opening and middle game.
While Gearbot started strong and scored an early victory 1-0, GKZhukov was able to claw back and evened out the score to 1-1.
The following matches were testimonies for the great skills of both players. With excellent tactical maneuvers, great strategic planning and cunning mind-games, it was an exciting display of what the best KARDS players are capable of and a joy to watch! KARDS is indeed quite easy to learn, but you can also go extremely deep. The battle waged forth and back until the score was 2-2.
The final match had to decide!
This final match was a mini-drama in itself, it was unclear till the end who was going to win. After 11:34 minutes in that final match and 16 turns, Gearbot won the final match and the title of KARDS World Champion 2019.
Fair sportsmanship all around as GKZhukov immediately shook hands and congratulated Gearbot for winning the finals and for becoming the first KARDS World Champion.
The Results
The full and final results of the KARDS World Championship Finals:
1st place and KARDS World Champion 2019: Gearbot 2nd place: GKZhukov 3rd place: Fenrir 4th place: Drogear
Match for the 1st place: Gearbot vs GKZhukov 3-2 Match for the 3d place: Fenrir vs Drogear 3-1
Semifinals 1: GKZhukov vs Drogear 3-0 Semifinals 2: Gearbot vs Fenrir 3-1
The recordings of the semifinals and final are available on KARDS YouTube.
Subscribe to KARDS YouTube as we will upload the individual tournament matches and footage in the following days.
Over the past three months, more than 1,000 players from all around the globe have battled to reach the Finals of the KARDS World Championship 2019 for a chance to compete for part of the $6,500 prize pool.
Now, the four best players, our KARDS Champions, are ready for the last battle!
Live Stream
Reserve some time this weekend! Tune in to the KARDS Twitch channel and follow the action: Saturday, December 7, at 8:00 p.m. UTC / 3:00 p.m. ET Saturday, December 8, at 7:00 p.m. UTC / 2:00 p.m. ET
Watch live and see which one of our four champions will outmaneuver and outgun their opponents to be crowned the world’s top KARDS player 2019.
The live steam will also reveal additional Allegiance expansion cards, have discussions with the KARDS team, and of course commentary and match analysis. Don't miss it!
The Finalists
Over the past three months and via three different stages, each increasingly more challenging, the Finalists have proven themselves. Have a look at our champions (alphabetically ordered)!
DROGEAR Drogear started playing KARDS in the Early Beta and has been with us ever since. He is a dedicated KARDS veteran with more than 1300 hours of playtime and serious knowledge. Drogear is from Sweden.
The recorded best position for Drogear is 4th place in Season 7.
Drogear's favorite nation in KARDS is British.
Fenrir Fenrir started playing KARDS in June this year and has rapidly gained knowledge and skills. With close to 400 hours of playtime on record so far, he is an adversary not to be taken lightly! While Fenrir is a Chinese citizen, currently living in the US.
The recorded best position for Fenrir is a 17th place in Season 8.
Fenrir's favorite nation in KARDS is Japan.
Gearbot Gearbot started playing KARDS in Early Beta and has one of the oldest accounts in KARDS, only surpassed by few. With almost 500 hours of playtime, he has spent his time to efficiently improve his skills and KARDS knowledge. Similar to Drogear, Gearbot is also from Sweden.
The recorded best position for Gearbot is a 1st place in Season 7.
Gearbot's favorite nation in KARDS is Japan.
GKZhukov GKZhukov surprisingly started playing KARDS almost on the same day as Fenrir (June 2019) but has a less playtime. With a bit more than 250 hours of playtime, he has impressively climbed the ranks and was able to reach top positions in a surprisingly short amount of time. GKZhukov is from the UK.
The recorded best position for GKZhukov is a 9th place in Season 8.
GKZhukov's favorite nation in KARDS is Britain.
Our four champions are ready for the final challenge now! Who will have the final upper hand in the end? The veterans with the most playtime and experience, those that have proven to climb the ranks fast in a short amount of time?
Who are your favorites?
The Final Battles
The format of the Finals is similar to the previous Championship tournament:
A best-of-five series with pre-locked decks
The winner of the semi-finals on Saturday will proceed to the Finals on Sunday. The losers will compete for the third place.
The decklist will be published shortly after the selection period has ended on Friday, Dec 6, at 23: 59: 59 UTC.
Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, for the latest news! Especially keep an eye on the #KWC19 hashtag.
General KARDS Championship Info
if you would like to have a refresher or if you are just looking for further info about the KARDS Championship, look no further! We have all the info listed below.