Nov 29, 2023

Ylands - rihapat

A ho ho hoy Ylanders!

A cup of hot chocolate next to you, a fluffy blanket around your shoulders, a soothing crackling fireplace in front of you and then... *SPLAT* a snowball hits you in the face! Well, not you, but your Ylands character!

Welcome to YLANDS WINTER FEST!

We hope that you are ready to spend this winter in the world of Ylands, exploring the lands and searching for 6 new Christmas themed animals and 10 different kinds of collectible toys, completing 3 new achievements, and throwing snowballs left and right!

So what have we prepared for you in this time-limited winter event?

New Christmas Animals

Six kinds of our animals have put on Christmas bling and can now be seen roaming around their respective regions. These can be tamed using a special Christmas bait which is found as a reward in random encounters. If you want to befriend these special animals and keep them even after the event ends, hurry up and go tame them now!

Toy Collectibles

Christmas came early and there are many wonderful gifts hidden within random encounters! Can you collect all 10 kinds of toys and earn a special new achievement? You will of course get to keep all the toys you collect even after the Winter Fest event is over. And then you can spread the joy and give them as gifts to your friends in the game!

Snowball fights

Who threw that snowball? Who was it? *brushes snow from face* We're just trying to peacefully explain all that's new and available during the Winter Fest and you go throwing snowballs at us?! Well, we can't really blame you, because throwing snowballs you discover in random encounters is sooooo much fun! We will even organize a snowball fight with the developers on December 21 at 5pm CET!

3 New Achievements

Tame all 6 Christmas animals, collect all 10 kinds of Christmas toys and throw at least 30 snowballs at your friends or NPCs - that's the way to obtain these special achievements, which will be available only during the Winter Fest event. Don't forget to show them off, it's no small feat to gather all three! And if you complete all of them, run to our Discord and let us know! The first three people to do so will win a free pet!

Time-limited holiday pet

Is Socky the Shark the cutest pet to ever come to Ylands for an exchange program? Definitely. Is the Santa's elf who went to the ocean instead of Socky struggling in the depths of the water? Who knows 😅. In any case, grab Socky from the shop before his exchange program ends!

All the new things that Winter Fest is bringing are just tools for you to shape your own holiday adventure and we love to see how you use them, so please join our Discord and let us know! Share screenshots, find friends to throw snowballs at, show off your toy collectibles and much much more!

Winter Adventure Awaits, Ylanders!

Stay Classy (and warm) this winter season!

Nov 29, 2023

Boar's Story

Sphere 3 - Evanesca

Winter is coming!

Cold winds have blown over the Sphere, they are driving up heavy leaden clouds and bringing frost that penetrates to the bones. Rare snow falls from the sky - it melts before reaching the ground, but soon the frost will get stronger and the snow will fall in full force. The holiday of the Snowy Twist is just around the corner, but the middle of winter is still far away, but for now...
In the meantime, the frost is getting stronger, and wild boars are emerging from their secluded rookeries. These ferocious beasts roam the Valley of Cold in search of food and attack anyone who dares to invade their domain. Don't underestimate these animals!

They are the embodiment of courage and fury, they are anger itself, ready to fall on those who dare to cross the borders of their lands! Any hunter knows that in the snowy forest there is no animal more dangerous than a wild boar! It’s not for nothing that they have long been attacked with special spears, and nothing else, because neither a leopard, nor a tiger, nor even a bear awakening in the middle of winter poses such a danger as a young hog defending its land!

This is the lot of youth - to rush into battle against anyone who dares to cross the line. But among the boars there are also wise animals. Those who have lived enough years in the world know that neither demon nor man pose a danger to their existence. The giants are busy with their wars, but the boars know the truth. They know that behind the snowstorm and the darkness of the winter night there is a real danger. Darkness, death and something much worse than death. And they, the boars, were the first to stand in the way of this darkness!

Adult boars, which have grown long tusks and stiff bristles that protect better than any armor, sometimes go out into the world and look for a warrior. It doesn't matter if it's human or demon, because it doesn't matter to them. They are ready to faithfully serve anyone who can put armor and a saddle on them and remain alive. And they will fight together with their warrior to the last drop of blood. Such boars are called Cleavers, and they always fight in the vanguard during the winter cold.

So arm yourself with courage and go to the snowy forests of the Valley of Cold to find and tame the faithful Cleaver. You will not find a truer friend or a fiercer warrior than this wild boar.
Grip your trusty ax tighter, pull your bristly helmet deeper, and go there, into the very center of winter, into the thick of the forest, into the camp of frosty monsters, to find and curb this beast. Cleaver. It will be hard. It will be hard. But you won't regret your choice, that's for sure.

Nov 29, 2023

Winter War Expansion - Patch Notes

KARDS - The WW2 Card Game - Elin

❄ Winter is here! ❄

We are thrilled to bring you the Winter War expansion, an update packed full to the brim with exciting new additions to KARDS.

The Winter War expansion has arrived with 86 new cards, 2 new keywords, and Finland as a new ally nation!
The brand new crate system is here!
We welcome the new KARDS battle pass!
We introduce a new language to KARDS - Japanese has entered Beta!
A new low-end renderer mode has arrived to improve performance on lower performance PCs!
As always, we have a bunch of bug fixes and general improvements!

Read on to learn more about all the exciting things that have arrived with the November patch!

Winter War

The Winter War expansion has arrived in KARDS!

Finland takes center stage in the Winter War expansion, and joins the battlefield as a new ally nation. Explore tenacious Finnish units, unique Finnish tactics, and use everything in your arsenal to gain the upper hand against formidable foes.

Arriving with the expansion are 86 new cards, including 20 cards for the new Finnish ally nation, 12 new cards for each of the main nations, and 2 cards for each of the existing ally nations in KARDS. We also welcome two new keywords: Suppress and Salvage.

Salvage: When a card with salvage destroys a unit on your turn, add a 1/1 copy to your hand with a maximum cost of 3.
Suppress: Suppressed units lose all their keywords and abilities and have their attack and defense reset. Units lose their Suppressed status if they return to hand.

Read more about the Winter War expansion in our release dev blog: Winter Is Here: Winter War Has Arrived in KARDS!

New Crate

The new and revamped crate is here!

The new crate can be opened every week and offers tiered rewards. Level up your crate by playing the game and earn bigger and more exciting rewards at higher crate tiers!

Progress towards the next crate tier by:

Gaining a national level
Opening card packs
Recycling cards you own that are in the Reserve pool
Gaining surplus cards (duplicates)

The new crate has five tiers, granting the following rewards:

Tier 1: 1 standard wildcard and 30 gold
Tier 2: 2 standard wildcards, 2 random standard gold cards, and 80 gold
Tier 3: 1 limited wildcard, 2 standard wildcards, 2 random limited gold cards, and 150 gold
Tier 4: 1 special wildcard, 1 limited wildcard, 1 random special gold card, 2 random limited gold cards, and 250 gold
Tier 5: 1 elite wildcard, 1 special wildcard, 1 limited wildcard, 2 random special gold cards, and 350 gold

As we transition to the new crate system, we bid farewell to the old crate system and resolve all existing crate progress. Any crates, full or partial, will be opened for you and the contents automatically added to your account. Any full crates will be completely resolved, and incomplete crates will be resolved based on a point system, giving players a portion of crate rewards based on how high the crate completion percentage is.

Read more about the new crate in our dev blog: The New and Improved Crate.

KARDS Battle Pass

The Battle Pass has arrived in KARDS and it’s packed with value!

The battle pass is a monthly pass that lasts from the first day of a month to the last day of that month. The battle pass comes with a range of perks that enhance your KARDS experience, from faster progression to a range of exclusive cosmetic items.

Purchase the Battle Pass to enjoy a number of benefits:

30% XP boost: Enjoy 30% faster national progression, which you can combine with a medkit for a massive 130% XP boost!
Extra daily mission: Gain an extra mission every day for more fun and the opportunity to earn more gold every day!
Extra free daily card in the shop: Double the free cards every day, claimable from the in-game shop!
Crate tier level up: Your weekly crates throughout the month will automatically be one tier higher when opened (if not already max tier).
Exclusive alternative art: Get a brand new alternative art, exclusive (not available in the shop) for at least a year from the pass.
Exclusive board item: Get a brand new board item, exclusive (not available in the shop) for at least a year from the pass.
Exclusive extra style emote: Get a brand new special emote that pops out with extra style, exclusive (not available in the shop) for at least a year from the pass.
Exclusive card back: Get a brand new card back, exclusive (not available in the shop) for at least a year from the pass.

Purchase the battle pass for 11.99 USD to enjoy all the contents described above. The battle pass is sure to provide immense value at any time of the month, and especially for those that purchase the pass earlier in the month. Any cosmetics are added to your account immediately upon purchase. The XP boost, extra daily mission and extra free daily card can be collected throughout the period that the monthly battle pass lasts for - from the day that you purchase the pass and until the final day of that month.

Read more about the battle pass in our dev blog: The KARDS Battle Pass.

Japanese Language in Beta

We’re thrilled to bring KARDS to more players in different languages. The latest language we are introducing to KARDS is Japanese!

Change your language from the Options menu in-game to enjoy KARDS in Japanese. Note that Japanese localization is still in Beta and will continue to be improved in the coming months.

Low-end Renderer Mode

KARDS now has a brand new low-end renderer mode. The low-end renderer provides a significant boost to performance on lower-end machines, in particular those with integrated Intel GPUs.

On Steam, if you have an Intel GPU known to have issues with KARDS, your game will automatically launch using the low-end renderer. To manually opt into or out of the low-end renderer option, navigate to KARDS in your Steam library, right-click the item and select Properties. Under General, observe the "Launch Options" section and use the drop-down menu to select either "Play KARDS - The WWII Card Game" to play without the low-end renderer, or "Play using low-end renderer" to play using the low-end renderer.

Starter Campaign UI Overhaul

Starter campaigns for both Germany and the USA have received an overhaul, with various tweaks and polishes to improve the experience for new users both on PC and mobile devices. These tweaks are mainly to the UI in the starter campaigns, with adjustments to text windows, help arrows, and some music tweaks.

Bug Fixes

Battle

COMMITTED CREW did not correctly decrease deployment cost of SPITFIRE units in hand to 0 if BLOCKADE or RAID orders were used by the opponent. Fixed.
After reconnection in battle, player and opponent hands could show up in an incorrect location. Fixed.
The background color of the cost to activate a countermeasure was displayed as yellow after a countermeasure was not triggered. Fixed.
When a known card from Intel was played from the opponent’s hand, the Intel icon under the opponent’s hand did not correctly disappear. Fixed.
When a player had intel on cards in the opponent’s hand and the opponent did not draw on the next turn (for example due to WOLFPACK being played), the intel icon would disappear until the player’s next turn. Fixed.
When a card with a destruction effect was pincered with T-28 and an AoE order was used to destroy the pincered card, the next card drawn was stuck on the center of the screen. Fixed.
Sometimes, a card with a target selection ability could overlap other cards on the board. Fixed.

Collection

French accented letters did not work in the search bar in the Collection screen. Fixed.
Russian lowercase letters did not work in the search bar in the Collection screen. Fixed.
Collection search did not correctly identify all keywords in non-English languages. Fixed.
When a tab was expanded in the Collection Overview, the window did not correctly scroll down to the bottom of an expanded tab. Fixed.
In some languages, some of the text in the Collection interface went beyond intended areas. Fixed.
New cards claimed for free from the Shop were not correctly marked as New in the Collection menu. Fixed.

Decks

Fixed issue where deleting all decks could disable the Battle button until client restart, even after new decks were created.
In the deck builder, when adding cards by tapping the counter on the right-hand side of the deck builder interface, an image of the added card would be stuck overlaying the screen. Fixed.
In the deck builder, after right clicking several times in short succession, scrolling on the card selection would be disabled. Fixed.
After creating a deck with more than 40 cards and removing the excess cards, the deck could display the “Please Delete Deck” banner. Fixed.
Sometimes, when adding both Gold and non-Gold versions of a card to a deck and removing one of them, the incorrect version would be displayed in the card selection. Fixed.

Draft

Draft search screen sometimes showed art not matching draft nation. Fixed.
Draft rewards were sometimes not displayed correctly. Fixed.

Missions

In some cases, a player could receive a duplicate of a mission they already had which caused the mission not to appear correctly on their mission board. Fixed.

National Progression

The “Soviet Deck” image was shown on level 1-7 rewards in the “Rewards” menu after switching between nations. Fixed.
Reward popup on the game's main screen national progression preview would flicker and change. Fixed.
After reaching level 350, the national progression progress line overlapped the final reward. Fixed.
Sometimes, the exclamation point on the Rewards button did not correctly disappear after collecting all available rewards from national progression. Fixed.

Sound

Some effect sounds were still on when the Effect volume slider was set to 0. Fixed.

Starter Campaigns

In certain starter campaign missions, some tooltips were displayed in incorrect places. Fixed.
After ending a tutorial battle, tutorial pop-ups were sometimes not correctly removed. Fixed.
Sometimes players would not receive HQs as intended from starter campaigns. Fixed.

User Interface

Fixed various issues with text not fitting correctly into designated areas, when creating a KARDS account, on battle searching screen, in battle, in encyclopedia, and more.
In Ultrawide resolution, on the Japanese MANILA battlefield, the dragonfly was visible hiding in the corner of the screen. Fixed.
Some board items would overlap the edges of cards on the board. Fixed.
Streamer Mode option was shown in Settings during battle. Fixed.
Some long emote phrases did not fit correctly on the screen. Fixed.
When challenging a user to battle that was in the Campaigns menu, the correct UI was missing after accepting the challenge. Fixed.
On mobile devices, on the main screen of the game, when selecting a different carousel banner, the banner dots would flash. Fixed.
After clicking the “Home” and “Profile” buttons several times in short succession, they would appear as if they were pressed in. Fixed.
Some tooltips were not correctly displayed on mobile devices. Fixed.
After sending a message to a friend in the friends list, and then deleting the friend from the list before they read the message, they would receive an empty notification. Fixed.
Carousel transitions were sometimes not smooth and would link to the incorrect page. Fixed.
Parts of the Shop appeared in English in non-English language versions of the game. Fixed.

That’s all for now. We thank all of our players and the KARDS Community in general for reporting bugs and discussing the game balance. If you want to get involved, join us on Discord!

Nov 29, 2023

Winter is Here: Winter War Has Arrived in KARDS!

KARDS - The WW2 Card Game - Elin

Winter War, the sixth major expansion for KARDS, is now live!

Winter is Here

The Winter War expansion brings 86 new cards, 2 new keywords, and a brand new ally nation: Finland!

In addition to 20 new cards for our newest ally nation, Finland, we also welcome 12 new cards for each of the main nations and 2 new cards for each of the existing ally nations.

The two new keywords, Salvage and Suppress, bring a new layer of depth to battlefield tactics. Use your opponent's strength against them with the Salvage mechanic, and neutralize threats on the board by Suppressing them.

Salvage: When a card with salvage destroys a unit on your turn, add a 1/1 copy to your hand with a maximum cost of 3.
Suppress: Suppressed units lose all their keywords and abilities and have their attack and defense reset. Units lose their Suppressed status if they return to hand.

Dive into the Winter War with a range of new tactics and strategies. Check out our Winter War Summary Reveal Page for a full list of all the cards introduced in the Winter War expansion, or head straight into your collection in-game, filter by the new Winter War set, and make sure you’ve ticked the “Show Unowned” box for a detailed look at all the new cards introduced in this set!

https://youtu.be/t6zK_AQDdCk

Winter Reserves

Alongside the Winter War expansion, 102 cards in the active card pool also move into the Reserve pool, and 20 of the cards in the Reserve pool return to active duty.

A summary of what the Reserve pool entails:

Regular rotation. The Reserve pool is a standard rotation of cards that occurs alongside every major expansion, every 6 months or so.
New cards are safe. New cards are safe from the Reserve pool for at least 1.5 years after release, and the rotated cards are hand-picked each time.
Keep using reserved cards. Reserved cards stay in your collection and you can use them in AI training matches, challenge matches with friends, and the Classic PvP game mode.
Stop dropping in packs. Cards in the Reserve pool stop dropping in Core packs 4 weeks before they move into the Reserve pool.
Create reserved cards. You can still create Reserved cards with wildcards, but will receive a warning prompt as you do so.
Filter reserved cards in your Collection. Reserved cards are only visible in your collection by ticking the Reserved Cards box at the bottom of your Filters menu in your Collection.
Recycle reserved cards. Recycle cards you own that are in the Reserve pool to add to the progress of your new crate.

The Reserve pool of cards allows us to provide a fresh game experience while maintaining a balanced and dynamic experience for all our players. We also avoid issues such as power creep and inaccessibility for newer players, which can develop into significant problems without a card rotation.

Returning Cards

The 20 cards returning from the Reserve pool are:

WESTERN ALLIES
2nd ALPINI REGIMENT
OBICE DA 75/13
PANZERZUG 61 BP42
HMS ILLUSTRIOUS
HIGH ALTITUDE BOMBING
6th AIRBORNE
HOME DEFENSE
141. GEBIRGSJAGER
MIKAWA REGIMENT
WORKERS UNITE!
STUG IV
SECOND CHANCE
35th MOUNTAIN RIFLES
WAR BONDS
845th RIFLES
FIAT C.R. 42
MI5
UNCLE SAM
BURNING SUN

Note that one of these cards, WORKERS UNITE!, returns in an altered form. Note that sometimes cards may return from the Reserve pool in altered form to better fit a nation’s theme, or the theme of the card concept itself.

Moving to the Reserve Pool

The 102 cards moving from the active card pool and to the Reserve pool are:

48e RÉGIMENT D'INFANTERIE
B-26 GROUPE BRETAGNE
BLOCH MB.152
MEDITERRANEAN RAID
PACT OF STEEL
FAST HEINZ
ME 410 HORNISSE
LURKING DANGER
MONTY
MANCHESTER IA
1st AIRLANDING BRIGADE
PATTON
STRATEGIC PLANNING
SEABORNE INVASION
ZHUKOV
RED BANNER
SIBERIAN TRANSFER
ADMIRAL YAMAMOTO
Ki-83
Ki-46 DINAH III
WOLFPACK
MARDER III H
ARADO AR 196
WIRBELWIND
No 3 COMMANDO
RADAR ALERT
FOG OF WAR
DAYLIGHT BOMBING
ALLIED RESEARCH EFFORT
M10 WOLVERINE
109th COMBAT ENGINEERS
TBF-1 AVENGER
MUD
35th RIFLE REGIMENT
222nd GUARD RIFLES
MEN OF STEEL
41st BICYCLE REGIMENT
FOR THE EMPEROR
SNEAK ATTACK
AICHI D3A-1
PANZER III-G
LIGHTNING STRIKE
HUMMEL
3. FALLSCHIRMJAGER
REINFORCEMENTS
JUNKERS JU 88A
AERIAL RECONNAISANCE
ARGYLLSHIRE HIGHLANDERS
PRECISION BOMBING
ROYAL WEST KENTS
LEND LEASE
3.7 ANTI-AIR GUN
CARRIER COVER
2/5 MARINES
SNIPED
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
A-36 APACHE
M4A3R3 ZIPPO
1271st RIFLES
42nd RIFLES
MIG-3
LESSER OF TWO EVILS
6th NAVAL BRIGADE
MOBILE DEFENSE
FOR GLORY
Ki-21 SALLY
A5M4 CLAUDE
COSTLY VICTORY
61st INFANTRY REGIMENT
TYPE 94 TK
1. INFANTRY REGIMENT
RETALIATION
33. PANZERGRENADIER
PAK 38
25. PANZERGRENADIER
ENTRAPMENT
WELSH GUARDS
DOWDING SYSTEM
MATILDA Mk II
SUPPLY DROP
INTERCEPTION
CRITICAL DAMAGE
BALUCH REGIMENT
OVERCAST
OVERWHELMING FORCE
3rd MARINE REGIMENT
F4F-4 WILDCAT
SPECIAL DELIVERY
MAGIC
BARRAGE
VETERAN PILOTS
URAL FACTORIES
RECKLESS ASSAULT
10th GUARDS REGIMENT
89th INFANTRY REGIMENT
128th RIFLES
IMPERIAL DECREE
GUNBOAT RAID
LONG RANGE RECON
TARGET ACQUIRED
MODEL 25
IMPERIAL STRENGTH

The Winter War release includes not only the new winter expansion, but also several other additions such as the new crate mechanic, KARDS battle pass, and more. Head on over to the Patch Notes for a full breakdown of everything arriving with this update.

We hope you enjoy the Winter War expansion. Join us on Discord and let us know what you think about the new expansion!

See you on the battlefield!

Nov 29, 2023

Blood and fire: Wrath

Rose and Locket - Mistalleks

Hey, travelers!

We continue our Underwest Travel Guide. Here the Lands of Death are divided by Seven Sins each with its own patrimony. Each patrimony is an embodiment of the Sin which controls it. Emotions, colors, sounds — all this matters in the world of Underwest.

Today we'll be visiting the first domain Rose encountered on her journey. The land of horror, hopelessness and despair the blood-red Sin of Wrath, crimson in hue stands supreme.

Spectral ghost town: Wrath and its domain

The dominion of Wrath is an old abandoned town inspired by the classic Wild West settlements of the American frontier. But the music no longer plays at the saloon, and the clock on the town tower has stopped forever at noon.

It is a place of teeming rage where red dominates the color palette. All shades — from rust to blood — embody aggression, violence and cruelty.

Wrath flits through the mass graves of the Underworld, gathering The Lost Ones. Who knows what Wrath does with these frail souls gone astray?

Endless firefight

Wrath is a classic Western villain. The thirst for blood defines his entire life (or afterlife?). Wrath is one of those who always shoots first, and asks questions later.

The embodiment of pure primordial rage, he is brutal and completely devoid of composure. His Ego blinds him, making him irrational.

He wields flames, scorching red, just like him. He's cathartic about setting his enemies on fire — ending their existence in one of the most painful ways by using fireballs like bullets.

Red. Blood red

Color in the world of Underwest is a key element that not only conveys the emotion of each of the Sins, but also contributes heavily to the atmosphere of the Underworld

The colors of the Wrath lands are red. This color dominates not only the location and visual design, but also all of Wrath’s dialogues. All his words seem to ooze with rage, unable to contain the hatred for all things living.

“I can feel your blood boiling, Rose”

The lands of the Underwest are fraught with many dangers. And meeting each Sin is a test on the verge of life and death.

Get ready, our journey through the cruel and dark lands of the Underwest is just beginning! What is the next sin that will intercept Rose from saving her daughter? In the next devlog we will talk more about another Sin! What will Sloth be like in Rose history?

Until next time, Travelers!

Follow us on social media & Discord to stay up-to-date on the latest updates and news!