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Asunder
Dreams Are Made Of StarsSummaryRulebookGallerySample CardsPrint ItBuyLicenseHow It Was CreatedEpic SoundtracksFluonsHistory
Dreams Are Made Of Stars
The dawn of intergalactic travel is so close that its electric body galvanizes the minds of thousands of scientists and millions of wannabe colonists. Quantum engineering, 3D printing and artificial intelligence are pervasive parts of science, intertwined with every aspect of daily life. Everybody has access to them, everybody uses them. The graviton is tamed and has sent the solar system abuzz, teeming with ships, robots and people. But the dark side of humanity is showing its claws. The human civilization has been polarized by the people who want to acquire and maintain their power over the masses. The humans of this world are in conflict. One man has breached the very wheelwork of Nature and found a way to go anywhere in an instant, jumping through space as if walking through open doors between worlds. Shadowy figures are trying to find this man and obtain control over the greatest achievement of mankind: the obliteration of any barriers of space. It is your destiny to intervene and set mankind on its path to the future you wish for. Join your forces with others like you, breathe life into the world, take part in events happening in the solar system and beyond, and bring triumph or ruin to a world which finds itself in the agony of childhood. No human has ever been closer to the future of this world. Reach up and embrace your destiny, for you have the power to bring change!
Summary
The presented game is a preview of version 2, but the linked rulebook and cards are still for version 1.5, which is different. Asunder is a competitive, fast paced card game for 2 or 3 players, with a science fiction exploration theme, and atmospheric artwork and lore. Typical duration (when the rules are known): 45 minutes. Minimum player age: 12. Core card pack with 200 cards, playable out of the box. To start the game, shuffle the cards. Each player draws 7 cards. The progression of a game is made of consecutive adventures, with each adventure made of consecutive and alternating turns played by each player. Each adventure is always followed by a new adventure or by the game's end. During a turn, the current player may execute various actions, while all the other players may not execute any action. The current player may deploy (= play from hand) 1 card, but its ability may allow for more cards to be deployed. Deploying multiple cards during a turn, and executing their abilities, is called a combo. Combos with 10 cards are not rare, and even with more than 20 cards have been seen. The goal is to deploy as much total valor as possible in order to become the lead (= the player whose endurance is the highest) and finish a journey first. When an adventure ends, each player may finish a journey, but the lead may finish a journey first. Then, each player may level up his / her portal and flow. Everything builds toward the finale. The lead from the end of the finale (= when the destiny has no more cards to draw from) is awarded the title of Pathfinder. The rules create a balanced gameplay, but also create the potential for decisions which can easily switch the balance. There is just enough pressure for the players to feel that they might lose at any moment, but without making a casual player feel like it's impossible to be the equal of an advanced player. The gameplay is about adaptation to the environment, and about twists in what the players thought was their win. The charm of the gameplay, and its appeal to advanced players, comes from the diversity of the rules, and from the combos which emerge fluidly. Mechanics:
Rulebook
The presented game is a preview of version 2, but the linked rulebook and cards are still for version 1.5, which is different. Here are the rules in PDF format. Here are the rules in LibreOffice format. This is for anyone who wants to edit the rulebook.
Gallery
In version 2 of the game, the artwork of the cards will be generated with AI. The visual style is a work in progress, using Midjourney's reference style feature. To produce the visual style of the images, over 900 AI generated images were used as individual reference styles in order to understand the visual styles that they can produce across prompts, in over 60'000 generated images. A custom-built application was used to automatically organize the selected images per reference style, each in its own folder, in order to easily see the result of each reference style. It's difficult to choose a style because most of them are irreproducible across prompts (usually due to the change in scale), and the background usually doesn't fit the desired theme.
Sample Cards
In version 2 of the game, the cards will have AI art. Sample front of cards:
Sample back of cards:
Print It
The presented game is a preview of version 2, but the linked rulebook and cards are still for version 1.5, which is different. If you want to print the cards yourself, download the archive with cards (saved as image files). The simplest way to print the cards is at a photo shop, on 125 * 88 millimeters / 4.9 * 3.5 inches (B7, ISO 216 format) photo paper. The cards are so large because it feels very good to look at the large artwork and read the lore. If the cards were normally sized playing cards, it would feel claustrophobic to look at the artwork and read the lore, but it can be done if you want to reduce the print cost. The texts of the cards can be seen here. You can download all the card artwork, as wallpapers, from here.
Buy
The presented game is a preview of version 2, but the linked rulebook and cards are still for version 1.5, which is different. You can purchase a professionally printed copy from GameCrafter. The price is just the production cost. This print is merely a convenience for people who want to have one, it's a non-profit operation. The cost is significantly higher than if you were to print the cards at your local photo shop because GameCrafter doesn't offer bulk prices when buying one game copy at a time. They do offer bulk prices when buying multiple game copies at a time, and the price can get reduced to half for many copies. Advantages of the GameCrafter cards: they are also printed on the back, the handling and shuffling are much better due to the card stiffness and rounded corners. The card size is 136 * 86 millimeters / 5.4 * 3.4 inches. The box size is 229 * 156 * 57 mm / 9 * 5 * 2.3 inches.
License
See the rulebook. The following lore is in the public domain:
How It Was Created
The cards were created with Mosaic. The artwork for version 2 was generated with AI. To produce the visual style of the images, over 900 AI generated images were used as individual reference styles in order to understand the visual styles that they can produce across prompts, in over 60'000 generated images. A custom-built application was used to automatically organize the selected images per reference style, each in its own folder, in order to easily see the result of each reference style. For the general design principles, see What is a game?
Epic Soundtracks
For soundtracks to listen to, for an epic experience, see this.
Fluons
You can read here a technical / mathematical explanation of what fluons / portals are.
History
Version 2.0.0This is a preview of the next version. The new rules and cards are finished. The artwork will be generated with AI, but a visual style must first be chosen. 2025 Massively revamped the rules. The main rules, in particular deploying / engaging cards and combos, remain compatible with the previous versions. The terminology has changed, some existing rules have changed, and new rules were added. There are now 200 cards (68 new). The lore has been reworked in order to fit the new exploration theme. Some existing cards are slightly changed. The game now has an exploration theme and works with either 2 or 3 players; it could work with 4 players, but it might be too short. There are no more factions. The artwork is generated with AI. Added the adventure mechanics as consecutive and alternating turns, replacing the plot, obstruct and rounds. Added the portal, cosmos , journey, frontier and discovery mechanics for collecting and reusing the preferred cards (= deck building and level up). Journeys have variable difficulty and unpredictability. Added the "Portal", "Cosmos" and "Frontier" play zones. This is a more complex version of the previous "Recruiting" and "Experience". Added the flow mechanics for hand size variability. Added the "Flow" play zone. Added the traits mechanics, similar with the ability mechanics but whose effects apply continuously under the specified conditions, not when the cards are deployed. Added the "Confluence" play zone, separate for each player. The cards are exhausted here, and the custom cards are put in this play zone at the beginning of a game. Added the "Void" play zone where cards are discarded (= removed from the game). Available abilities: "Astray", "Epic", "Exploration", "Foray", "Maven", "Navigation", "Nimble", "Prophesy", "Prowess", "Replenish", "Scouting", "Sway", "Temerity", "Timewarp". Available traits: "Adversity", "Asunder", "Daring", "Disaster", "Event", "Hero", "Peril", "Vanguard". Renamed the play zone "Timeline" to "Expanse". Renamed the card attribute "Sway" to "Valor". Removed the "Reserve" play zone. Removed unlocked abilities. Removed epic cards.
Version 1.5.12023.09.20 Added epic cards. Added some clarifications.
Version 1.5.02023.09.07 Changed the name of the game from "Gardener of Thoughts" to "Asunder". Significantly revamped the rulebook. The rules remain compatible with previous versions. Made it explicit that several turns make a round, and that players can win rounds. Merged the reserve play zone into the experience play zone; cards may be put in it only with abilities. Merged all the abilities; some were previously listed as custom abilities. Added unlocked abilities, with massive strategy implications for advanced players.
Version 1.0.152014.06.22 Replaced the "Secondary ability" with the "Recruitable" custom rule.
Version 1.0.13Corrected the "Omen" ability rules: "The player may take and look at 4 cards from the top of the destiny, may move 1 of the cards to the ops, and must put the others at the bottom of the destiny, with their faces down, in any order. The card to move to the ops must have either no faction or the player's faction. This ability may be executed only if the player has less than 7 ops cards."
Version 1.0.8Added the "Endurance" custom ability.
Version 1.0.7Corrected a rule in the "Winning turn" section to balance the gameplay: "If the turn loser has no reserve cards, or there are no destiny cards and no ops cards (for both players), the game ends and is won by the turn winner." This correction is useful for when a player has a covert card during the finale, because engaging this card may have (until now) ended the game too abruptly. Added a rule in the "Obstruct" section to balance the advanced gameplay: "If there are no destiny cards, each player must move the experience cards to the ops."
Version 1.0.6Corrected the rules of the "Sabotage" custom ability.
Public Release12.05.2014 Public release of the simplified version of "Gardener of Thoughts" card game version 1.
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