Redemption (card game)
Redemption is a collectible card game based on the Bible. It involves Biblical :Category:Biblical people|characters, places, objects, and ideas. The object of the game is for the player's Heroes to rescue Lost Souls by defeating an opponent's Evil Characters. The first player to rescue five Lost Souls wins the game. Redemption was first published in July 1995 by Cactus Game Design and its creator, Rob Anderson, continues to develop and produce the game and is the final authority on rulings.
Game play
The object of the game is to rescue five Lost Souls before the opponent. To rescue a Lost Soul, a player must initiate a rescue attempt by placing a Hero into battle. The opponent then places an Evil Character in battle to block the rescue attempt. Based on strength and defense numbers of the characters, players take turns playing Enhancement Cards to make their characters stronger. Eventually, one character wins the battle. If the Evil Character is defeated, the Hero rescues the Lost Soul. In general the game play of Redemption is very different from its counterparts. Unlike popular trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, and, Redemption has no built in cost system. That is, players are not required to meet any prerequisite functions in order to place cards into the field of play. Instead restrictions or penalties are placed on the special abilities of the cards themselves in order to balance game play.Card types
- Character cards represent Biblical people who are trying to save lost souls or those trying to stop lost souls from being saved.
- Enhancements may be used on characters to boost attack strength or defense. They come in two types, good or evil enhancements.
- Dominant cards can be played at any time and take effect instantly. These are the "power cards" of the game, and can often turn the tide of a battle, but the number of these cards in a deck is restricted.
- Site cards typically hold a Lost Soul and only allow "access" to Heroes who are either of a matching brigade, or who use one of their own unoccupied Sites of a matching brigade.
- Fortress cards typically sit in a player's territory and can store other cards, or have some form of protective effect on the player.
- Artifact cards reside in a player's territory, and have a sort of supplemental effect on a player's cards, or on a battle. Typically, only one Artifact can be active during a player's turn, although there are ways to circumvent that restriction.
- Covenant cards are a combination of an Artifact and a good Enhancement, and can be used by the player as either.
- Curse cards are similar to Covenant cards, but instead are a combination of an Artifact and an evil Enhancement.
Card color
Distribution
The first release of Redemption was in 1995 as a set of 2 starter decks and a set of Limited Edition cards, followed by an Unlimited Edition reprinting. In August of 1996, Cactus offered 750 complete sets of all published Redemption cards at about $150 a piece. The game was developed by releasing expansion sets and other starter decks, including, in order of release:| Set Name | Release Date |
| Originals | 1995 |
| 1st Edition Starter Decks * | 1995 |
| The Prophets * | 1996 |
| The Women * | 1997 |
| The Warriors * | 1999 |
| 2nd Edition Starter Decks * | 2000 |
| The Apostles | 2001 |
| The Patriarchs | 2002 |
| The Kings | 2003 |
| 3rd Edition Starter Decks * | 2004 |
| Angel Wars | 2004 |
| 10th Anniversary Starter Decks * | 2005 |
| The Priests | 2006 |
| Faith of Our Fathers | 2007 |
| Rock of Ages | 2008 |
| Thesaurus Ex Preteritus | 2009 |
| The Disciples | 2010 |
| Faith of Our Fathers | 2011 |
| Rock of Ages | 2011 |
| 4th Edition Starter Decks | 2013 |
| Rock of Ages | 2013 |
| The Early Church | 2014 |
| The Persecuted Church | 2015 |
| Cloud of Witnesses | 2016 |
| Revelation of John | 2017 |
| The Fall of Man | 2018 |
| Prophecies of Christ | 2018 |
| Prophecies of Christ 2 | 2019 |
| The Lineage of Christ | 2020 |
- Out of Print Cards
Artwork
Several artists have contributed, including Mike Bennett, Jeff Haynie, Michael Carroll and Mark Poole. Some artwork has been taken from other Christian products and from classical artwork.Former art Director Doug Gray also made many of the images for the cards himself.
History and Popularity
Soon after introduced the idea of a collectible card game, Rob Anderson realized that the Bible would be a "wonderful source for this type of game". Redemption was soon designed and has since grown to be the top selling Christian CCG. Additionally, recent final releases of several long-running trading card games, including Lord of the Rings and Star Trek, makes Redemption the oldest trading card game in consistent production, aside from Magic: The Gathering.Contributing to the continued popularity of the game is the ability - especially earlier on - to easily collect the cards due to the more common distribution and the smaller set size. Also, compared to many of the collectible card games, Redemption has continued to be easier to collect due to the lack of super-rare chase cards and the slower release of sets every 1–2 years.
One unique aspect that sets Redemption apart from other CCGs is that while each deck contains both good characters and evil characters, the game is only won by using good characters. The evil characters do not have a chance to win the game.
Over the years, a rulebook has been developed and gives a reference for understanding the interactions between the card types and the cards. The most up-to-date rulebook is the 10th anniversary rulebook. An exegetical guide is also available for more seasoned players.
Competition
Rob Anderson has maintained that "Redemption Tournaments exist to foster fun and fellowship."Tournaments
The nature of the game allows for and has resulted in a National Tournament structure. Tournament levels range from Local to District to State to Regional to the National tournament. The National tournament is held once a year and is held in a different location each year. For official tournaments, prizes are provided by Cactus Game Design and they generally include Redemption booster packs and Tournament Promotional Cards. Redemption Nationals is open to all player; there are no prerequisites for entrance.
Online Tournaments
Redemption tournaments are also held online through Lackey CCG and once through Redemption Table Simulator is the game utility that allows players of Redemption CCG to play across the Internet or a network as though they were playing across the table. RTS lays everything out in front of you as it would be on a game table. Online tournaments can be found through the Cactus website and function in the same way as face to face tournaments.
Categories of Play
At each tournament, one might play Sealed Deck, Booster Draft, Type 1, or Type 2. These categories have different deck building rules. Also, each category may be divided into two tournaments; a 2-player tournament and a multi-player.
Ranking System
Redemption has also implemented a Redemption National Ranking System allowing players who cannot make it to the National Tournament to be recognized. Points are awarded for placing in each level of tournament.
Reception
In the March 1996 edition of Arcane, Andrew Rilstone gave the game a thumbs down, rating it only 5 out of 10 and saying, "Each card has a relevant quotation on it, and the rules warn us that if the cards ever contradict the Bible, you should stick with the Bible. Er... thanks."In the March 1996 edition of Dragon, Rick Swan wasn't impressed, saying, "Redemption plays like a stripped-down game, too slight to sustain the interest of hard-core card players, but good for beginners."