Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Trading Card Game (1998)

About this game

Another Arc system game - basically a lite version of Magic the card game. Compatible with C-23 and Xena: the Warrior Princess. Game is very similar but not identical to Magic. Each player begins with a deck of exactly 40 csrds, you win when your opponent has no cards left to draw. On your turn you play resources, which come in red (direct damage), green (combat) and blue (manipulation). You use those resources to summon creatures or cast spells always with the goal of running your opponent out of cards. On your turn you can do the following in order: Untap your creatures/heroes/resources. Draw a card Play a resource Use resources in play by turning them sideways (tapping) to pay for the cost of a card in your hand to put in play Attack with any heroes you have in play Play then passes to the other player and continues until the winner empties his opponents draw deck. Although compatible with C-23 and Xena, all three sets have different backs which makes mixing less useful than you might hope.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 3.
• Rules load. At 1.2/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.