Swords & Souls

You were so close. Your party was one adventure away from reclaiming the stolen Amulet of Morgoth and returning it to the rightful king of Riverwood. But none of you were prepared for the elder dragon waiting at the end of the dungeon, nor its fiery breath that snuffed out your life.

And now you're stuck in the Underworld: dark, damp, and packed with more ghosts than you've seen in any ancient tomb during your questing days. You're just another one of those ghosts now, and those days are over.

Or are they?

It turns out that Hades, Lord of the Underworld, is bored with his work, and he's offered you and your heroic friends the chance of a lifetime: entertain him by fighting one last epic battle, and you can return to the world of the living. But here's the catch—there's only one ticket back. And you're going to have to fight your friends for it.

For one last time, take up the shield of the valiant Guardian, employ the Assassin's sneak attack, or crack open the Arcanist's dusty book of tricks to prove your worth in free-for-all combat. Earn Hades' favor by inflicting pain and he'll throw some new weapons and spells your way. Only the most aggressive hero will earn passage to the surface and the life they've left behind.

Blood will be shed. Legends will be born. Feelings will be hurt.

What is Swords & Souls?

Swords & Souls is a quick combat card game with deck-building elements for 3-6 players. You and your opponents will take turns drawing and playing attack cards against each other. If your opponent can block or dodge your attack with a card of their own, they're safe... for now.

If not, they'll take damage and you'll earn obols, the silver currency of the dead, which you can use to buy more powerful cards from the arsenal.

Finish an opponent and you'll take a fragment of their soul. But even death is no comfort, as the souls of the defeated quickly rise again to continue the fight. Earn 3 soul fragments to become Hades' chosen champion and return in glory to the life you once lost.

How to Play

Each player begins by choosing one of six heroes, each with their own unique talent and starting deck of 5 cards that represent their core abilities. The Guardian excels at blocking, the Berserker draws extra cards, the Heir has greater access to obols, and so on.

From there, each turn in Swords & Souls follows 3 simple steps:

1. Draw cards from your deck until you have 3 in your hand. If you need to draw more but you've run out of cards, reshuffle your discard pile and keep on going.

2. Play cards from your hand. It's as easy as putting the card on the table, doing what it says, and moving the card to your discard pile.

3. Buy cards from the central arsenal deck by spending the obols you get from playing cards and attacking other players. These cards go into your hand, ready to be used on your next turn.

By playing the right cards in the right order at the right time, your attack cards will disarm and damage other players, turning their heart tokens into obols and soul fragments. And if you lose all of your own hearts, don't worry--you're already dead, so your spirit will respawn with new heart tokens, allowing you to continue the game without missing a beat.

We've also got a prototype of the game up on Tabletop Simulator on Steam!