Arcomage

Overview

Arcomage was introduced in New World Computing's PC RPG Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor. An optional mini-game, found in almost every Inn in the game, the player could take a break from the main game to play the innkeeper at Arcomage in order to win a bit of money. A certain side-quest which points the player towards the deck of Arcomage cards they need in order to play the game will ask them to beat every innkeeper in the world at Arcomage for a reward. The card game was well-received by fans of the series and thus made a return in the game's sequel: Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer. The game was expanded with additional cards.

In 2000, New World Computing decided to release the game as a standalone product. The game could be played with an computer opponent or with another human locally using a LAN or TCP/IP connection.

Rules

The rules of Arcomage are as follows:

• The player begins with a Tower and a Wall of variable length. In the Might and Magic games these sizes were determined by the innkeeper the player was challenging, but in the standalone game the player can change these settings themselves.
• The Wall receives any damage dealt. If the Wall is destroyed, damage is taken by the Tower instead. Some cards will allow the player to damage the Tower directly, though unless this is specified by the card all damage goes to the Wall first. If the Wall takes more damage than it has height remaining, the excess damage moves to the Tower: E.g. A card does six damage to a Wall with a height of four; the Wall disappears and the Tower takes the last two damage.
• If the Tower is destroyed, the game is over. The player that dealt the finishing blow is the victor.
• The player has three resources: Bricks, Gems and Recruits. One or more of these resources are used up every time a card is dealt (with some exceptions).
• Brick cards are Red-colored, and tend to involve reinforcing the Tower and the Wall.
• Gem cards are Blue-colored, and are used for magical spells, which have various effects. They also help boost the Tower.
• Recruit cards are Green-colored, and are used for summoning creatures which do damage to the opponent's Wall and Tower.
• Resources come in every turn from three sources: Quarries (Bricks), Magic (Gems) and Dungeons (Recruits). The player can use cards to increase the number of resources each source provides per turn, and similarly reduce those of their opponent's.
• The player has six cards in-hand, and can choose to play or discard one. Discarding a card should only be done if none of the cards can be played that turn (say, if the player lacks the resources to play any of them). Afterwards, they take another card from the deck and control passes to the opponent.
• If the player manages to accrue a pre-determined number of any one resource, they automatically win the game. This winning number varies by inn just like the initial Tower/Wall size, or can be set by the player in the standalone game.
• If the player builds their Tower to a pre-determined height, they automatically win the game. As with the resource victory and initial Tower/Wall size, this number varies by inn, or can be set by the player in the standalone game.