Enter The Sandman, an exclusive new card from the Altered TCG and a tribute to Neil Gaiman

By James On Jun 21, 2024

Altered is the new trading card game from the start Equinox Studio which made nearly $7 million on Kickstarter earlier this year. With global distribution handled by board and card game giant Asmodee, French-made TCG is ready to take on Magic: the meeting, Disney Lorcana, Flesh & BloodAnd Star Wars: Unlimited with a whole range of unique features. Now, ahead of its retail release in the United States on September 13, we get our first look at the game’s fantastical factions.

Today, Polygon can exclusively reveal The Sandman, a powerful character from the game Lyra faction.

Image: Equinox Studio

An enhanced version of The Sandman, also a character and an artist. This costs 1 less mana (2 total) if you cast it from the reserve. It can also give Asleep, but may also receive a maximum of two boosts.

In Alteredplayers explore a fantastical post-apocalyptic environment in which the world outside the city of Asgartha has been completely transformed. It’s up to players to conduct successful expeditions and become the first player at the table to reunite the protagonist of their deck and a lovable sidekick.

“It’s a chaotic place with a lot of fleeting ideas,” he says Altered narrative designer Yoshi Mimura. “The (player character) is an Alterer, (and) the Alterer’s power is to shape the world around them so that they can stabilize the regions where they meet to help (make) the world a more sustainable and livable place ).

It’s a game about creation, not destruction, and Mimura says The Sandman has an important role to play.

“Lyra tends to focus on imagination, and stories, and legends, and everything that is transmitted orally,” Mimura said. “The Sandman is a kind of creator of worlds, and a person who can shape dreams. They can inspire people, and by doing that we can try to make the world a better place. It is also a character closely associated with a personal hero of mine, Neil Gaiman.”

When players draw cards from a blind pack Altered, they have the chance to use the regular or the rarer versions of The Sandman. The rare version above, which stays true to the Lyra faction, costs one less to play from a player’s reserve And allows an optional boost of two to be placed on top. That makes it cheaper to play, And more powerful in the field.

Both versions of the card also allow a player to apply a status called Asleep to another character on the table. According to one of the game’s designers, François Jourdain, the Asleep status can be used both defensively and offensively. The easiest way to use it is to put an opponent’s character to sleep, removing him from the ensuing conflict and allowing you to make progress against your opponent. But you can also use it Your own Characters: Asleep can prevent them from participating in a battle they are sure to lose, or players can proactively put characters to sleep to advance them cheaper or together with more powerful allies in subsequent rounds. It’s a debuff, a feint, and an attack strategy all in one.

A third, even rarer version of the card applies the same powers, but to a different faction. This one, called Ordis, opens up even more and different strategic possibilities. Mimura was quick to add that other versions of The Sandman will likely be released in the future.

“When you materialize a character from the imagination,” Mimura said, “you can feed it with your own vision of what the character is. (…) So maybe in the future (…) he will have a completely different face, or maybe it will be women. We try to keep all options open to show a lot of diversity.”