Zems Digital Card Game Draws From Kickstarter

There are a number of card games out there nowadays, so it can be pretty tough to introduce something new and/or interesting.

Zems , from developer Impulse Limited, hopes that its blend of hex-cell strategy gameplay will be enough to draw people in.

Zems allows each player to construct a deck of cards which translate into different effects on the battlefield. The board itself is constructed of hex-shaped cells, onto which the cards are transformed into actual creatures and weather. There appear to be at least three kinds of cards: Followers, Spells, and Constructs. Followers are the actual units that fight on the battlefield, and can be placed in cells adjacent to the player’s hero character. Spells run the gamut from simply drawing cards to changing the weather. Constructs are akin to buildings, with each Construct carrying a special effect to the terrain it occupies.

The goal of the game is to destroy the enemy’s hero, which is both one of the strongest units players have and their only free unit. Hero units – of which the game will start with four – each have their own special ability that can be used at will, provided the player has enough energy to do so; energy units are necessary to complete in-game actions.

The game is fairly complex, so if it sounds interesting at all, it might be a good idea to check out the game’s Kickstarter page. The developer is seeking $40,000 USD over the next month, and on top of very clear goals for both the game and the campaign, the campaign page details exactly how the money will be spent. Zems is also up on Steam Greenlight. The game will launch on Windows (there’s an Alpha demo on the Kickstarter page), and the developer plans to release it for Mac and Linux PCs, as well.