Window Cats Games

An independent game development group dedicated to family friendly gaming

[alwayshumancomic]

Commission of Penny and Amy from the webcomic Wootlabs which you should totally be reading. 

I hadn’t heard of the comic before being asked to draw these two, so I thought I’d read a few pages to get a feel for the characters, but before long a few pages turned into a few chapters and I’ve now read the entire thing and it’s BRILLIANT <3  It’s a superhero parody of sorts that’s laugh-out-loud funny with spectacular character development and some genuinely heartbreaking moments. Also, lesbians! What more could you possibly want? (Also, that kickstarter I posted a link to a few days ago is set in the same world as Wootlabs which is how I heard about it in the first place.)

[windowcatsgames]

This is absolutely beautiful, thank you!

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: Character Preview "Caretaker"

We wanted to start introducing interested folks to more of our cast than those making brief appearances elsewhere in our posts, so we're going to start doing some mini previews. If the project is successfully funded, you'll be able to see far more in-depth character biographies in the accompanying lore booklet.

I'd like to start with a fellow known as "Caretaker."

Almost nothing is known about Caretaker's private life. His name, age, place of residence, all are unknown.

What is known about Caretaker is that for over 30 years, he has been on the forefront of heroic activity all over the world. Boasting the powers of flight, increased strength, speed, and durability, there is little he cannot accomplish. Unlike some of his contemporaries, however, Caretaker remained steadfastly humble and gracious to both his peers and the civilian populace. As a result, he is considered one of the most respected heroes in the world, and is the direct inspiration for a generation of new do-gooders, including Valkyrie of the group Shield Wall.

"This world belongs to all of us. I am just here to help take care of it."

-Caretaker's first publicized statement, Dec 1982

[windowcatsgames]

In order to celebrate our first week, here's Rusty enjoying a nice, refreshing drink.

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: Day 5

Well, here we are, less than a week in, and it's been a huge adventure so far. I'm very proud to say that we're already 30% funded, and we've received an amazing amount of support so far.

Not to say that it's been all smooth sailing. We had a technical failure a couple of days ago, costing us our primary art machine. Thankfully, we were able to recover relatively quickly, and we're getting back on schedule now.

We have lots and lots planned for the coming days. We've gotten requests to see sample cards and sample gameplay, and we'll be happy to oblige on that front very shortly. For now, I'd like to share a story that helped lead to Heroic Hustle's creation.

Awhile back, I was chatting with a coworker at a previous job. He knew that I was a fan of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic show, and asked my opinion about the card game based on the show.

"I really want a game I can play with my daughter," he said, "but it's a pretty complicated game."

And that of course got me thinking. How many other people found themselves in a similar situation? "I really want a game I can play with... but..." So when we set out to develop Heroic Hustle, we wanted a game that could be enjoyed by all ages. And by all ages, we mean kids and adults alike. Gameplay simple enough to be understood easily, but deep enough to keep you thinking. The core of Heroic Hustle is matching strengths to weaknesses. The depth of Heroic Hustle is learning how abilities interact with one another. And the difficulty is fully adjustable. Set the challenge to what you feel comfortable with.

The other key aspect is, we wanted a cast that was equally accessible. We wanted an equal roster of cool female characters along with males. We wanted people of varied ethnicities and orientations. We wanted people to say "Oh, there's a character I can relate to!" After all, heroes come in all forms.

Please keep watching and supporting us as we march on towards our goal!

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: A brief summary

Greetings, especially if you're someone checking us out from our Kickstarter! I'd like to take a moment to briefly summarize the topics we've already covered in a single post to make it easier to learn about Heroic Hustle.

What is Heroic Hustle?

The Good Guys

Cascade City

The Superheroes

The Heroes

Civilians and Couriers

The Bad Guys

The Supervillains

The Villains

Plot Twists

Other Information

Card Abilities

Unite Attacks

Sample game, Part 1

Sample game, Part 2

Our Mascots: Dorothy

Our Mascots: Rusty

Thanks for reading, and remember to follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/windowcatsgames, and watch our Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1143116885/heroic-hustle

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: The Kickstarter

Big news, the Heroic Hustle Kickstarter is now officially live. Please check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1143116885/heroic-hustle

This has been a long time in the planning for us, and we're really excited to take the next step in this adventure. We're counting on all of your support now. We started with a simple goal: to make a game that parents could play with their kids, friends could play with one another, and that everyone would be able to enjoy. A game that would bring people together, not set them apart. And today, we're going to try to make that a reality.

So please, help us get the word out! If you have friends or family members you think might enjoy the game, point them in this direction. People who might enjoy the rush of pretending to be a superhero defending a city from evil. People who might enjoy a simple to learn game with strategic depth, and lots of replayability. People who might enjoy a varied cast with heroes of all genders, races, and orientations. As we like to say, "Bravery has no bias, and heroes come in all shapes and sizes."

Stay tuned, we're going to be providing continual updates on the Kickstarter, the game, and the characters. Thank you again!

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Heroic Hustle: Hero and Villain card abilities

As you've noticed in the sample game posts, many cards in Heroic Hustle have special abilities that show up when the card is in play. These abilities are core aspects of developing a strategy for successfully completing each stage. The abilities are generally broken down as such:

Heroes

Shield- When played, these heroes generate the shield tokens players can use as temporary health to protect the city.

Courier- When played, these heroes generate courier tokens used to transfer cards freely between players.

Heal- When played, these heroes directly heal damage done to the city.

Rescue- When played, these heroes allow the player to draw one Civilian card.

Recharge- When played, these heroes restore one spent Superhero power.

There are additional unique powers on some Hero cards that are described on the cards themselves, but by and large, these will be the most common abilities you'll see on Hero cards.

Villains

Rally- As long as the Villain card is active, all Villain cards do 1 additional point of damage. These effects can stack with one another.

Bolster- As long as the Villain card is active, all Villain cards require 1 additional Hero to arrest them. These effects can stack with one another, but this does not apply to Reckless Heroes.

Sneaky- This Villain ignores shield tokens and always attacks the city directly.

Shutdown- This Villain disables the listed game mechanic. For example, "Shutdown: Superpowers" prevents Superheroes from using their powers while the Villain is in play. "Shutdown: Shields" prevents shields from blocking damage, and prevents players from generating new shields.

Stack- This Villain summons another Villain from the deck to act as their bodyguard. The original Villain cannot be attacked until the new Villain is arrested, but they also cannot attack the city until they are exposed.

Distraction- This Villain draws the attention of the Heroes, preventing the Heroes from attacking other Villains until the Distraction is arrested first.

As you can see, Villains have the potential to pair up and provide each other some fairly nasty buffs that can make this difficult for the Heroes. Deciding the order in which you arrest Villains is a key aspect of successfully defending the city.

Even if the situation is grim, and a nefarious bunch of ne'er-do-wells is mounting a vicious offense, working together with your allies can solve the most dire of dilemmas. Share your cards, pool your powers, and coordinate your counterattacks!

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Heroic Hustle: Unite Attacks

Pausing our sample game, I'd like to take a bit of time to talk more about one of our favorite features, Unite Attacks. As previously mentioned in other posts, Unite Attacks are special attacks that occur when specific cards are played together in combination. It's our equivalent of the superhero team ups, like Batman and Superman, or the Avengers, or Double Dragon and Battletoads. Together, they're stronger than they are alone.

There are two kinds of Unite Attacks players will encounter as they play. There are the basic, two-person Unites. For example, "Agaruta" and "Riposte," the two swords masters of Cascade City. Strong cards on their own, when played together, the duo is potent enough to arrest 3 Villains, instead of the standard 2. Or, as mentioned in a previous post, there's the sorceress "Esotera" and her powersuit-clad partner, "Pollybdenum," who combine to arrest 2 Villains and provide the city with 3 shield tokens. Think of these as your superhero buddy team-ups, like Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, or Power Girl and Huntress.

The other kind of Unite Attack starts with as few as two Heroes, and goes up to a full group of four. These are your Teen Titans, your Fantastic Fours, your X-Men. The more cards in the group you play at once, the more powerful the final result is. If you play 2 cards that belong to the defense oriented team "Shield Wall," you arrest any 2 Villains regardless of traits or special effects in play. If you play 3 cards, you arrest 3 Villains, and provide the city with 3 shield tokens to protect from further danger. And if you play the full team of 4, you arrest 4 Villains, provide 3 shield tokens, and each player is awarded one Civilian card that they "Rescued" from danger. A carefully played Unite Attack can turn a grim situation around.

There are some cards that can help facilitate players creating Unite Attacks. Some Civilian cards let players search the deck for cards belonging to certain teams. Additionally, there are Superhero powers that summon cards. Or, if the player has chosen the Superhero "Valkyrie," she is able to use her tremendous leadership skills to temporarily deputize any Hero card to be able to participate in a Unite Attack they normally would not be able to!

As a closing note, I'd like to introduce the most powerful duo we have:

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: Putting it together, Part 2

Welcome back! In our last post, we went through stage 1 of a sample game, in which two players successfully defeated Riot Girl's first assault against the city. In this section, we're going to cover a few more advanced mechanics of the game.

With stage 1 concluded, the players draw Riot Girl's stage 2 card. In this stage, Riot Girl's attack with become stronger, dealing the city 2 points of damage per turn, rather than 1. Remember that each Supervillain is different, and may have different effects for each stage. They also draw a new Lieutenant, and two more Villains. This time, they notice that the Lieutenants and Villains have some special powers of their own to deal with! To start, they draw the Lieutenant "Lovagon." Lovagon is the demonic leader of a criminal organization, and is rarely seen without the presence of his trusted aide, "Christina." Lovagon's special ability is called "Stack;" a card with Stack summons the listed card from anywhere in the deck or discard pile, and places it on top of the card with the Stack power. Because Lovagon has "Stack: Christina," this means that Christina is pulled from the deck and placed on top of Lovagon, and that players must defeat Christina before they can arrest Lovagon. Lovagon, meanwhile, does not attack himself as long as Christina is in play.

"Christina, where's my evil coffee?!"

Of the 2 Villains drawn, one has a special ability called "Rally." Rally boosts all Villain damage by one point as long as the ability is in play. This means that the Villains and Lieutenants would do 2 damage instead of 1, and Riot Girl does 3 instead of 2. It is important to know that Rally can stack if multiple cards with Rally are in play, so watch out! The other Villain has the defensive version, called "Bolster." Bolster increases the number of cards needed to arrest Villains by 1. So while it normally only takes 1 Hero to arrest 1 Villain, it takes 2 as long as Bolster is in play. Finally, they draw the Plot Twist for this stage, and end up with "Evil Embiggened." Evil Embiggened increases the Supervillain's damage by 2 points for the duration of the stage.

With all that sorted out, Allen and Woot begin to form their strategy. Because of Bolster, it would take both of them to arrest a Villain right now. If they work together to arrest the Villain providing Bolster, that effect goes away and things are back to normal. However, the Villain providing Rally is still active, and they would likely take a lot of damage this turn (Christina would deal 2 damage, and Riot Girl would deal 5). Looking over their cards, they realize they have two Heroes who can work together in a Unite Attack. By playing "Esotera," the occult sorceress, along with her friend "Pollybdenum," the technical prodigy, Allen and Woot are able to arrest 2 Villains, regardless of what traits they have or special effects making them stronger. As a bonus from Esotera and Pollybdenum's Unite Attack, the city also gains 3 shield tokens. Unite Attacks really help when used at the right time!

With the two villains arrested, the players' turn ends, and the Villains attack. Because Rally is no longer active, damage has been returned to normal. Christina deals 1 damage, and Riot Girl deals 4. However, thanks to the 3 shield tokens, the damage taken is reduced from 5 down to 2. In stage 1, the city took 3 damage, so this brings the total damage taken up to 5.

The next turn begins. After drawing their cards, Allen and Woot decide their strategy. With no special effects active, Christina is easy to defeat. Woot can play a card to arrest her, revealing Lovagon. Unfortunately, because Lovagon is a Lieutenant, he takes 2 Heroes to arrest him. Allen can play one card this round, and one more the next round to arrest Lovagon. Or, he can play a Reckless Hero and arrest him this round, at the cost of 2 points of damage to the city. Rather than risk an extra turn of Riot Girl attacking the city, Allen plays the Reckless Hero, "Rio," and arrests Lovagon as well. When the player turn ends, Riot Girl attacks for 4 more damage, bringing the total damage taken up to 11.

The next round begins, and the players hope to finish the stage this turn. First, however, because the city has taken so much damage, Woot plays a Civilian card, the "Tireless Repair Crews." Because Civilian cards are a free action, Woot heals 5 damage to the city, and is still able to play a Hero card. Both Allen and Woot play the Hero cards needed to foil Riot Girl this turn, and complete stage 2. They're only halfway through, though, and things will only get tougher as they go.

The city's health at the end of stage 2, after a timely heal: 14

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: Putting it together, Part 1

We've covered most of the individual cards and systems in previous posts. Now I'd like to spend a bit of time talking about how all this fits together as a single game.

Let's start with a simple 2 player game. Starting with Superheroes, Player 1 chooses Allen. Allen is a very defensive oriented Superhero. His powers are based around shielding the city from damage. Player 2 chooses Square Woot. Woot is more of a utility based Superhero who can summon certain cards into her hand, and grant some traits to other cards. From this point forward, we'll refer to the players by their Superhero avatars.

Allen and Woot start by drawing their Supervillain, and end up with Riot Girl. At first, Riot Girl does normal damage on her attacks, but as the game progresses, she'll get more and more dangerous. Allen and Woot each draw 5 Hero cards for their hand, and 1 Civilian card. Then, they draw the rest of the Villains. Riot Girl gets 1 Lieutenant to act as her right hand, and 2 Villains (one for each player). Finally, they draw 1 Plot Twist to set the alternate rule for the stage. They draw "Infighting," which prevents them from playing the powerful "Unite" combinations for the duration of the stage.

Infighting prevents players from using their most powerful combinations, Unite Attacks.

So, there are currently 1 Supervillain, 1 Lieutenant, and 2 Villains to arrest for this stage. Allen and Woot look at the 2 Villains, who they must defeat first. First is the Villain "Chip Chocolate," a brawler with the power to control chocolate, which she forms into a protective armor. She's tough, but on her card it lists she's vulnerable to "Elemental" attacks, which melt her armor. Turns out that Allen has a Hero, "Firebird," with the Elemental trait. By playing Firebird, Allen is able to arrest Chip Chocolate.

Chip Chocolate is anything but... yeah yeah, you get it.

Next, there's the villain "Miffywoop," an alien with a deceptively friendly attitude. Miffywoop has a vulnerability to Technological attacks. Woot checks her hand, but she doesn't have a Hero with a Tech trait. She can play a "Reckless" Hero, who would arrest the Villain but do 2 points of damage to the city in the process. Or, she can use one of Woot's superpowers to temporarily grant Tech powers to one of her Heroes that doesn't normally have Tech powers. She chooses to use her superpower, and arrests Miffywoop.

"Allo!" -Miffywoop

2 Villains are arrested, and the players' turn is over. Now, the Supervillain and the Lieutenant both make their attacks, doing 1 point of damage each to the city for 2 damage total. If Allen wished, he could use a superpower to block the damage, but he chooses to save his powers for later. The next turn starts, and the players must work together to arrest the Lieutenant. Because the Lieutenant is more powerful, it takes the combined power of 2 Heroes to arrest them. Allen and Woot both draw a card to make up for the card they spent last turn. Then they check what the Lieutenant is weak to. The Lieutenant, "Blue Tango Wolf," is a mercenary who excellent in special ops missions, but is weak in a straight fight with Melee types.

Allen and Woot check their hands. Fortunately, they both have Heroes with the Melee trait. They both play the appropriate cards, and arrest the Lieutenant. Now the Supervillain is vulnerable, but their turn is over. Riot Girl makes her attack, dealing one more damage to the city. When the next round starts, Allen and Woot draw their cards and prepare to take down Riot Girl.

Supervillains have weaknesses specific to the stage of their attack. As the fight continues, different tactics must be used to take them down. In Riot Girl's stage 1, it takes a flying Hero to distract her, while a magic Hero knocks her off balance with a spell. Allen and Woot look at their hands. Allen does not have the required Heroes, but Woot has both a flying Hero and a magic Hero. Using a Courier token, Woot gives Allen one of the two cards, and they play them together, stopping Riot Girl's attack for now.

Riot Girl retreats, but this is only the first step. When stage 2 begins, Riot Girl will return with a fresh team of Villains, strong powers, and a new plot twist! We'll cover some of the more advanced game mechanics in the next stage, including Civilians and the powers on Hero and Villain cards.

[windowcatsgames]

Our Mascots: Rusty

The other half of our Dynamic Duo, Rusty.

Rusty is a bit more vocal and outgoing than his sister, except when someone he doesn't know shows up. Then he runs and hides under a bed.

He also hides during storms.

And when there's construction going on nearby.

And from the vacuum cleaner.

OK, he's kind of a scaredy cat. But he's still an incredibly sweet cat, and one thing he's not shy about is letting you know when he's hungry, which is all the time. He's also a pretty big fan of flopping down onto his back and squirming around like a nightcrawler on the ground.

Rusty also prefers to drink water in a fairly unique way, which we've captured using the latest in videography technology, and will endeavor to post when possible.

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: Plot Twists

Rounding out the craziness that players must contend with in their quest to defend Cascade City, today we bring you one of the mechanics we're most excited about- Plot Twists.

Plot Twists are cards players draw at the start of each stage that change a certain rule for the duration of the stage. These range from more direct effects like granting the bad guys extra strengths, or placing restrictions on heroes.

The "Infighting" Plot Twist prevents players from using the powerful Unite combo attacks.

Some Plot Twists have effects that may seem bad initially, but can actually be incorporated into the players' strategy. For example, some Plot Twists remove certain Villain weaknesses, while adding a new one. There's also "Gorilla Gun," which grants the Reckless trait to all Heroes for the duration of the round, making offense much easier at the cost of damage to the city.

Sometimes, Heroes might get a little tired and need a nap.

Plot Twists will stay in play for the duration of the stage. Once the Supervillain is defeated and the next stage begins, a fresh Plot Twist will be drawn. This adds an element of randomness to every encounter, and forces players to think on their feet and adapt new strategies with each game.

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: The Villains

Just as Supervillains act as an evil counterpoint to Superheroes, Villains are the shadowy opposite to Heroes. Supervillains lead teams of Villains in their assault on Cascade City, one for each player in the game. So a game of four players will have four Villains for each stage to deal with, while a game of two players will only have two Villains to subdue.

Each Villain has a particular trait they are vulnerable to. By matching the Villain's weakness with a Hero's strength, players can arrest the Villains before they are able to damage the city. Any Villains still running free at the end of the turn will be free to attack Cascade City. Additionally, some Villains have additional powers, such as the ability to "Bolster" their allies, making them harder to be subdued by the players, or the ability to "Rally" other Villains, increasing the damage they deal per turn. Some Villains specialize in being a "Distraction," preventing Heroes from dealing with any other Villains until the Distraction is dealt with first. These powers are generally offset by additional vulnerabilities.

Catbot 4000 believes in more bullets for everyone!

There are also more powerful Villains known as "Lieutenants." Lieutenants require two Heroes to arrest than, rather than one, and usually provide additional buffs to their underlings. All the frontline Villains must be defeated before the players can engage the Lieutenant, and the Lieutenant must be arrested before they can go after the Supervillain.

The demon Lovagon has plenty of experience managing a criminal organization, especially with the help of his demonic aide, Christina.

Villain abilities can stack together, creating some truly harrowing situations for the Heroes. But with proper strategy and planning, you can keep Cascade City safe!

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: The Supervillains

So, you have your Superheros, your Heroes, and your Civilians, but who is it that the players are working together to defeat? Well, that would be the Supervillains.

The Supervillains are the evil counterpart to the Superheroes. While the Superheroes lead teams of Heroes to defend the city, Supervillains lead teams of Villains to attack the city. Just like Superheroes, Supervillains are each tailored to provide a unique experience when you fight them.

For example, in one game, the players may be working together to defeat Riot Girl. You may remember Riot Girl from the city health bar in an earlier post. She's the building-sized menace with an attitude problem. Her mode of attack is simple. Damage, damage, and more damage. On the other hand, you have this fella...

This is Emperor Deathraze, our tribute to Flash Gordon era pulp sci-fi villains (complete with monochrome presentation). His attack style is more about confusion and deception, and manipulating the field of battle to his favor, rather than brute strength.

You see, all Supervillains have four stages. Every time the players successfully thwart the Supervillain's evil attack plan (by defeating the accompanying Villains and attacking the Supervillain directly), the Supervillain retreats and begins the next stage of their attack. Each time they return, they are stronger and more dangerous, putting the city in greater peril in each subsequent stage. If the players successfully defend the city through all four stages, they win!

The Supervillains are only one part of the danger to the city, though. In following posts, we'll talk about the forces at their command, the Villains, and the unpredictable Plot Twists, random effects that dynamically alter the flow of the game from round to round.

[windowcatsgames]

Our Mascots: Dorothy

Taking a little break from talking about the game, I wanted to tell you a bit about one half of our mascots, Dorothy.

Dorothy and her brother, Rusty, arrived with my roommate from Pennsylvania a little over a year ago. Of the two, Dorothy is a bit more timid than her brother, yet oddly enough, when we have guest, Dorothy is the one who will come out and visit while Rusty hides under a bed.

While Dorothy still clearly favors my roommate, she's slowly warmed up to me, and currently views me as an acceptable alternate source of attention. When I'm at my computer, Dorothy will sometimes climb up on the window beside me, then put her front paws on the armrest of my chair as she watches what I'm doing. Eventually, she'll move the rest of the way onto my lap while I'm working. Ah, cats.

Dorothy's love of chewing wires and cables (we've already lost a Wii sensor bar cable and two cell phone chargers) earned her a spot in Heroic Hustle as well, as the villain "Lady Nibblesworth," a fiendish villain who delights in destroying technology.

Her greatest weakness? Laser pointers.

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: The Civilians and Couriers

Rounding out the tools available to the player, today we'll be talking about Civilians and Couriers, and how they factor into gameplay.

Civilians are the normal inhabitants of Cascade City. Unlike the Heroes, Civilians do not have traits that can be used to arrest villains. However, they do have several unique abilities all on their own. Civilians cards are a separate deck from Hero cards, and do not count towards the 5 card limit for Heroes. Civilian cards can also be played at any time as a free action.

Civilian abilities range from healing the city (such as the Tireless Repair Crews), to recharging Superhero powers (thanks to Dr. Bean's Deregulated Coffee Shops), or nullifying incoming damage (Ace Reporter Chloe Chase is warning citizens to stay out of the downtown area today!)

"Main Street is experiencing severe traffic jams due to a swarm of skeletons on the streets."

Players start the game with one Civilian card, but more become available during gameplay, usually in the form of a special Hero card ability that allows players to "Rescue" a Civilian and add a card to their hand. Some of the previously mentioned Unite Attacks allow all players participating in the Unite to rescue a Civilian.

The other major resource available to players is the Courier system. Led by the fearless Kelly Courier, Couriers allow players to trade a card freely from one player to another. Players initially start with three Courier tokens, but more can be obtained through Hero abilities, Civilian cards, and even Superhero powers. Due to the strategic cooperative elements of Heroic Hustle, the ability to quickly shuffle cards from player to player is key to setting up the powerful combinations of cards needed to arrest the attacking villains. These brave Couriers risk life and limb to help get the defending Heroes where they need to be to protect the city!

Even the most hardened criminal succumbs to the charm of a bag of cats.

[windowcatsgames]

Heroic Hustle: The Heroes

Today in Heroic Hustle, we'll be looking at the other heroes that defend Cascade City. At the start of the game, players will all pick a Superhero to represent them. The heroes are the assorted forces that make up the bulk of the defense against the villains attacking the city. Every player will have up to five Hero cards in their hand at a given time.

All Heroes possess certain traits that signify their strengths. These powers are Melee, Tanker, Ranged, Wildcard, Flying, Tactician, Tech, Detective, Magic, Adorable, Elemental, and Reckless. These traits dictate what villains the Heroes are most effective at arresting. For example, a Hero with the Magic trait will be able to arrest a villain with a weakness to magic. Some Heroes have more than one trait, and some Superhero powers or other cards can temporarily grant a Hero a trait it doesn't normally have.

Reckless is a unique trait. Reckless heroes would be akin to someone like the Incredible Hulk, or Wolverine, or the Man of Steel Superman. They don't particularly care how much damage is done to the city when they try to arrest a villain. They're effective against any villain, but playing them comes with a cost of two points of damage to the city, so use them carefully.

"Do you think we overdid it?"

In addition to traits, some Heroes also have special abilities that active when you play the card. These abilities can range from healing the city or generating shield tokens, to recharging Superhero powers, to rescuing Civilians. We'll discuss Civilians more in a later post.

One final feature of Hero cards, and the one we're most excited about. Some Heroes work better with certain other Heroes, and when played together in the same turn, active a feature we call "Unite Attacks". When you play Unite Attacks, not only do you arrest villains, you gain other special bonuses described on the cards. Some Unite Attacks only require two matching cards, but some scale all the way to four cards. If every player participates and plays a four card Unite Attack, they unleash some truly powerful teamwork!