Kickstart This: Incarnate Merges Turn-Based Strategy, Card Collecting

Chicago-based developer Skeleton Hand describes their debut title as “Final Fantasy Tactics meets Magic: The Gathering.” Incarnate is an adventure in a different reality, where a race of gods known as the Creators have fashioned separate universes, and each universe is governed by a set of rules which are meant to be ever unaltered.

One of these universes was the work of a Creator named Tyr, who made multiple attempts to make satisfactory inhabitants for his universe. Tyr’s habit of erasing his attempts and starting over caused the creation of four powerful beings who, once eradicated, turned into the Incarnates of Rage, Vengeance, Life, and Justice. They have caused the rules of their universe to be changed, and now they are able to recreate themselves into new, combined forms of bodies, minds, and souls. Their goal is to evolve into new beings powerful enough to annihilate the Creators themselves.

This is where things stand when the player enters the world of Incarnate. You take on the role of one of the four Incarnates, and construct your character by selecting a mind, a body, and a soul. You can mix up the attributes any way you like – select from Titan (Rage), Nizari (Vengeance), Archon (Life), or Judge (Justice). There are 64 possible combinations, but the devs plan to add a secret fifth character when the game launches, and another one each season, increasing the build options exponentially.

With your character in place, you assemble a deck of 30 cards. These cards represent the aspects of the Incarnates, and also include basic items, relics, and rituals. Which aspect cards will be available to you depends on how your character is constructed. Gameplay is conducted with virtual dice, with the cards affecting not only your actual combat, but the 3D terrain on which the game is played. You can play against other players, or team up with friends (or strangers) to fight against the environment, including the Creators themselves.

Incarnate is projected to be released in Q3 2015; already the developers are looking for support on Steam Greenlight. To help them with completion, they have launched a Kickstarter in the hopes of raising $48,000 USD by December 2nd. The plan is to make the game available for PC, Mac, Linux, and iPad, with a Wii U version shortly to follow.

Are you prepared to overthrow the very gods who built – and destroyed – everything? Check out Incarnate and see if you have what it takes to avenge Tyr’s lost creations. You can also follow the developers on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about what they have in store.