Redemption (card game)

Redemption is a collectible card game based on the Bible. It involves Biblical characters, places, objects, and ideas. The object of the game is for the player's Heroes (good characters) to rescue Lost Souls by defeating an opponent's Evil Characters.[1] The first player to rescue five Lost Souls wins the game. Redemption was first published in July 1995 by Cactus Game Design[2] and its creator, Rob Anderson, continues to develop and produce the game and is the final authority on rulings.

Redemption CCG
Card back of Redemption
Designer(s)Rob Anderson
Publisher(s)Cactus Game Design
Players2-5
Setup time< 2 minutes
Playing time< 45 minutes
Random chanceSome
Skill(s) requiredReading
Card playing
Adding & Subtracting
1 Some rules allow more players.

Game play

The object of the game is to rescue five Lost Souls before the opponent.[3] To rescue a Lost Soul, a player must initiate a rescue attempt by placing a Hero into battle. The opponent then places an Evil Character in battle to block the rescue attempt. Based on strength and defense numbers of the characters, players take turns playing Enhancement Cards to make their characters stronger. Eventually, one character wins the battle. If the Evil Character is defeated (by being discarded, converted, captured, ignored, removed from the game, etc.), the Hero rescues the Lost Soul. In general the game play of Redemption is very different from its counterparts. Unlike popular trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, and Magic: The Gathering, Redemption has no built in cost system. That is, players are not required to meet any prerequisite functions in order to place cards into the field of play. Instead restrictions or penalties are placed on the special abilities of the cards themselves in order to balance game play.

Card types
  • Character cards represent Biblical people who are trying to save lost souls (Hero) or those trying to stop lost souls from being saved (Evil character).
  • Enhancements may be used on characters to boost attack strength or defense. They come in two types, good or evil enhancements.
  • Dominant cards can be played at any time and take effect instantly. These are the "power cards" of the game, and can often turn the tide of a battle, but the number of these cards in a deck is restricted.
  • Site cards typically hold a Lost Soul and only allow "access" to Heroes who are either of a matching brigade, or who use one of their own unoccupied Sites of a matching brigade.
  • Fortress cards typically sit in a player's territory and can store other cards, or have some form of protective effect on the player.
  • Artifact cards reside in a player's territory, and have a sort of supplemental effect on a player's cards, or on a battle. Typically, only one Artifact can be active during a player's turn, although there are ways to circumvent that restriction.
  • Covenant cards are a combination of an Artifact and a good Enhancement, and can be used by the player as either (but not both at once).
  • Curse cards are similar to Covenant cards, but instead are a combination of an Artifact and an evil Enhancement.

Card color

Redemption divides the Characters and Enhancements (and other types of cards) into brigades. A certain color Enhancement may only be played with that color Character. The Heroes and corresponding good Enhancements are divided into Blue, Clay, Gold, Green, Purple, Teal, Red, Silver, and White brigades. The Evil Characters and their evil Enhancements are divided into Black, Brown, Crimson, Gray, Orange, Pale Green, and Gold brigades.

Distribution

The first release of Redemption was in 1995 as a set of 2 starter decks (50-card decks A and B, now out of print) and a set of Limited Edition cards, followed by an Unlimited Edition reprinting. In August of 1996, Cactus offered 750 complete sets of all published Redemption cards at about $150 a piece.[4] The game was developed by releasing expansion sets and other starter decks, including, in order of release:

Set Name Release Date
Originals (Limited and Unlimited Printings) 1995
1st Edition Starter Decks (A&B) * 1995
The Prophets (Expansion) * 1996
The Women (Expansion) * 1997
The Warriors (Expansion) * 1999
2nd Edition Starter Decks * 2000
The Apostles (Expansion) 2001
The Patriarchs (Expansion) 2002
The Kings (Expansion) 2003
3rd Edition Starter Decks * 2004
Angel Wars (Expansion) 2004
10th Anniversary Starter Decks * 2005
The Priests (Expansion) 2006
Faith of Our Fathers (Expansion) 2007
Rock of Ages (Expansion) 2008
Thesaurus Ex Preteritus (Expansion) 2009
The Disciples (Expansion) 2010
Faith of Our Fathers (Extended Expansion) 2011
Rock of Ages (Extended Expansion) 2011
4th Edition Starter Decks 2013
Rock of Ages (Collectors Tin #26) 2013
The Early Church (Expansion) 2014
The Persecuted Church (Expansion) 2015
Cloud of Witnesses (Expansion) 2016
Revelation of John (Expansion) 2017
The Fall of Man (Expansion) 2018
Prophecies of Christ (Expansion) 2018
Prophecies of Christ 2 (Expansion) 2019
The Lineage of Christ 2020

* - Out of Print Cards

Artwork

Several artists have contributed, including Mike Bennett, Jeff Haynie, Michael Carroll and Mark Poole. Some artwork has been taken from other Christian products and from classical artwork. Former art Director Doug Gray also made many of the images for the cards himself.

History and Popularity

Soon after Magic: The Gathering introduced the idea of a collectible card game (CCG), Rob Anderson realized that the Bible would be a "wonderful source for this type of game".[5] Redemption was soon designed and has since grown to be the top selling Christian CCG. Additionally, recent final releases of several long-running trading card games, including Lord of the Rings[6] and Star Trek,[7] makes Redemption the oldest trading card game in consistent production, aside from Magic: The Gathering.

Contributing to the continued popularity of the game is the ability - especially earlier on - to easily collect the cards due to the more common distribution and the smaller set size (although as of 2006 there were over 1,800 unique cards). Also, compared to many of the collectible card games, Redemption has continued to be easier to collect due to the lack of super-rare chase cards and the slower release of sets every 1–2 years.

One unique aspect that sets Redemption apart from other CCGs is that while each deck contains both good characters (Heroes of the Bible) and evil characters, the game is only won by using good characters. The evil characters do not have a chance to win the game (though they can prevent the opponent from winning).

Over the years, a rulebook has been developed and gives a reference for understanding the interactions between the card types and the cards. The most up-to-date rulebook is the 10th anniversary rulebook. An exegetical guide is also available for more seasoned players.

Competition

Rob Anderson has maintained that "Redemption Tournaments exist to foster fun and fellowship."

Tournaments
The nature of the game allows for and has resulted in a National Tournament structure (within the U.S.). Tournament levels range from Local to District to State to Regional to the National tournament. The National tournament is held once a year and is held in a different location each year. For official tournaments, prizes are provided by Cactus Game Design and they generally include Redemption booster packs and Tournament Promotional Cards. Redemption Nationals is open to all player; there are no prerequisites for entrance.

Online Tournaments
Redemption tournaments are also held online through Lackey CCG and once through Redemption Table Simulator (RTS. Redemption Table Simulator (RTS for short) is the game utility that allows players of Redemption CCG to play across the Internet or a network as though they were playing across the table. RTS lays everything out in front of you as it would be on a game table. Online tournaments can be found through the Cactus website and function in the same way as face to face tournaments.

Categories of Play
At each tournament, one might play Sealed Deck, Booster Draft (instead of multi-player Sealed Deck), Type 1, or Type 2. These categories have different deck building rules. Also, each category (except for Booster Draft) may be divided into two tournaments; a 2-player tournament and a multi-player.

Ranking System
Redemption has also implemented a Redemption National Ranking System (RNRS) allowing players who cannot make it to the National Tournament to be recognized. Points are awarded for placing in each level of tournament.

National Champions
  2-player Sealed Deck Multi-player Sealed Deck/Booster Draft 2-player Type 1 Multi-player Type 1 2-player Type 2 Multi-player Type 2 TEAMS
Nationals RNRS Nationals RNRS Nationals RNRS Nationals RNRS Nationals RNRS Nationals RNRS Nationals RNRS
2015 Dayne Maust Chris Fachman Daniel Huisinga Josiah Beers John Earley John Earley Charles Johnson Brian Jones Justin Alstad Justin Alstad Justin Alstad Justin Alstad Jordan Alstad & Martin Miller Gabe Isbell
2014 Joseph Zimmerman Justin Alstad Joshua Knitt Jordan Alstad Zac Cornell Jordan Alstad Ray Imgrund Tim Maly Jordan Alstad Jordan Alstad Dayne Maust Dayne Maust Josiah Beers & Jerome Beers John Michaliszyn and Justin Alstad
2013 Justin Alstad Bill Voigt Matt Townsend Bill Voigt Josiah Beers Josiah Beers Tim Maly Tim Maly Justin Alstad Gabe Isbell Tyler Stevens Jayden Alstad Martin Miller & Chris Ericson Martin Miller
2012 Ian Kratzer Noel Mendoza Alex Olijar Jordan Alstad Martin Miller Martin Miller Chris Ericson Chris Ericson Josiah Beers Kurt Hake and Jordan Alstad Jonathan Greeson Jonathan Greeson John Earley & James Roepke John Earley
2011 Rebeccah Collins Noel Mendoza Eric Wolfe Scott Kramer Matt Townsend Gabe Isbell Tim Maly Kurt Hake and Randall Koutnik Nathan Voigt Nathan Voigt Jordan Alstad Jordan Alstad Gabe Isbell & Kevin Shride Nathan Voigt
2010 Brandon Abbott Mike Mendicino Tyler Stevens Shawn Capron Jonathan Greeson Jonathan Greeson Nathan Voigt Nathan Voigt and Matthew Archibald Gabe Isbell Gabe Isbell John Earley John Earley Gabe Isbell & Kevin Shride Ben Michaliszyn
2009 Sam Nurge Josh Randolph Sam Nurge Josh Randolph Gabe Isbell Gabe Isbell Brandon West T.J. Stamp Gabe Isbell Gabe Isbell Ron Sias Josh Randolph - -
2008 Michael Huerter Leeza Wolfe Jacob Fountain Gabe Isbell Tim Mierzejewski Eric Wolfe and Gabe Isbell Daniel Whitten Daniel Whitten Tim Maly Kurt Hake Steve Kamke Steve Kamke - -
2007 Chad Soderstrom Chad Soderstrom Brad Coverdale Ben Shadrick Gabe Isbell Tim Maly Daniel Whitten Daniel Whitten Justin Alstad Justin Alstad Nathan Voigt Nathan Voigt N/A N/A
2006 Claude Fong Claude Fong Sarah Harris Ben Shadrick Chad Soderstrom Tim Maly Justin Alstad Josh Pearson Ross Lang Ross Lang Justin Alstad Justin Alstad N/A N/A
2005 Seth Mick Ben Shadrick John Nesfeder Emmanuel Echavarria Justin Sangillo Justin Sangillo David Ebert Ben Arp Kevin Shride Michael Garland Adam Erickson Justin Alstad N/A N/A
2004 Michael Bell Michael Bell Ken Shartle Adam Erickson Tim Maly Roy Cannaday Justin Alstad Justin Sangillo Joshua Hey Joshua Hey Joshua Hey Joshua Hey N/A N/A
2003 Brad Dembo Brad Dembo Joshua Meneely Brad Dembo Kyle Hostutler Kyle Hostutler Evan Sauer Eric Berkenpas Eric Largent Chris Bany Joshua Hey Joshua Hey N/A N/A
2002 Roy Cannaday Roy Cannaday Josiah Fiscus Christian De Los Rios Keith Bartram Jesse Pfeister Joshua Slinkard Eric Beise Bryon Hake Chris Bany Eric Kimmons Chris Bany N/A N/A
2001 Dave Daugherty Christopher Ramsey Brandon Knick Brandon Knick Keith Bartram Miguel Arriaga Ron Sias Juan Arriaga Bryon Hake Bryon Hake Eric Kimmons Art Middlekauff N/A N/A
2000 Nicholas Campbell - Aaron Torres - Tim Maly - Kevin Dulin - Eric Kimmons and Ron Sias - Daniel Goodner - N/A N/A
1999 Daniel Horton - Ron Sias - Keith Bartram - Lana F. - Eric Kimmons - Patrick Nolan - N/A N/A
1998 Ron Sias - Ron Sias - ? - Ron Sias - ? - ? - N/A N/A
1997 ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - N/A N/A
1996 ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - N/A N/A

Reception

In the March 1996 edition of Arcane (Issue 4), Andrew Rilstone gave the game a thumbs down, rating it only 5 out of 10 and saying, "Each card has a relevant quotation on it, and the rules warn us that if the cards ever contradict the Bible, you should stick with the Bible. Er... thanks."[8]

In the March 1996 edition of Dragon (Issue 227), Rick Swan wasn't impressed, saying, "Redemption plays like a stripped-down Magic: The Gathering game, too slight to sustain the interest of hard-core card players, but good for beginners."[9]

gollark: Assembly makes it so hard to implement linked lists with referential transparency!
gollark: I prefer Haskell to Assembly.
gollark: IO monad!
gollark: ```pythonwhile True: bugs = write_new_code() del bugs```
gollark: This prints `Hello, World!`.

See also
  • Collectible Card Game

References
  1. Miller, John Jackson (2003), Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, Second Edition, pp. 481–485.
  2. Parnes, Francine (2002-11-16). "Familiar Board Games Find New, Spiritual Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  3. Owens, Thomas S.; Helmer, Diana Star (1996), Inside Collectible Card Games, p. 120.
  4. Varney, Allen (February 1997), "Inside the Industry", The Duelist (#15), p. 84
  5. "Redemption History".
  6. "Decipher Announces Final LotR Release". Archived from the original on 2008-03-11.
  7. "Decipher Announces Final Star Trek Release".
  8. Rilstone, Andrew (March 1996). "Games Reviews". Arcane. Future Publishing (4): 71–72.
  9. Swan, Rick (March 1996). "Roleplaying Reviews". Dragon. TSR, Inc. (227): 11412.
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