The quest to save KeyForge, the first procedurally generated CCG

Story of KeyForge This is an unusual one. This collectible card game was launched with great fanfare in 2018. It featured a procedural algorithm that can generate up to 32 billion decks of cards on its own. The allure was its surprise factor, since not even the game’s developers knew what was inside each box. Fantasy Flight Games was quickly recognized in hobby stores, and it established an emerging organized play circuit. It felt that the game had the potential to be the next major CCG. In September 2021 the publisher declared that they were no longer in a position to make more cards.

At the time, communication was unclear. Fantasy Flight simply said that the game’s sophisticated algorithm was “broken” and that it needed to be rebuilt “from the ground up.” That may certainly be true. But there was a much bigger problem, said Christian Petersen, the company’s co-founder, in a recent interview with Polygon: All of the software engineers that helped make the algorithm in the first place now worked for a different company.

Petersen established Fantasy Flight in 1995. The Minnesota-based publisher earned a name for itself with Petersen’s own strategy game, Twilight ImperiumIt is widely considered one of the most complicated and large-scale board games ever created. One super-popular board game led to the birth of one of America’s most respected tabletop publishers, responsible for a number of very popular games. KeyForge But it also included games that were based upon franchises like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings or many other modern classics developed by the studio’s creative team.

Asmodee was a multinational corporation that owns dozens of board games and in 2014, it bought Fantasy Flight. Petersen departed shortly after to establish Strange Stars, a new venture. Engineers who could have assisted with rebuilding KeyForgeFor Asmodee, it was now his job. Then, Asmodee made a deal to purchase the rights back. KeyForge.

“Asmodee delayed again for another six months or so,” Petersen said. “Maybe they didn’t like the amount of money I was willing to pay. Finally, they came back and we made the deal this June.”

Petersen has returned to publishing, having spent many years creating software and manufacturing systems in the board game sector. Petersen’s first product is called KeyForge: Winds of Exchange, and as of publication it’s earned more than $1 million in crowdfunding on Gamefound.

Does that amount of money provide enough funds to rebuild the algorithm, and release the game into the wild again? Petersen is the only one who knows. He told Polygon that he believes strongly in the idea. KeyForgeIt is worth saving. So too does the game’s new producer, Michael Hurley. A veteran of Fantasy Flight Games himself, Hurley was also present at the meeting when Richard Garfield co-created the game.The Gathering is Magic) first pitched a prototype using — what else? — a highly modified Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

“There [were] a lot of macros in it,” Hurley said, drawing out the words to emphasize the size of the file involved. “It contained a list of every card name that [Garfield]Designed for the game. […]To create a deck, all he had to do was run scripts. This would generate a list with cards within that deck. [Then]He would draw the cards they were instructed to and then put the pieces together.

“He would just do that repeatedly until he had […] a couple of dozen different prototype decks that he had generated in this way.”

However, the original deck design didn’t work very well.

“He originally wanted all the decks to be Completely random,” Petersen said, “so that you have no idea what you get. But we said, ‘No, that’s not going to work because there’s going to be such a variation in what you get that it’s going to be a problem for players.’”

What they ended up with was a much more structured system — recipe is probably the better word — for deck creation. They created the following: KeyForgeBoth old and new algorithms work in the exact same manner. First, they draw 12 cards from each of the three houses. Thematic factions are what give life and texture to the game’s lore. Each card is given a unique name and artwork. The same algorithm generates the deck. However, not all decks can be created equal. For competitive play purposes, more powerful decks will get a name and unique art on the back of each card.

Every once in awhile, the algorithm creates a rare card known as a maverick. That’s a card originally designed to be part of one house, but switched to be part of another. Mavericks can even have their own symbol on the borders to identify them. Mavericks, when present in an unique deck can make it possible to create powerful strategies that are difficult for others decks.

Petersen states that the rebuilding of the algorithm project is progressing well and should be complete in time to allow for procedurally generated cards (mavericks) and other related events. KeyForge: Winds of Exchange It will be January 2023. It will be too late to allow the game another chance of success. He’s optimistic but also pragmatic.

“The big question is, is the audience still around?” Petersen said. “It’s very difficult to relaunch an injured game. It’s almost impossible. I’ve had many times in my career where we [have said], ‘This game was injured. It’s hobbling along. It’s mostly dead. And we love the game, we think it’s really great. But what can we do?’ In most situations it’s just not worth it. […]You can revive it. [when it] just doesn’t make economic sense?”

On Sept. 26, the crowdfunding campaign will close. However, pre-orders for the crowdfunding campaign will be open quickly after they close and continue for many more months.