Redemption (card game)

Updated on Nov 22, 2023

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Designer(s) Rob Anderson Players 2-5 Setup time < 2 minutes		Publisher(s) Cactus Game Design Age range 7+ Playing time < 45 minutes

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 a players Heroes (good characters) to rescue Lost Souls by defeating an opponent's Evil Characters. The first player to rescue 5 Lost Souls wins the game. Redemption was first published in 1995 by Cactus Game Design and its creator, Rob Anderson, continues to develop and produce the game and is the final authority on rulings.

Game play

The object of the game is to rescue five Lost Souls before the opponent. 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. The game was developed by releasing expansion sets and other starter decks, including, in order of release:

1995 - Originals (Limited and Unlimited Printings) and 1st Edition Starter Decks (A&B) *
1996 - Prophets Expansion
1997 - Women Expansion *
1999 - Warriors Expansion *
2000 - 2nd Edition Starter Decks (C&D) *
2001 - Apostles Expansion
2002 - Patriarchs Expansion
2003 - Kings Expansion
2004 - 3rd Edition Starter Decks (E&F)
2004 - Angel Wars Expansion
2005 - 10th Anniversary Starter Decks (G&H)
2006 - Priests Expansion
2007 - Faith of Our Fathers Expansion
2008 - Rock of Ages Expansion
2009 - Thesaurus Ex Preteritus Box Expansion
2010 - Disciples Box Expansion
2011 - Faith of Our Fathers Extended
2011 - Rock of Ages Extended
2013 - 4th Edition Starter Decks (I&J) 2013 - Rock of Ages Collectors Tin #26
2014 - The Early Church
2015 - The Persecuted Church
2016 - Cloud of Witnesses

(*=Out of Print Cards)

Artwork

Much care has been put into choosing artwork for Redemption. Some well-known artists have contributed, including: Mike Bennett, Jeff Haynie, Michael Carroll and Mark Poole. Other 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, Rob Anderson realized that the Bible would be a "wonderful source for this type of game". Redemption was soon designed and has since grown to be the top selling Christian Trading Card Game. Additionally, recent final releases of several long-running trading card games, including Lord of the Rings and Star Trek, 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 Collectible Card Games 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 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.

References

Redemption (card game) Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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