About Redemption

 

Redemption® is a collectible trading card game of biblical adventure.

 

That's right! At its most basic level, Redemption CCG is a card game that is rich in strategy where the Bible serves as the inspiration for all cards. Players use Heroes to rescue Lost Souls, overcoming any Evil Characters that oppose them. Unlike many other trading card games, Redemption allows each player to interact on the opponent's turn by actively "blocking" their progress toward the win condition within the battle phase.

 

 

Heroes, represented by a cross in the icon box, are characters from the Bible that primarily lived their life in a way that honored God or directly fulfilled His plan for their life. Within the structure of the game, the primary goal of Heroes is to rescue Lost Souls which demonstrates God using everyday people to fulfill His plan.

 

 

Evil Characters, represented by a dragon in the icon box, are characters that primarily lived thier life outside of God's will and/or opposed His people. Within the structure of the game, Evil Characters block rescue attempts and battle challenges.

 

 

During battle, each player may support their characters in battle by playing Enhancements of matching alignment and brigade on them. These cards, denoted by a Bible icon for good and a skull icon for evil, allow players to modify the strength and toughness of characters and carry out special abilities that help them achieve victory in the battle.

 

 

The objective of the game is to rescue Lost Souls as your Heroes overcome your opponent's evil forces. Lost Souls start the game in each player's deck and are put into play as they are drawn throughout the game. This is another unique aspect for Redemption where the win condition is not immediately available at the start of a game and only becomes available as you play through the game. For most categories of play, the first player to rescue 5 Lost Souls wins the game.

 

 

Beyond characters, Enhancements and Lost Souls, Redemption also features other card types including Fortresses, Artifacts and Dominants to enhance the gameplay and assist players with achieving their win condtion or halting the progress of the opponent toward theirs. These additional card types and their impact on the gameplay help to increase the depth of strategy and play styles offered within the game. 

 

Cards come in two forms, starter decks and booster packs. The images above were all sourced from the 5th Edition Starter Decks titled Israel's Deliverance. Each starter deck set contains two starter decks where each deck is ready to play and is specially balanced to play well against the other deck. This allows two players to start playing immediately without having to learn how to build a deck. It is highly recommended that new players start playing with the starter decks. 

 

For newer players learning with the 5th Edition Starter Decks, the Quick Start Guide has more in depth information about the cards found within the starter decks and explains the rules necessary to play with these decks without overwhelming new players with the full depth of the rules.

 

When the starter decks have served their purpose to teach the basic mechanics of the game, a card pool filled with thousands of unique cards are available to build custom decks for constructed play. Or if you prefer a more casual approach to the game, the Closed Deck and Booster Draft categories offer play without the need to prepare a deck in advance. These categories use sealed product to create unique decks for gameplay.

 

 

 

Redemption was created in 1995 by Rob Anderson, owner and president of Cactus Game Design, and is the second longest running trading card game in existence, trailing only Magic the Gathering. To this day, Redemption is still owned and published by Rob and his family. Listen to Episode 81: The Man Behind the Game to hear directly from Rob on the origins of Redemption!