What Is This Sorcery: The New TCG Revolutionizing The Game

Trading Card Games are huge business. You don't have to know anything at all about games to be vaguely aware of this: take the existence of Pokemon and the fact that the release of a new Pokemon app can hit the mainstream news as evidence. It's got to the point where even I'm starting to dip my toes in (I'm always at least ten years late to everything) with a bit of a dabble in Lorcana and some print and play with Altered's starter decks. It's little wonder that others are keen to crack into this market: get it right, and there's hordes of ravenous players waiting to snap up the cards, but get it wrong and you'll sink without a trace.

Here, then, is What Is This Sorcery (which shortens very nicely to Wits, and this fact alone makes me vote for this game's success) from What Is This Studios (made up of veterans from Ubisoft and Warner Bros games no less), and I'm going to say straight up that they nail one of the first key aspects for success: excellent art. You want cards that will be a joy to look at and collect and I'd argue that these images are up there with the best.

Story Time! In the mystical world of Catena, two opposing forces, Light and Dark, clash in an epic struggle for supremacy. The Light Faction leads with honour and valour, guiding its allies - the Air, Water, Time and Wild Factions - who bring speed, adaptability, control, and the untamed power of nature to the battlefield. Together, they form the Light Alliance, a beacon of hope and unity. Opposing them is the Dark Faction, shrouded in secrecy and deception, commanding the Cyber, Ice, Fire and Normies Factions. The Dark Alliance combines ancient technology, cold precision, raw power, and unpredictable tactics, creating a formidable force that thrives in chaos.

As these two alliances vie for control, the dynamic and ever-evolving battlefield of Catena becomes a test of strategy, will, and allegiance, where every move can alter the course of destiny.

Each starter deck in What Is This Sorcery - balanced to ensure a good gameplay experience from the start - contains 40 cards plus one hero card, damage counters, a folded playmat and a basic version of the rules, so you can get playing from the off.

There will also be Build and Battle kits which contain 12 booster packs, along with enough sleeves to protect your cards. You can either build a deck from these packs or use the pulled cards to bolster a deck you already have. As you'd expect, the cards will come in rarity levels, from Common to Uncommon, Rare, Ultra Rare, Legendary and Mythic, along with a total of 10 Hero cards to begin with (expect this to expand as all TCGs do).

Here's a thing: the NFC-enabled cards will allow you to tap each card on your smartphone and instantly connect it with your digital collection - verifying authenticity, unlocking in-game content and enhancing gameplay. You can play physically and digitally with the same collection.

I will say that most of us will do just fine with the 'Journey Begins' basic tier, and that some of the higher pledge tiers get properly nuts - wait until you see the God Tier, you will either laugh or cry (I did a bit of both). You should take a look, so head here for the very thoroughly put-together crowdfunding page, and ask yourself this: have you got room for one more TCG? Maybe, maybe…

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Published 17th Feb 2025.