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‘Umbrella Academy’ Card Game Brings The Comic To Your Table – Kickstarter Live Now

3 Minute Read
Aug 24 2020

First a comic series, then a hit Netflix series, now a card game with a Kickstarter fully funded in less than an hour.

I’ll come clean and admit I hadn’t heard of Umbrella Academy before the Netflix series landed, but it shot up to the #1 Trending spot in the US overnight. It’s based on a graphic novel series of the same name. And now Studio71 is also working on the card game inspired by the graphic novel.

Umbrella Academy is a cooperative card game with combat and hand management mechanics. The objective of the players is to survive a gauntlet of bad guys to reach (and win at) the Final Battle. So long as even 1 player survives, the team wins.

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Each player starts the game taking the role of a hero with a unique ability.

As well as getting a hand of Attack cards.

At the start of each round, a Dysfunction Family card is revealed. These cards have a variety of effects, but will often hinder the players in their attempts.

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Once completed, the Villain for the round is revealed from the Villain Deck, which will have anywhere from 5 to 10 villains, depending on player count.

The bottom of the Villain card shows how many Villain Attack cards are revealed as well.

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Note the black text on the Villain attack cards versus the white text of the Hero Attack cards. Additionally, the Villain Attack cards show the damage of the attack, and the Hero Attack cards show the Heal value.

During each round, players will be using their Attack cards to attempt to overpower the Villain Attack cards. Players take turns taking one of their own Attack cards and using it against one of the Villain Attack cards, hoping to pair their cards in such a way that their Attack value exceeds the villain’s. Alternatively, Hero Attack cards can be used to heal another player for their Heal value. Each Villain Attack card which goes unanswered will deal it’s Damage to the players.

But if the players are able to survive through the Villains, they make it to the Final Battle, which uses the reverse side of the Villain cards and is about twice as powerful as normal Villain Attack cards. But if even 1 player can survive the Final Battle, the whole team wins!

Final Thoughts

Umbrella Academy is a quick-playing light combat card game. It’s the sort of game that would be great to start off a game night and get everyone in the gaming mood. Or play over and over since it’s got a speedy 20 minute game time.

With art style taken directly from the graphic novel, this is a surefire hit with any fan of the series. Its Kickstarter campaign was fully funded in less than an hour, so suffice to say there’s a big fanbase already pretty hyped for the game!

The Umbrella Academy Game$25 – KS Ends Sept 4

Umbrella Academy Card Game Based on the Acclaimed Comic Book Series by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá

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  • 1 -6 Players
  • 20 Minutes
  • Ages 12+

Thanks for watching!

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Author: Matt Sall
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