Wild Wars: CCG FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Wild Wars: Collectible Card Game.

General Questions

Age Questions

Really love how the game looks like it makes science come alive for kids.  I have a 9 year old boy and a 6 year old girl.  Are they old enough to play?

We define the game as 8 and up, but, the truth is, because girls tend to develop mentally faster than boys, we’ve noted girls successfully learning the game as young as six.

Layout Questions

On each card, on the left of where it says the animals class (and on the food cards left of where it says COLOR Food source), there is a little icon that looks like a bullseye and has R followed by a number. I see R1, R2, R3, R4. What is the purpose of this icon?

The icon shows the release edition. (The bull’s eye is our first edition.) The “R” number is the Rarity and is based on how endangered the animal is or how scarce the type of food source is. This gives a clear explanation: http://wildwarsgame.com/faq/rarities/

What’s with the weird little square bar code things on the cards?

These are called QR (or “Quick Response”) codes.  Each card uses a unique one, allowing kids to scan the codes with their parents’ camera-enabled mobile phones or smart devices and then learn about the creature on the card, interesting facts about how rare they are, and information about the artist who did the painting on the card.

QR Code Questions

I think the codes are messed up, as I couldn’t scan them. How do I fix that?

Occasionally people will have issues with scanning these codes as they are on the small size for QR codes.  We’ve found that they all do work with most of the popular smartphones on the market, but you may need to use the digital zoom on your camera phone to get it large enough for your operating system’s QR code reader to focus on it correctly.

PowerStar Questions

How’s the PowerStar system work?

PowerStar system allows you to easily see if cards are designed for beginners or more experienced and older players.  We recommend you start with decks with no PowerStars to begin with and then add PowerStar cards as you go along.

How do I get PowerStar cards?

Currently, all Generals (from the deluxe decks or from the standalone packs) are at least one Power Star in ranking.  In the near future, we’re looking to make entire booster packs of various random PowerStar cards.

Will future PowerStar Booster packs be all different ratings, or just random cards from one PowerStar rating?

They’ll be random cards from one PowerStar rating, as we know gamers want to be able to play with their cards right out of the pack.  As they want more powerful cards, they can upgrade to packs of higher PowerStar rated cards.

Up to Date Rules

I also notice that on the website (http://wildwarsgame.com/rules/) some of the information is slightly different than in the rules I received. For instance the website says you must have at least 3 food source cards in your hand before starting the game, while the rules I received do not mention this. Which is more up to date?

The website will always be the most up-to-date. The 3 food sources requirement is something that both WW:CCG and WW:FB have in common. (This rule prevents new players from not having enough food to play some basic creatures early, which tends to really frustrate people.) 

Gameplay Questions

Food Questions

I am not clear where on the animal card it says how much food you need to buy it. Is it the number in the top right?

Yes, it is the number in the top right corner combined with any specific food symbols to the right. Wild Wars: CCG is a more strategic and calculated game than the Wild Wars: Family Battle! game we also make, so WW:CCG has specific colored food that you’ll need for at least part of your animal’s cost.

Since there are different colored food source cards, am I correct in assuming that you need the food source color to match the color of the animal you are buying? Or can any food card be used to buy any animal?

You need as much kingdom specific food as is indicated by the symbols to the right of the number.  The number indicates universal food, which you can use any food sources for.  This video clarifies how food costs are dealt with in Wild Wars: CCG, as well as how to get started playing: https://youtu.be/cgSWlfaEZsE

How many food sources can I play per turn?

One.

Can I “stockpile” harvested food for a future turn?

No.  Food spoils from one turn to the next. (There are special generals and objects that alter this rule somewhat.)

Is there a requirement for food sources in my opening hand?

Yes.  You need to have 3 food sources in your opening hand or you must redraw.

Animal Questions

What’s it mean when it says that an animal is “confused”?

When animals first come onto the battlefield, they show up at your base camp and are not yet prepared to go into battle.  They require one turn to rest before they can make proactive attacks.  However, unlike “exhausted” creatures, confused creatures can still defend their general, since this is an instinctual self-defense mindset. (The only exception for animals with the ability: “Rush.” Rush is used to show creatures that are so aggressive that they are ready to attack as soon as they are placed in their base camp.)

What does it mean when it says that an animal is “exhausted”?

Animals can either Attack or Defend on a single turn, they can’t do both.   Once they have done one or the other of these things, they are said to be exhausted and can perform no other actions until the beginning of their owners’ turn. (The only exception is for animals with the ability:”Vigor.” Vigor is used to show that they have special economy of motion or prior knowledge of their surroundings permitting them to both attack AND defend in a single turn.) 

On step 9 of the rules when it says ‘You may play any animal you still have unharvested food sources for’, what exactly does this mean? Does this mean that you have a second chance on your turn to buy another animal?

Yes it does mean that you have a second chance to buy an animal. (See next question for clarification.)

When can I pay the food costs and put animals on the battlefield?

Immediately before your main attack phase and immediately after. (Animals bought after your main attack can’t attack this turn, but you can put them out there as blocking animals and use up some food that might otherwise go to waste.  Additionally, the animal will no longer be Confused at the beginning of your next turn, just like an animal you played at the beginning of your current turn.)

Is there a limit to how many animals I can put on the battlefield per turn?

While you do have to purchase them at the correct times, the amount of food you possess to “hire” animals is really the only limitation.

In the Abilities sheet, creatures with Burrow are described as only being blockable by Underground animals. I don’t see any cards marked Underground. Are there just not any in the base game that can block creatures with Burrow? Or is this talking about other creatures with Burrow?

Kingdoms refer to where the animal prominently lives or sleeps and Underground is one of five kingdoms that you can buy pre-built decks in or build around.  They are denoted by color as follows:  Red = Land, Green = Forest, Blue = Sea, Black = Underground, White = Sky. As such, Burrowing animals can be blocked by any cards that have a Black border around them. (With that said, only creatures from the Underground kingdom have Burrow as an ability, so a creature that has Burrow can automatically block another creature with Burrow, since both are Underground creatures.)

Object Questions

When can I play objects?

Any time you have the necessary food to “purchase” them, they can be used–even in the middle of someone attacking.

Can boulders destroy creatures?

Nope.  Only other objects. (Poison Spears are objects that can destroy target creatures.)

How do I play traps?

Objects that say “Trap” in the center column are placed face down once their food cost is paid.  The opponent is then aware there’s a trap, but they don’t know what trap it is.

If a trap doesn’t destroy the creature, does the creature’s attack do damage to the opposing general?

No, even for things like nets, which only subtract 1 damage, they will prevent damage from passing along to the general as though a creature had blocked them.  (And they nullify “Overpower” abilities in creatures.)

Can a boulder destroy a trap that hasn’t deployed?

Yep.  It can destroy any object on the battlefield, even if it’s not turned face up.

Can a boulder destroy a spear after its user casts it? Can it be used to destroy a trap after it deploys, but before it damages the animal that tripped it?

Yes.

How do I destroy the Distorter?

The Boulder is currently the only solution for it.

Wild Wars: CCG vs. Other Strategy CCGs

You guys use the same colors as Magic: The Gathering does. Are you guys affiliated with Wizards of the Coast?

Great question. Despite the color similarities between Wild Wars kingdoms and Magic: the Gathering’s mana, we have no affiliation with Wizards of the Coast, although we have a great amount of respect for what they do over there.

The colors actually are a pretty universal pairing of two types of colors used in digital graphics: R-G-B (Red-Green-Blue) and B/W (Black-and-White). The fact that there is the color similarity means Wild Wars and Magic: the Gathering, combined with the fact that we use a simplified game structure and real world animals that opens up a much younger audience to this type of strategy game means that many parents do use Wild Wars as a way to transition their young children into the fantasy world of Magic: the Gathering. While we do feel like Wild Wars offers a very unique world and story space to Magic, we’re very pleased to be a part of new players discovering that one, as well, since Mark Rosewater and team do such a great job on pushing the boundaries on everything.

What are the main differences between Wild Wars and Magic: The Gathering?

To start with, Magic the Gathering may be one of the most complex and challenging games on the market, definitely designed for adults to fully appreciate it and the patience to push through the learning curve. (When I learned to play MtG a few years ago, it took me the better part of six months of regular play just to play decently well and the better part of a year to understand all the basic strategy components of the game.)

Wild Wars, on the other hand, is very streamlined and intentionally designed to be accessible to a much wider age range, with a much lower learning curve.

The areas that this can be seen most notably (with italics showing greater complexity and learning curve) are:
Minimum Age range:
MtG: 13 and up.
WW: 7 and up.
Number of card types normally used:
MtG: 7.
WW: 3-4.
Dominant form of communication:
MtG: Plain Text with Bold Keywords.
WW: Icons with Big Keywords.
Avg. Time to Play a Game:
MtG: 30-40 minutes.
WW: 15-20 minutes.
Type of World:
MtG: Fantasy.
WW: Real world.
Types of Creatures:
MtG: Unlimited.
WW: Animals only.
Custom Deck Building:
MtG: Most build from scratch from booster packs.
WW: Most swap a few new cards from a booster pack into preexisting starter decks.
Default Importance of Booster Packs:
MtG: Maximum importance, since most decks are built from scratch.
WW: Minimal importance, since most players use pre-built decks and then use boosters to customize them a bit.

In addition, there’s a difference when it comes to gender attraction. MtG currently has nearly a 90% male audience, while Wild Wars is already seeing a much more diverse audience.

Many women that have been interviewed over the years–who were not exposed at a young age to strategy games or fun ways of doing math–have stated that they had begun to believe they were inferior in math and science to boys by the time they were 12 and 13, which would cause many of them to avoid complex games like MtG, which is very clearly mathematically and strategically based.

However, from what we’ve observed, when 6-10 year old girls were given the chance to play strategy games like Wild Wars, which use math and science in a fun way, they tended to believe they were equally capable of winning against the boys they played against, and, in fact, to show a better understanding of strategy than boys at a comparable development level. While it will take time to see long term results from this, it could be a very promising sign for an increased number of female Wild Wars players getting into math, sciences, and strategic military pursuits.

I’m a competitive Magic tournament player and I’ve got young kids. I’ve been looking for a good strategy game that could get my 7 year old son and 6 year old daughter into Magic: the Gathering and I saw that some parents are using Wild Wars to help that transition. About what Power Star level would be right to transition them into that?

We start at a Power Star 0 rating, which is designed for beginners ages 7 and up (although we’ve seen girls, who tend to mature faster as a rule, of six play this game effectively). We cap our complexity at a Power Star Rating of 3 (approximately 11 years and up), with the understanding that our game is never designed to rival the challenge and complexity of Magic. After your kids have been deck building and playing at the PSS3 level, for awhile, they should be able to transition to the complexities of Magic pretty well. (Just be aware that not all elements of Wild Wars will transition directly to magic. For example, Generals–although somewhat like planeswalkers–are no longer comparable to anything in Magic. Additionally, the abilities of Wild Wars animals in different kingdoms are driven by the actual world animals that reside there, so they often don’t match the abilities of different colored creatures in Magic. Feel free to use the cheat sheet below to simplify the transition.)

I play a lot of Magic and I’m trying to teach my son Wild Wars. Do you have a Wild Wars cheat sheet for transitioning from playing Magic, so I use the official terms?

Here are a quick references of the starting differences:
Life: 10 life, not 20
Hand: 8 cards, not 7
Deck size: 42, not 60.
Duplicate Cards Permitted per Deck: 3, not 4.
Starting Hand Options: You must re-draw until you have at least 3 food sources in your starting hand, at which time you must play your hand, no mulligan rules.

Here are comparable things to help your mind adapt:

Card types:
Food Source = Mana Source
Animal = Creature
Objects = Artifacts+Instants (they can be played any time you have unharvested food)
Individual objects:
->Objects – Traps = Are sort of like Artifacts if they had Morph, except they have no morph flip cost, since they’re auto-triggered by a type of opponent attacking
->Objects – Personal = Artifact – Equipment
->Objects – target = instant creature removal and/or artifact destruction
->Objects – Area = Area-effect enchantments and/or area-effect artifacts
Spawn = Tokens
Generals = Planeswalkers meet Vanguard Cards (an obsolete Magic card that were released in the late 90’s)

Terms:
Food Source Harvested = Mana Tapped
Animal Exhausted = Creature Tapped
Confused = summoning sickness

Abilities:
Overpower = Trample
Hide = First Strike
Attached = Defender
Savage = Doublestrike
Burrow = Intimidate, Fear
Suck = Lifelink
Vigor = Vigilance
United = simplified Banding (an early Magic mechanic)
Entangle = Reach + removes Flying
Rush = Haste
Lethal = Deathtouch
Divide = no evergreen ability currently (essentially Double Token Generate triggered by death)
Pounce = no evergreen ability currently (similar to Pit Fight enchantment)
Perceive = no ability directly comparable (anti-first strike; limited hexproof)
¥ Impervious = no ability directly comparable (anti-Deathtouch)
¥ Distract = no ability directly comparable (remove ability from creature you block)

¥ = These abilities have been announced, but are not in Release 1.

Rarities:
R1 = Common
R2, R3, R4 = Uncommon
R5, R6, R7 = Rare
RU & R8 = Mythic Rare