Learn how to play Cross The Ages, a fantasy and science fiction themed TCG.

How to play Cross the Ages (1) Game World

Cross The Ages is an epic card battle arena where the ancient and the modern come together in a clash of powerful forces. The Appologium, once a remnant of the devastating Heroes' War, now provides a battleground for mystical creatures, wizards, and robots to fight for dominance.

The lore of Cross the Ages is based on seven award-winning fantasy and science fiction books written by Arnaud Dollen. As of February 2023, all 21 chapters of the first book "The Chrome Spell Book" has already been released while the chapter releases for the second book "Data Spell" is ongoing. There are a total of 7 books planned for the series.

The Chrome Spell Book and Data Spell by Arnaud Dollen (Source: crosstheages.com)

Each book release is accompanied with 365 cards crafted by 75 digital artists, featuring characters from the book with varying types and levels of rarity. Players will face off in a battle of strategy and wit as they try to seize control of the game board with their cards. Each card possesses its own special abilities and effects that can be used to outwit and dominate opponents. Plan your moves and play your cards right because only then can you emerge victorious!

More than just an ordinary trading card game, Cross The Ages is a phygital NFT card game that fuses the two worlds of digital and physical gameplay into one immersive experience. Players can experience the full value cycle from mobile gaming to desktop gaming and even converting digital NFT cards to physical cards.

Join us as we Cross The Ages and challenge yourself to become the ultimate card-battling champion!

(2) Game Modes

Cross the Ages is a PvP card game that pits you against one or even two opponents in an intense battle of wits and strategy.

The "friendly duel" option allows you to choose between playing against someone you know, or challenging a randomly selected human opponent.

To come out on top, you must play fast, play smart, think fast, act swiftly, and use strategy to outwit your opponents. For those more competitive players, there's also the option to enter tournaments and compete against other players from around the world.

The latest round i.e., Stage 1 of the Arkhomes Tournament took place on July 7th, 2022. It pitted seven teams against each other, each representing one of the 7 elements of the game namely Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Nature, Light, and Darkness. The date for Stage 2 of the Arkhomes Tournament has yet to be announced.

The winning team will be awarded the prestigious title “Supreme Arkhome”. This title comes with a unique opportunity as it opens the door for all the members who are part of this winning team to participate in Stage 2, an individual competition with a mysterious prize that's yet to be revealed.

(3) Game Mechanics (a) The Board

In Cross The Ages, two competitors come head to head in a strategic territory conquest. The board is shared between both players and takes the form of a 4x4 grid with each cell being filled with either a battle or leader card from the player's individual decks.

The Board (Source: crosstheages.com)

Players can gain control over cells they place their cards on, but once put down, these cards cannot be removed. For cards already on the board, their ownership can change throughout the game as they are taken over by other competing cards.

(b) Determining the Victor

Winning a game of Cross The Ages can be achieved in three different ways:

• Owning more cards on the board than your opponent at the end of the game will guarantee you the win.
• If an opponent’s time limit reaches zero, they automatically forfeit the game and you will be declared the winner.
• If both players own 8 cards on the board when the game ends, the player with the most time left is declared the victor.

What will I get from winning a game? (Source: crosstheages.com)

(c) Turns

As the game begins, a coin is flipped to decide which player will go first. For each player, 10 cards drawn randomly from the deck form their starting hand – nine battle cards and one field card. Among those nine battle cards, one card is the Leader, a strong card that can turn the tide of the game in your favor.

During your turn in the game, you are given the ability to manipulate the field and take advantage of conditions. You can discard a card from your hand to draw a new one, and this doesn't end your turn. Additionally, you may play up to two field cards in each game, which also won't bring your turn to an end. However, if you decide to play a battle card, that will end your turn so it's important to plan wisely.

(d) Time

As each player takes their turn in the game, they are presented with a ticking countdown clock. This countdown is set to five minutes and will be active until the current player has completed their turn.

If the clock reaches zero before a turn is complete, the player will be considered "timed out" and automatically lose the game. If you want to stay ahead of the game, you must strategize and optimize your decisions in order to beat the clock!

(e) Capture

To capture your opponent’s cards in the game, you must place your card so that it is adjacent to theirs. This means that your card must have a shared side with their card – either top, bottom, right or left. When a card is placed in this way, it will automatically attempt to attack and capture the opponent's card.

Your attack's success depends on the power of your card, including any modifiers such as Affinities applied to it. This power is then compared to the power of the card you are attacking, taking into account any modifiers applied to it.

In addition to the power shown on the card, other rules may also apply such as Advantages and Chains. But don't worry as these features are explained in more detail in the game mechanics below!

Capture a Card (Source: crosstheages.com)

(4) Types of Cards

There are three types of cards you can play in a card game namely battle cards, field cards and leader cards.

(a) Battle Cards

Battle cards are essential for success, as they can be used to capture your opponent's cards or defend your own positions. All battle cards have multiple information displayed on their front. The most important ones are notably the element (on the top right) and the power value (at the bottom).

Cross the Ages cards (Source: crosstheages.com)

(b) Field Cards

Rather than taking up space on the board like battle cards do, field cards modify the board condition by applying effects such as increasing or decreasing power values that can last multiple turns until the opponent negates them. The effects these cards apply depend on their element, so you'll need to be extra careful when selecting which card to play. Plus, playing a field card won't end your turn either! You have the option to combine its effect with other special attack moves from your Leader.

Field Cards (Source: medium.com/@crosstheages)

(c) Leader Card and Special Attack

When constructing your deck, you will choose a leader card from your battle cards. The leader card selected will always be drawn at the beginning of each game.

What makes this card even more powerful is the special attack associated with it. These special attacks can be chosen and added during the deck building process. Having this advantage gives you an extra edge over your opponents, as the special attack can easily turn the tide of battle in your favor.

Apart from the special attack, the leader card also increases your chain counter by 1 as long as it remains in your possession. This means that when you take control of an adjacent enemy card, your battle or leader card will attack an extra adjacent card, greatly increasing your chances of dominating the board.

Leader Cards (Source: medium.com/cross-the-ages)

(5) Different Parts of a Card

Here's a quick guide on how to read the different parts of a card:

(a) Animation Level – Information related to the animation of the card, which is purely cosmetic and has no impact on its power.

(b) Card Element: Important information displayed on the card. This info will help trigger effects such as Advantages and Affinities.

(c) Card Rarity: Cosmetic information that shows the rarity of card and eventually about its potential strength.

(d) Power Value: Numerical information that represents the strength of your cards. A higher grade would provide a bigger power bonus which would result in a higher power value for your cards. The higher power value of your cards would in turn improve your chances of successfully capturing your opponents’ cards during battles.

(e) Grade: Ranges from D which is the lowest grade to S which is the highest. Generally, the higher the grade of a card, the rarer it will be which means the probability of finding it would be lower.

In terms of gameplay, grades are an indication of the level of upgrade of your cards. A higher grade signifies a higher level of upgrade which would be reflected in a bigger power bonus which as mentioned above would result in a higher power value for your cards.

Power Level of your card (Source: crosstheages.com)

(6) How to Upgrade Cards

(a) Standard Cards

Every card you acquire has the potential to become even more powerful thanks to crafting, a unique mechanic that allows you to upgrade your cards beyond their Standard version.

Each card in the game has a potential gauge which, when increased to certain percentages, will unlock an improved version of that card. For example, when the gauge reaches 25%, the card will jump from Rank 1 to Rank 2 (+15). Subsequent milestones at 50%, 75% and 100% will grant even greater power bonuses (+30, +45 and +60 respectively).

Powering up cards to reach their highest rank is a rewarding but costly process. To level up a card to its fifth and final rank, you’ll need to sacrifice a certain number of cards with the same rarity as the one you want to upgrade.

Sacrifice Card (Source: crosstheages.com)

The number of cards needed for the upgrade increases with the rarity of the card i.e. the rarer a card is, the more cards will be needed in order to power it up. Not only that, but you'll also need to spend some Trisel, an in-game currency you can acquire by playing the game, to complete the power-up process. You will eventually reach a point where your Standard Card reaches its full capacity i.e. Rank 5. This is your cue to start exploring the possibility of awakening your card into a more powerful version in the form of an Alternative Card.

Trisel amount to spend when crafting (Source: crosstheages.com)

(b) Alternative Cards

After your Standard card reaches its maximum level (rank 5) you have the choice to perform an awakening and obtain its Alternative version! In this form, your card will have a unique new illustration as well as increased power. The awakening process is not free, however, and the amount of coins depends on the rarity of the card you are trying to awaken. Whilst this process is entirely up to you, it is a one way transformation. Once your card has been awakened to its Alternative version, there's no way to reverse it!

The awakening process does not always guarantee the Alternative card that you desire, as a system of probabilities based on the various sacrificed cards is used to determine the outcome. For example, if you had sacrificed five rare Ruby cards into the awakening process, there is a greater chance you will get the Alternative Ruby card. On the other hand, if 3 rare Ruby cards are used, you will have a ⅗ chance of getting the Alternative Ruby card. The other two cards used each grant a ⅕ chance of getting them as an alternative version.

Once you acquire some Alternative cards, you can then merge two compatible Alternative cards together to create the ultimate level cards in the form of Alternative Combo cards.

Alternative Cards (Source: crosstheages.com)

(c) Alternative Combo Cards

Alternative Combo cards are the ultimate level of card. By merging compatible Alternatives cards, you can create Alternative Combo cards that have the higher rarity of the two sacrificed cards. For example, if you merge a Ruby (Rare) card with a Ronan (Uncommon) card, the resulting Combo card will be Rare. This increased rarity is purely cosmetic and does not affect gameplay.

What's more, the Alternative Combo card automatically gains a +25 bonus based on the more powerful of the two sacrificed Alternatives cards, giving you an extra boost in power. This strategy can be used to elevate your Alternatives deck to greater heights and give you an edge against any opponents.

If two Alternative cards of different grades are merged together, a new Alternative Combo card is created with the grade determined randomly between the S grade and the lowest grade of the two sacrificed Alternatives. For example, if you sacrifice an A Grade and a C Grade Alternative Card to create a Combo card, the new card will have a grade that could be anything between an S and C grade.

Alternative Combo Cards (Source: crosstheages.com)

(7) The Heptagram

The heptagram is an integral part of Cross The Ages and its understanding is essential for mastering the game. It consists of seven points that represent the seven elements of the game namely Nature, Earth, Darkness, Water, Fire, Light, Air. Let’s break it step by step and explore how it can be used efficiently.

The Heptagram (Source: crosstheages.com)

(a) Advantages

Each of the seven elements that make up the heptagram has an advantage over two other elements while being weak against another two. This is known as Advantages which takes the form of the rock-paper-scissor relationship between the elements within the heptagram. Advantages allow you to benefit from a bonus of power value when trying to capture an opponent’s card. When an attack is attempted, the strength of each element is analyzed in order to determine the outcome of the clash. If one card holds a superior element, then that card will gain a bonus boost in power, bolstering its chances of success.

This bonus allows the superior element to capture its opponent card. With this in mind, utilizing the right element at the right time can be the difference between success and failure!

(b) Chains

When you successfully take control of a card and it has adjacent cards owned by an opponent, the captured card will attempt to attack every eligible adjacent card. This is known as a chain which is a series of connected reactions set off by a single action.

The strength of these chains is limited by a chain counter, which determines how far the reaction will travel. This counter is predetermined based on the card played. Higher value cards typically provide longer and more powerful chains than lower value cards.

(c) Affinities

The affinity system is a feature that can drastically increase the power value of your cards. If you place two or more of your cards next to each other on the board with the same affinity, they will both gain a boost in power.

Affinities are established based on the heptagram that consists of seven points that represent the seven elements of the game namely Nature, Earth, Darkness, Water, Fire, Light, Air. These elements form part of a web of affinities that are established between them. There are two types of affinities namely simple and double affinities.

Two Types of Affinities (Source: crosstheages.com)

• Simple Affinity: A simple affinity is an affinity between 2 cards. Once created, both cards gain +100 of power.

Simple Affinity (Source: crosstheages.com)

• Double Affinity: A double affinity is an affinity between 3 cards.

Double Affinities (Source: crosstheages.com)

(8) Game Economy

Trisel and Prana are the two in-game currencies in Cross the Ages. Each one has its own utility and purpose within the game.

(i) Trisel

Trisel is the currency of transformation which can be used to craft and transform any in-game asset, or even pick up some free cosmetics like emotes and card backs. Trisel is rewarded only by winning a game match.

(ii) Prana

Prana is the currency of acquisition which can be used to get your hands on those off-chain assets like chests and paid cosmetics. Prana can be bought inside the in-game shop, its price has a fixed value.