Mothership Games released a preview of Cataclysm Arcade, an upcoming TCG, which will release later in 2026.
This retro future, post-apocalyptic game was developed by Brian David-Marshall, a Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour historian, former Magic judge, and co-founder and former owner of Neutral Ground in NYC. In this game, two players take control of a boss who are participating in a bloodsport duel that takes place in the old NYC subway tunnels. The flavor of the game is very reminiscent of the Grand Hall of the St. Louis Union Station scene in Escape from New York (see “Retro with a Twist“), where Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) takes on Slag (Ox Baker) in front of The Duke (Issac Hayes), except in a more gritty setting.
The gameplay is fairly easy. Players open up a booster pack (the game is played out of a single booster that contains 15 cards), and they present their boss. They then shuffle their deck, draw four cards, and proceed into turn-based combat that progresses by levels. Players can attach weapons to their bosses, add additional fighters to their team, and play actions.
Fighters and Weapons can enter play for free as long as their level is less than or equal to the current level of the game state (the level of the game goes up by one each turn; which creates a predictable game progression). The game ends when one the players’ bosses life is reduced to zero; in multiplayer games, all the other bosses must be defeated to win.
This game was previewed both at PAX Unplugged 2025 and GAMA Expo 2026. A crowd-funding campaign was originally slated for March 2026, which seems like it has been delayed. Currently, Brian David-Marshall is trying to build up the game’s Discord audience. The first 500 people to join get a free booster pack of Cataclysm Arcade.
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Source: ICv2
