The Wheel of Time Collectible Card Game (2000)

The Wheel of Time CCG is based on the novels of the same name, penned by Robert Jordan, and later, Brandon Sanderson. One player takes the side of the light and the Dragon Reborn, while another takes the side of the shadow and the Forsaken, in a struggle for control of the Pattern, the ultimate fabric and destiny of the universe.

Each player requires his or her own Hero or Villain deck to play. Each deck features a major character from the Wheel of Time book series. The light side player chooses a hero to play with while the shadow player uses a villain deck. Characters in the side of light include series protagonists Rand al'Thor, Matrim Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, and the other characters of good found within the books. Characters for the shadow include dark friends, as well as Rahvin and the other chosen.

The players attempt to sway the Pattern to their side and amass the might needed to defeat his or her opponent in the final Pattern challenge and win the game. Along the way players will engage in politics, marshaling of armies, magic, and intrigue in an effort to bring characters, troops, and entire kingdoms onto their side.

The core of the Wheel of Time CCG involves rolling dice. Characters and troops, each have different stats corresponding to their skill in politics, intrigue, combat and the one power. These stats translate into dice rolls, used to win challenges and to generate resources.

Every turn, players commit their characters and troops into challenges. Challenges are done via playing challenge cards or initiating the pattern challenge, which is the ultimate objective for both the light and shadow. Unassigned characters and troops can be used to generate resources which in turn, can summon more allies or to attach buffs called advantages.

Players then contest challenges by comparing dice rolls of their committed characters and troops. The attacking player attempts to roll swords in the in-game custom dice, while the defending player attempts to roll shields. Winning challenge cards grant advantages based on card text, while winning the Pattern challenge may place Pattern tokens toward the side of the victorious player.

End game triggers upon both players having a total of twenty Pattern tokens, together with any neutral tokens generated during play. The game then proceeds to the final challenge, where the players fight for dominance, again rolling the dice generated by their characters and troops, but this time, adding their Pattern tokens toward their success rolls.