Universal Fighting System (2006)

The Universal Fighting System (UFS) is a collectible card game originally designed by Sabertooth Games. The themes of the cards are drawn from a multitude of licensed gaming universes, especially fighting game licenses.

A game in the Universal Fighting System represents a battle between two adversaries. Each player controls one of the two characters, with the objective being to defeat the opponent, typically through loss of vitality. The two characters need not be from the same universe; for example, Chun-Li from Street Fighter could battle Cassandra from Soul Calibur or Tycho from Penny Arcade.

Players take turns, with each turn consisting of multiple actions. With each additional action a player takes in a turn, the difficulty of successfully completing that action increases. Players can continue to take actions until they choose to stop or until they fail an attempt. The game structure typically involve players building up foundations over successive turns, which then allows a greater number of actions before failure. Management of these becomes crucial, as players must strike a balance between using their resources for offense and defense; going "all out" for a series of attacks can leave one vulnerable to retaliation during the opponent's turn. The system relies heavily on card combinations, where one card enhances the effect of another. The game is an advanced or expert level product (owing in large part to the fact that every card has at least one special ability), primarily aimed at older or more experienced gamers.