What is VARZ?
Chapter 1 / 5 ยท 3โ5 min
So what is VARZ?
A card game where the board matters as much as the cards.
Rion
Right. Someone said I have to explain VARZ to people. So โ Noir. What is it, in one sentence?
Noir
A hex-based tactical trading card game. You command a Hero, summon Spils to fight beside them, and destroy the enemy's Portals.
Rion
That was four nouns I don't know yet.
Noir
Then the short version: it is a card game played on a board. Not just which card you play โ where you put it.
Rion
Okay, that I get. It's a battlefield, not a tabletop.
How is it different from other TCGs?
Three things: position, the pieces on the board, and the decisions they force.
Rion
I've played card games before. What's actually new here?
Noir
Three things. First: a card is played to a specific hex. A summon in the wrong place cannot reach anything.
Noir
Second: the board holds three kinds of thing at once โ your Hero, the Spils you summon, and the Portals that must be defended.
Noir
Third: your Hero stands on the board too. It is not a life counter at the edge of the table โ it can move, attack, and be attacked.
Rion
So the interesting decision isn't 'what do I draw'. It's 'where does everything stand right now'.
Noir
Correct. That is the game.
The world of VARZ
Modern Tokyo, and something standing next to it.
Rion
And the setting? Because the art does not look like a normal card game.
Noir
Modern Tokyo. Real streets, real station names โ and beside them, a hidden side most people never see.
Noir
The rumours that city tells about itself โ the cursed video, the girl who asks whether she is beautiful โ are not rumours there. They are Spils.
Rion
Urban legends, except they're standing in front of you.
Noir
And a Hero is a person who can act against them. In a match, the Spils you summon are the ones fighting on your side.
And who are you two?
A hacker who trusts only what she can measure, and the butler she built.
Rion
Also, nobody introduced us. I'm Rion. I write code and I don't believe in ghosts.
Noir
A position that has become difficult to maintain.
Rion
It's under review. This is Noir โ an AI butler. I built him. He handles the parts of a morning I refuse to.
Rion
KS-HeS01
Noir, the Cyber Butler
Rion
Wait. We're on a card. Together. On the same card.
Noir
The mechanic is called V-Sync. A Hero flips to a second form once their level is high enough. You will meet it properly in the Basics.
Rion
Fine. But I'm asking about the power numbers later.
Where the project is now
VARZ is still being built. That is the interesting part.
Rion
Last question. Why would someone care about this now instead of when it's finished?
Noir
Because it is not finished. The rules are in Alpha and they change on player feedback. The people playing now are shaping what ships.
Rion
So the feedback actually goes somewhere. That's rarer than it sounds.
Noir
The project has a Kickstarter page. That is where it is being funded, and it is linked below.
Rion
So that's the one to look at if you want to see the thing itself.
Noir
Separately, there is pre-registration. It is free, and it is the only way to be told on the day the campaign opens.
Rion
Do that one. Easier than trying to find this again in three months.
Noir
And if you would rather learn the rules first, the Basics are next. They take about as long as this did.