Fourth Horizon

Earth was dying. We had to leave. One colony world, Teohid-3, stands alone as a brilliant success. When people first arrived, they found it extremely similar to Earth, but over time they’ve discovered its unique natural resources.

The closer one looks at Teohid-3, the more alien the world appears. The plant and animal life of Earth has largely choked out the native species, but not quite all of them. Orange nivemhelite crystals litter the world’s technology, and deep in the oceans there lies dormant an unusual resource called mana which has caused many to question their understanding of reality. Even the people, fitted with a wide variety of augmentations and modifications to their bodies, don’t quite appear the same anymore.

Teohid-3 celebrated its independence over a hundred years ago. In order to maintain peace, communication—and to present a demonstration of power—the Fourth Horizon Council meets every other year. Trade deals, alliances, wars, and more have been started and ended at these meetings. 

What will this year’s Council meeting hold?

What is Fourth Horizon?

Fourth Horizon is an expandable card game which depicts a power struggle between the major regions of Teohid-3. After constructing your deck, each player competes to gain influence. The player who has the most influence when the game is over wins—simple as that. But the path to accomplish these goals may become rather complex with the array of actions, mods, and allies that you can build a deck with.

Fourth Horizon was inspired in part by dueling card games such as Magic: The Gathering or Hearthstone, though we’re seeking a system that simplifies a few parts of the game without reducing the fun complexity of those games’ decision making. The traditional resource system many games use is re-designed, allowing each player to begin with the same amount of resources—enough to play a few cards at once or their most valuable cards on turn one. This levels the playing field and removes a level of variance from the game. Now, if you have a hand full of expensive cards, it doesn’t mean you have to skip your first few turns. We wanted to let the player focus on their strategy and deckbuilding, forcing them to make difficult decisions about what cards they play first, and not be beholden to a mana curve.

We’re still experimenting with the game while it’s in alpha. Right now we’re testing card balance, a faster deck building experience, and more. More news to come in 2021!