Card Ninja: Wild Cards revealed

We've been getting quite a bit of mail from all you Ninja flickers asking us for more information on the wild cards that appear in the Card Ninja game. We love hearing from you and are excited that you are as excited about the game as we are.

So to help you out, I'll be running a series of posts discussing the wild cards, what they do to help you succeed and what they can do to hinder your progress. This isn't intended to be a spoiler posting. So what I won't do is directly reveal the clues inserted into the cards that help you decide where to flick them. Seeing the cards at a larger size should be help enough I think.

Just like the movies, we'll look at the cards in order of their appearance, starting today with the Blessing and Curse cards.



The Blessing card is the first of the 'good card' series and shows up for the first time during level 3. Flicking the blessing card to its correct target gets you a boost of 5 cards added to your total. There is no penalty for getting this card wrong, other than missing out on a nice little bonus of course.

Blessing appears a number of times during the game. After it first shows up and gets you in the swing of how wild cards work, its inserted into rounds where things get a little hairy and we figured you might need some help.

The image we used was crafted by Kevin our crack graphic designer. He blended a bunch of images and worked his photoshop magic to give us a beautiful looking card. Its kind of a Buddha mixed with a china doll colored with Japanese inspired tones. It gives off a very clean, saintly image. Ideal, I'd say, for bestowing a blessing on needy players!



The Curse card is the direct counterpoint to the Blessing and yes you guessed it, it's the first of the evil cards to show up.

Its role is to get in your way if things are looking a little easy. If you flick the curse card at the wrong target you get a penalty of 5 cards. Get it right and you avoid that penalty.

Curse shows up for the first time in Level 5 and appears several more times during the game. Curse is really a tough card because you have so many chances to get it wrong. You can't just guess at this one and hope for the best. Do that and you will be hitting the same wall over and over again.

The image is another blend of multiple images by Kevin. Its inspired by some Kabuki theater masks. The Kabuki theater is an old form of theater from Japan dating back to the 1600's; Lots of dancing and masks. One of the reasons it inspired us is because the discussion about the origins of Ninja's is very much intertwined with Kabuki. One theory is that the actors playing assassins and warriors dressed in all black, just like the stagehands, so they could more easily emerge from the shadows and shock the audience. Assassins. All black clothing. Sound familiar????

Looking forward to hearing your comments.

Next post, the Beast and Ajnin...

 

More Card Ninja Wildcards revealed

The Ninja is back, following up on our post about Blessing and Curse, I am going to dig into the next two wildcards that appear in the game; Assassin and Ajnin.


These cards can have a dramatic impact on your game score, so if you’ve been struggling to get past level 8, reading this post could be the answer to all your worries.


The Assassin wildcard is all about time. As any of you who have been an actual assassins will know, getting the job done quickly and getting the hell out of there, is what it’s all about. One of the Ninja’s primary technique’s was stealth and their ability to do things so quickly that no one even noticed they had been there.






Throwing the Assassin card freezes time for about 8 seconds. In the game this can be a huge factor in progressing because not only does it stop the clock, allowing you to hit your targets calmly without losing those precious time bonuses, but it also freezes the action on the screen. In the rounds where there are moving targets, this bonus is even more powerful.


The visuals here were molded by Kevin our graphic designer using a combination of images and cool artwork. The image is of course an ancient sand timer or hourglass. Turn the device over and the sand starts dripping through the enclosure. They were originally invented to time the speed of ships apparently. Of course they have also been used by some intrepid cooks hungry for deliciously gooey egg yolks. I saw my first hourglass in the hands of the wicked witch of the east in the Wizard of Oz and you’ll recognize it more recently from Lord of the Rings, Legend of Zelda and other great games and movies.


As before, I am not going to be explicit about how you make Time machine work, but if you look carefully at the image of the card you’ll see an obvious clue. It follows the same theme as the earlier clues and once you get it, you are set to stealthily climb your way up the Ninja ranks. Feel free to leave your thoughts on what the clue is and how to stop the clock.




Next up is Ajnin. This is definitely a favorite of mine and not only because it was inspired by an idea from my 10 year old son, Max. The card was originally called topsy turvy while we were in development and that basically sums up its effect. Its turns your world upside down. It makes a mockery of your Ninja skills with alarming results when you aren’t ready for it. Starting to get the idea now? Ninja becomes ajniN.


The effect is to take all of your flick throws and reverse them. Throw up to the right and the card shoots off down and to the left. Flick down card goes up etc etc. Its one of my favorites because I kind of enjoy the fresh challenge of having to rethink every throw and its kind of fun trying to get the cards right even though you know you are throwing them completely wrong. I also find that its a real mind twister once the effect has timed out. I always get stuck in Ajnin mode throwing reverse for the first couple of cards after its over.






The visual for this card is actually some images Kevin took of his own arms. Not easy to do, but he’s tough and a great photographer to boot, so it was easy for him.


The clue for this card is slightly different than the previous cards but again, if you look closely you’ll see there is an element displayed in this card that is always present on a target when you see the card appear in the deck. Trust me, you’ll want to get this right even though getting it right means turning your world upside down.


Next up the scariest and most dramatic cards in this release of the game: Dragon and Ghost

 

Don't forget, you throw the card at the targets that are placed around the edge of the board. There is no correct pile there are only correct targets.