Celestial is a web-app competitive card game taking inspiration from games like 'Gwent', 'Magic', and 'Dominion'. Players play against one another, against a computer opponent, or progress through a single player story-mode. Aesthetically Celestial is about human experience and telling our stories, and deviates from the traditional violence and monster focuses of the genre.
Celestial is about characters telling their stories. It aims to express meaningful ideas about the world through allegory, with some of the cards and themes being more fantastical, but consistently set against a realistic and relatable backdrop of modern day.
Each player has an avatar, which shows a given personality and lived experience. Each player's deck represents some of the ways that person exists in the world. Both players wake up in the morning, refreshed and with some new cards in hand. During the day, they contribute elements to a shared story, until both players are finished. In the evening, their story is performed in front of an audience, and the player whose tale most impressed grows their artifact.
The artifact is whatever the character is striving towards. For some it may be a flower that you are growing, others a mountain to climb, others a building to construct. It shows that the character’s efforts are done in the interest of creating something core to them. Once the artifact is complete (Has been grown 5 times) that player wins.
During the day, as the story is being formed, each character is unaware of exactly what the other is planning to contribute. One person has the option to contribute, or pass. Then the other person has that same choice. Once both player have passed in a row, the day ends and the night performance begins.
The individual cards are the pieces of the story created, and each capture some theme.
For example, Dove is a card which the other player knows about as they plan, and it will fly away instead of returning to the player’s deck like most cards. This imagery aims to capture letting go, honesty, living without regret.
Another card, Impulse, burns up and leaves ashes after it has been played. These ashes leave a feeling of regret and anxiety because you know you will draw them and it won't be good for you. The aim for this card is to show acting out of necessity, but then having lingering anxiety about the cost of that action, both in personal contexts or societal ones around unsustainable living.
The Characters document gives both a brief and thorough explanation of some of the characters being considered. Essentially each shows a way of being in the world, for example a life focused on fawning over someone else, as a way of escaping your self.
The core gameplay of Celestial is matches played between players, where each has a small constructed deck of 15 cards, spends breath (Mana) to play those cards from their hand to a 'Story' that is formed between the players. Once both players are done playing cards, cards in the story resolve in order, contributing points to the player who played them. Whichever player has more points wins that round, and whoever wins 5 rounds first wins the game. Celestial focuses on access to information (Cards in the story are hidden) and deck management (Once the deck runs out, the discard pile is shuffled and replaces the deck).
For the PVP experience, the available pool of cards in the standard format rotates often (Every 2-4 weeks) to promote a fresh experience for players focused on competition, and rich experience for players focused on creating and trying out new decks.
Story mode is a solo experience where the player must win matches to unlock more cards, and progress around the map. As cards are unlocked, spoken word vignettes express the cards as allegories for a variety of human experiences.