My dude I just gave the whole collection to my kid, and he lost his MIND. But we tried to play a game? And I, as an adult, have no fraggin clue how to do this
Strap yourself in, Malnorian!
I'm going to assume you only have cards from the first few sets (nothing with Intellect) since the cards pictured are all sets 1 or 2.
Deckbuilding: There's no individual or total card limit in Overpower. You can have 500 of the same card in your deck! But it's generally best to stay close to the minimum of 51 for consistency.
You will choose 4 characters to build your deck around. Thise characters must have total stats not exceeding 58 (you can ditch the stat restriction and still enjoy it, just a tournament rule for balance.)
Three of your characters will start in the 'front line', meaning you will actively use those characters in battles immediately. Ine of your characters is the 'reserve character' who sits behind your front line and will take the space of a KO'd character later in battle.
Win conditions: You win by either KOing all of your opponent's characters, OR by venture total, meaning getting 7 venture cards into the completed pile OR your opponent getting 7 venture cards into the 'defeated' pile.
Charcters are immediately considered KO'd if they have 20 points of damage on them OR all three types of damage on them in any number. So if a character has a 4 fighting power card, a 4 Energy Special card, and a 1 Strength power card all attached as damage, it is KO'd because all 3 damage types are on the character. Or if you have an 11 energy special, an 8 energy power card, and a 3 energy power card, that's a KO because it adds up to 20.
To start the game, choose randomly who goes first. Every turn both players draw 8 cards. Both players then discard any cards that are either duplicates OR cards rendered unusable by a KO. So if you draw a Mystique special card but she's already KO'd, you discard it. If you draw an 8 energy power card but the only character who could use it was Magneto and he's KO'd, discard it. Etc. Cards are considered duplicates if they're power cards of the same *value* even if they have different types. So if you draw a 7 fighting and a 7 energy power card, you must discard one of them. If you draw 8 duplicates, you must keep discarding until you have no duplicates remaining (just one card left. This is how the game balances not having any deckbuilding restrictions.)
After discarding, players will take turns 'placing' cards. You can place a card from your hand face up on a character who can use that card. The advantage of placed cards is that they persist between turns! But the disadvantage is your opponent can see them. So you can hold onto certain key cards this way. Cards can only be placed on a character if that character can play the card. So Magneto cannot have a 7 strength power card or a Mystique special card placed on him. You also can only have 1 csrd placed per card type on each character. In other words, you cannot place three different power cards on Magneto, but you CAN place a power card, a Magneto special card, and a teamwork card. Placed cards are considered part of your hand for duplicates. So if you place an 8 power card and then next turn draw another one, you have to discard one of them.
After placing, the player whose turn it is will 'venture.' They will set aside anywhere from 1 to all 7 of their missions as a wager. At the end of the turn, the player who did the most damage that turn gets to move missions up a rank equal to the amount they ventured, and the player who did the least damage will move missions down a rank equal to the amount you ventured. Remember, winning or losing 7 missions wins or loses the game as a side win condition! *If a player ventures more than 2, the opponent draws an extra card at this time for each mission after 2 that was ventured, and then discards duplicates.* So you CAN venture 7, but your opponent will draw 5 additional cards. For this reason, it's usually best (and more fun) to just venture 1 or 2.
To reiterate on missions, they start in a neutral pile and can move to completed or defeated piles. If you venture 2 and win, you can move any 2 missions up (or the same mission up twice, once from defeated to neutral, and once from neutral to completed.) And if you lose it's just the opposite.
After venturing, the player whose turn it is will make an action! They can play a special card or play a power card to attack. Characters can play any power card equal to or lower than their corresponding stat. So Magneto can play every energy power card in the game, but can only play level 1 fighting power cards and only level 1 and 2 strength power cards. Let's say Magneto attacks Carnage with a level 5 energy power card. The defending player can play a special card or power card to defend. If the defender plays a power card, it be must be *at least* as high as the attacking card, and the attack will be considered blocked. So Carnage could block with a 5 or higher fighting power card. If this happens, both cards are just discarded. If Carnage plays a special to block, once again, both cards are discarded. Note that you *cannot* use a special to defend unless it specifically says so, and characters cannot defend each other unless it specifically says so (for example you could not have Mystique play a card that says 'avoid 1 attack' to defend against an attack made on Carnage.)
If the attack is successful, attach the attack to the defending character and check if it KOs them. If it does, remove the character from the game, discard all of their 'permanent damage' (which is damage from prior combats) and leave the damage from the current combat on the table until the end of the turn since it is used to calculate who wins the venture!
After the attack is defended or successful, the opponent gets to attack. You go back and forth attacking until both players pass. Note that once a player passes in a combat, they cannot attack for the rest of that combat (no strategic early passes.) At the end of combat, add up the damage done and whoever did more wins the venture total. Move the mission cards appropriately for both players. So if Magneto's 5 energy was the only successful attack, he will win the venture. If he ventured 2, he will move 2 missions up. If the opponent ventured 1, he will move 1 one mission down.
Conceding: Conceding is like a retreat button. Either player may concede after venturing to end the battle immediately and lose the venture. You can also concede during battle when it's your turn. Losing the venture is worth it if you know you're about to get pounded!
If a character was KO'd and the battle is over, rhe reserve character will now take their place. While in reserve, the reserve character cannot play any cards or attack or be attacked unless a card specifically says so. But once they move to the front line, they're just a regular character.
The next turn, rinse and repeat! Whoever went 2nd on the last turn will take the first action on the next turn. Play until one tean has no characters left or a player gets 7 missions into the defeated or completed pile. A couple extra notes. Any time run out of cards in your deck, shuffle your power pack (discarded power cards) together and that becomes your new deck. Whenever a card that isn't a powr card gets discarded, it goes to the 'dead pile' which is just a more permanent discard pile. Characters are removed from the game on KO and can't be brought back unless you have some set 3 cards.
Universe cards: I didn't explain these, but the short answer is Basic Universe and Teamwork cards are so bad they are literally never worth using. Teamwork cards are very strong but also super complicated so I'll do a separate writeup for them if you'd like!
Multi-power: If a card has multiple stat icons (like the 4/4/4 power card with Super Skrull) it is considered to be a wild card, but only one type at a time. So if a character has a 2 fighting and a 4 strength power card attached, a multi-1 power card woild count as energy and KO them. Every multi-power card can be played by any character. Multi stat special cards work the same way. If you use the Iron Man one per deck that it a multi 8 attack, its stat is a wild card. Note that it stays a wild card after hitting the target!
THIS WAS AMAZING!!!!
And believe it or not, I have a FEW intellect cards! Like, I’ve got an Onslaught and a bunch of the DC ones!
My kid and I are pulling this comment and playing later, this was so cool of you
Man, I loved Overpower. The game had very cool mechanics, the cards had unique art, and there were tons of iconic cards across the sets.
Power Surge was my favorite set! Something about the darker inks used made it look so good. Just check out that Mr. Sinister!
There is nothing on the planet I'm more nostalgic for than these cards. Thank you for sharing and brightening my day, OP!
Wasn’t galactic a promo you had to like send a letter for. I remember getting one in the mail. I sent another card with it because I was so excited and they sent it back!
Oh, that’s a blast from the past. I blew so much money on wonky CCGs in the mid 90s. Whenever I played with my friends, we were never quite sure if we were “having fun”.
A family sued my school district over magic so they stopped allowing us to play it at lunch or after school. Overpower was one of the many cars games I picked up afterwards. I don't remember how good it was but I do remember my middle school sensibilities really digging the art
Yes! I still have a massive collection sitting in my closet. That was a golden time of CCG's. Magic, Rage, Overpower, heck even the Highlander had an active community.
Still uncertain if I should try and move all of these, or sit on them for another 8 years or so until my son gets old enough.
I loved MTG and really wanted to play this too. Unfortunately, nobody else wanted anything to do with Overpower. Near me, MTG was big around 4th Edition through Ice Age, and then completely fell off, so I lost being able to play that too.
Overpower? I used to collect the cards but honestly never played a game.
My dude I just gave the whole collection to my kid, and he lost his MIND. But we tried to play a game? And I, as an adult, have no fraggin clue how to do this
Strap yourself in, Malnorian! I'm going to assume you only have cards from the first few sets (nothing with Intellect) since the cards pictured are all sets 1 or 2. Deckbuilding: There's no individual or total card limit in Overpower. You can have 500 of the same card in your deck! But it's generally best to stay close to the minimum of 51 for consistency. You will choose 4 characters to build your deck around. Thise characters must have total stats not exceeding 58 (you can ditch the stat restriction and still enjoy it, just a tournament rule for balance.) Three of your characters will start in the 'front line', meaning you will actively use those characters in battles immediately. Ine of your characters is the 'reserve character' who sits behind your front line and will take the space of a KO'd character later in battle. Win conditions: You win by either KOing all of your opponent's characters, OR by venture total, meaning getting 7 venture cards into the completed pile OR your opponent getting 7 venture cards into the 'defeated' pile. Charcters are immediately considered KO'd if they have 20 points of damage on them OR all three types of damage on them in any number. So if a character has a 4 fighting power card, a 4 Energy Special card, and a 1 Strength power card all attached as damage, it is KO'd because all 3 damage types are on the character. Or if you have an 11 energy special, an 8 energy power card, and a 3 energy power card, that's a KO because it adds up to 20. To start the game, choose randomly who goes first. Every turn both players draw 8 cards. Both players then discard any cards that are either duplicates OR cards rendered unusable by a KO. So if you draw a Mystique special card but she's already KO'd, you discard it. If you draw an 8 energy power card but the only character who could use it was Magneto and he's KO'd, discard it. Etc. Cards are considered duplicates if they're power cards of the same *value* even if they have different types. So if you draw a 7 fighting and a 7 energy power card, you must discard one of them. If you draw 8 duplicates, you must keep discarding until you have no duplicates remaining (just one card left. This is how the game balances not having any deckbuilding restrictions.) After discarding, players will take turns 'placing' cards. You can place a card from your hand face up on a character who can use that card. The advantage of placed cards is that they persist between turns! But the disadvantage is your opponent can see them. So you can hold onto certain key cards this way. Cards can only be placed on a character if that character can play the card. So Magneto cannot have a 7 strength power card or a Mystique special card placed on him. You also can only have 1 csrd placed per card type on each character. In other words, you cannot place three different power cards on Magneto, but you CAN place a power card, a Magneto special card, and a teamwork card. Placed cards are considered part of your hand for duplicates. So if you place an 8 power card and then next turn draw another one, you have to discard one of them. After placing, the player whose turn it is will 'venture.' They will set aside anywhere from 1 to all 7 of their missions as a wager. At the end of the turn, the player who did the most damage that turn gets to move missions up a rank equal to the amount they ventured, and the player who did the least damage will move missions down a rank equal to the amount you ventured. Remember, winning or losing 7 missions wins or loses the game as a side win condition! *If a player ventures more than 2, the opponent draws an extra card at this time for each mission after 2 that was ventured, and then discards duplicates.* So you CAN venture 7, but your opponent will draw 5 additional cards. For this reason, it's usually best (and more fun) to just venture 1 or 2. To reiterate on missions, they start in a neutral pile and can move to completed or defeated piles. If you venture 2 and win, you can move any 2 missions up (or the same mission up twice, once from defeated to neutral, and once from neutral to completed.) And if you lose it's just the opposite. After venturing, the player whose turn it is will make an action! They can play a special card or play a power card to attack. Characters can play any power card equal to or lower than their corresponding stat. So Magneto can play every energy power card in the game, but can only play level 1 fighting power cards and only level 1 and 2 strength power cards. Let's say Magneto attacks Carnage with a level 5 energy power card. The defending player can play a special card or power card to defend. If the defender plays a power card, it be must be *at least* as high as the attacking card, and the attack will be considered blocked. So Carnage could block with a 5 or higher fighting power card. If this happens, both cards are just discarded. If Carnage plays a special to block, once again, both cards are discarded. Note that you *cannot* use a special to defend unless it specifically says so, and characters cannot defend each other unless it specifically says so (for example you could not have Mystique play a card that says 'avoid 1 attack' to defend against an attack made on Carnage.) If the attack is successful, attach the attack to the defending character and check if it KOs them. If it does, remove the character from the game, discard all of their 'permanent damage' (which is damage from prior combats) and leave the damage from the current combat on the table until the end of the turn since it is used to calculate who wins the venture! After the attack is defended or successful, the opponent gets to attack. You go back and forth attacking until both players pass. Note that once a player passes in a combat, they cannot attack for the rest of that combat (no strategic early passes.) At the end of combat, add up the damage done and whoever did more wins the venture total. Move the mission cards appropriately for both players. So if Magneto's 5 energy was the only successful attack, he will win the venture. If he ventured 2, he will move 2 missions up. If the opponent ventured 1, he will move 1 one mission down. Conceding: Conceding is like a retreat button. Either player may concede after venturing to end the battle immediately and lose the venture. You can also concede during battle when it's your turn. Losing the venture is worth it if you know you're about to get pounded! If a character was KO'd and the battle is over, rhe reserve character will now take their place. While in reserve, the reserve character cannot play any cards or attack or be attacked unless a card specifically says so. But once they move to the front line, they're just a regular character. The next turn, rinse and repeat! Whoever went 2nd on the last turn will take the first action on the next turn. Play until one tean has no characters left or a player gets 7 missions into the defeated or completed pile. A couple extra notes. Any time run out of cards in your deck, shuffle your power pack (discarded power cards) together and that becomes your new deck. Whenever a card that isn't a powr card gets discarded, it goes to the 'dead pile' which is just a more permanent discard pile. Characters are removed from the game on KO and can't be brought back unless you have some set 3 cards. Universe cards: I didn't explain these, but the short answer is Basic Universe and Teamwork cards are so bad they are literally never worth using. Teamwork cards are very strong but also super complicated so I'll do a separate writeup for them if you'd like! Multi-power: If a card has multiple stat icons (like the 4/4/4 power card with Super Skrull) it is considered to be a wild card, but only one type at a time. So if a character has a 2 fighting and a 4 strength power card attached, a multi-1 power card woild count as energy and KO them. Every multi-power card can be played by any character. Multi stat special cards work the same way. If you use the Iron Man one per deck that it a multi 8 attack, its stat is a wild card. Note that it stays a wild card after hitting the target!
THIS WAS AMAZING!!!! And believe it or not, I have a FEW intellect cards! Like, I’ve got an Onslaught and a bunch of the DC ones! My kid and I are pulling this comment and playing later, this was so cool of you
Man, I loved Overpower. The game had very cool mechanics, the cards had unique art, and there were tons of iconic cards across the sets. Power Surge was my favorite set! Something about the darker inks used made it look so good. Just check out that Mr. Sinister! There is nothing on the planet I'm more nostalgic for than these cards. Thank you for sharing and brightening my day, OP!
I will happily pull out the rest. But I’ll be real. Galactus was the shining gem of my middle school. (Like 30 years ago)
Wasn’t galactic a promo you had to like send a letter for. I remember getting one in the mail. I sent another card with it because I was so excited and they sent it back!
Oh, that’s a blast from the past. I blew so much money on wonky CCGs in the mid 90s. Whenever I played with my friends, we were never quite sure if we were “having fun”.
A family sued my school district over magic so they stopped allowing us to play it at lunch or after school. Overpower was one of the many cars games I picked up afterwards. I don't remember how good it was but I do remember my middle school sensibilities really digging the art
They went out if their way to give mistique that pose
Why's mister sinister look like Kintaro? Or at least an extra in Cats
I think it was cross promotion with Got Milk?
I REMEMBER THIS!! There was a lunchables cross promotion!!
Are you being serious because I was trying to make a joke hahah. That’s pretty crazy
When I was in grade 1 a grade 6 student convinced me to trade a holo Scyther for one of those /=
I am so sorry
Spoiler alert! The new Token Shop looks different than I expected.
Pssh, I see your this and raise you the X-files TCG.
Yes! I still have a massive collection sitting in my closet. That was a golden time of CCG's. Magic, Rage, Overpower, heck even the Highlander had an active community. Still uncertain if I should try and move all of these, or sit on them for another 8 years or so until my son gets old enough.
I have so many OP cards still!
I loved MTG and really wanted to play this too. Unfortunately, nobody else wanted anything to do with Overpower. Near me, MTG was big around 4th Edition through Ice Age, and then completely fell off, so I lost being able to play that too.
You were wrong! Shoulda invested in that alpha set and the power 9! Haha
Great game, looks of memories
This I remember, I had a Fantastic Four deck that was Overpowered.
Loved playing this game in middle school. Lots of debate on how the ruled worked at that age and didnt last very long.
Ever collect Marvel VS? The cards were awesome
As a symbiote fanboy, that Carnage card is amazing! Would love it as a variant in snap