Heroes of Might and Magic: The Card Game – How the Mechanics Bring Erathia to Life

Fans of the legendary Heroes of Might and Magic series will feel right at home when they open the box of Heroes of Might and Magic: The Card Game. From the very first card you play, you’re transported straight back to the strategic battles, powerful magic, and faction-based rivalries of Erathia.

You’ve most likely already seen visual teasers and art on our social media, or even blog articles like the one showcasing the Castle faction. We’ve posted card mockups, holographic graphics, and even animated GIFs. However, as beautiful as the Might and Magic universe may be, not everything is about the visuals. Today, we’re focusing on something deeper—something that makes this game… well, a game! We’d like to introduce you to the mechanics of Heroes of Might and Magic: The Card Game.

Table of Contents

• 1. Main Objecive
• 2. Deckbuilding
• 3. Playfield Details
• 4. Movement Possibilities
• 5. Unit Stacking
• 6. Closing Thoughts

Let’s begin!

Main Objective

Obliterate your enemy in two ways

While working on HoMM:The Card Game, our goal was to deliver a well-designed game that’s quick to play, yet still full of strategic depth and exciting duels with a touch of complexity. It was no small task, and we’re still polishing mechanics, adding new ones, and balancing what we have while looking ahead to future possibilities. 

Let’s take a look at what we have in store for you. But remember—everything you read here is still a work in progress. The game is actively in development, and we’d love to hear your thoughts. You can share your suggestions and ideas on our Gamefound pre-campaign page, in our Discord server, or via social media. Your feedback helps shape the final game!
In Heroes of Might and Magic: The Card Game, you’ll experience unit stacking, card movement, objectives, exciting fights, and even exploration.

Your final goal is simple: come up with a strategy and use it to defeat the enemy hero and claim the victory!
There are two ways to achieve that:
a) Deal 20 damage to the enemy hero
b) Leave your opponent without units or the ability to play new ones.

We know that facing an opponent with a stronger deck can be tough. In those moments, you can still outsmart them and try to leave them without cards! How? By making the most of the game’s core mechanics to outmaneuver and outplay them!

Each round flows through alternating turns where you can:
- Play cards—units, spells, artifacts, or locations (at the start of the battle)
- Activate units and command your hero to move or capture locations
- Increase your stats by converting cards into resources

Our team of talented game designers is building this game with replayability and competitive play in mind. We’re working hard to ensure that deckbuilding is both fun and balanced, offering plenty of room for creative strategies. One of our guiding principles is that competitive games should never be decided purely by luck—fairness and skill will always matter. That’s why we’ve enhanced the game with mechanics you can depend on and adapt to during play. Spells will make your army stronger, unit abilities will provide a strategic edge, and stat adjustment can save you in a pinch!

Deckbuilding

Heroes, Units, and Spells

Every match starts before you even hit the battlefield—with deckbuilding. You’ll choose a Hero from one of nine factions, each with its own playstyle, strengths, and thematic units. We’re also designing the game with expansions in mind, allowing you to mix-and match cards. Of course, there will be restrictions to maintain balance, but you’ll still have plenty of creative freedom! We can’t wait to see how the meta evolves. 

Card types include:
- Heroes – Lead your army, provide stats, and capture locations.
- Units – Ground, flying, or ranged troops that move, attack, and hold objectives.
- Spells – Instant or ongoing effects, from precise strikes to massive area-of-effect (AoE) spells.
- Artifacts – Persistent bonuses and unique abilities.
- Locations – Neutral points of interest that grant game-changing bonuses.
- Statistic Cards – Used to pay for other cards. Players start with 8 of them and can play 1 per round. Two of any type can be converted into one of a chosen type if you’re missing a specific statistic, adding flexibility to your gameplay

Playfield Details

Intense Battles on a 7x7 Grid

At its core, HoMM: The Card Game is a 1v1 tactical duel played on a 7x7 grid board. Each player commands a hero who leads their army, explores locations, and casts spells to shape the battlefield. The board is large enough to offer a wide variety of movement tactics and strategic freedom, yet small enough to fit on most tables. It’s comparable, if not just slightly bigger than most competitive card games.

Movement Possibilities

Controlling the Battlefield

Movement is one of the most important mechanics in HoMM:The Card Game, right alongside the unit stacking. Every turn, you’ll activate one of your units or your hero to reposition, capture key points, or launch attacks. All movement happens in straight lines along rows and columns, never diagonally!

Different unit types have unique movement rules:
- Ground Units – Cannot pass through or land on spaces occupied by other units or heroes. After moving, they may attack an adjacent enemy in the same row or column.
- Flying Units – Ignore obstacles while moving, and may pass over spaces with other units or heroes, but cannot end their move on an occupied space. Like ground units, they can attack an adjacent enemy after moving.
- Ranged Units – Move like ground units but have a special attack option: if no enemy is adjacent, they can target any unit on the board. Attacks against units more than 4 spaces away suffer a disadvantage, and melee attacks impose a disadvantage for ranged units. You may recognize this mechanic from our Heroes of Might and Magic: The Board Game series!
- Heroes – Move up to 3 spaces. They cannot pass through spaces occupied by another unit or hero. If they end their movement on a location, they immediately capture it, which ends their movement for the turn.

Mastering movement isn’t just about reaching the enemies. You’ll need to watch out for any threats, block routes, create attack opportunities, and secure locations before your opponent can. A single well-planned move can shift the entire battle.

Unit Stacking

Turn your Troops into Titans

One of the most exciting mechanics in HoMM: The Card Game is unit stacking, inspired by the original Heroes games and expanded into a core pillar of gameplay.

Here’s how stacking works:
- Stacks represent the size of your unit—each additional copy of the same unit increases its size counter.
- Stack size multiplies attack power (e.g., a unit with 2 attack and size 3 rolls 6 dice for damage). Each die face deals damage differently—most faces deal 1 damage, two sides deal 2 damage, and one special side deals 1 damage while also triggering certain special abilities.
- You can reinforce units in three ways:
a) Play a duplicate card of a unit you already have on the board.
b) Move a unit onto another of the same type to combine them instantly.
c) Use card effects that increase size directly.

Stacking creates high-risk, high-reward decisions. Do you build a terrifying mega-stack to crush the enemy in one blow, or spread your forces to control more of the map? So, yes… the classic strategy of swarming with Skeletons or Pikemen is back, and it might be worth it!

Just remember: some spells and abilities deal extra damage to large stacks, so your powerful army could become an equally powerful liability.

Closing Thoughts

This project is already proving incredibly fun. Playtests have been full of dramatic moments and heated battles that leave us wanting “just one more round.” We can’t wait for you to try it.

Overall, Heroes of Might and Magic: The Card Game is shaping to be easy to learn but hard to master, which is exactly what we’re aiming for. Victory often depends on map control, timing, spell combos, and even faction synergy. With nine factions, countless card combinations, and endless tactical possibilities, no two battles will ever be the same.

The war for Erathia’s future is just beginning… will you be ready?