Chad Burdette
Two of the biggest franchises are joining forces to bring fans the ultimate gameplay in ages.
Wizards of the Coast announced on Monday that the long-running strategy game Magic the Gathering is crossing over with AMC’s The Walking Dead for a limited-edition set titled The Walking Dead: Secret Lair.
The limited-edition game set will launch on Oct. 4th, the same day as AMC’s premiere of The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond. The set will include premium cards depicting iconic characters from the popular post-apocalyptic zombie series, offer unique gameplay, and showcase the work of a variety of artists.
Clayton Neuman, VP of Games and Entertainment with AMC Networks, told The Hollywood Reporter, “Each of the cards have mechanics that are inspired by either the characters or the elements of The Walking Dead universe that they represent, and these mechanics are brand new to the world of Magic.”
“With each of the cards in the box, we really took the time to think about what is unique about the characters and how that can translate to a mechanic when playing Magic, that makes sense, that would be a challenge for players.”
He continued saying that while the show obviously takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, it has always been about the characters; therefore, the cards focus on the attributes of the characters that they are representing.
Wizards of the Coast product architect Mark Heggen, who has previously worked on the Godzilla and My Little Pony crossovers and used to work at AMC and has long been a fan of the show, added,
“This is the first time that we’re going all the way and designing new cards from the ground up to express outside characters and narrative worlds into the form of Magic cards.”
Along with the announcement, a preview card featuring fan-favorite Michonne (portrayed by Danai Gurira in The Walking Dead) was illustrated by Croatian artist Romana Kendelic, whose portfolio includes many cards and board games such as Arkham Horror, Star Wars: The Card Game, Lord of the Rings: The Card Game and Call of Cthulhu LCG.
Heggen continued saying that that decision to highlight Michonne’s qualities of being the “lone, unstoppable samurai” armed with an iconic survival maneuver in which she uses two walkers to help her stay alive. He described Michonne’s ability, when she’s equipped (i.e., she has a weapon), to force an opponent to block her.
“So basically she’s able to pick a fight; they can’t ignore her, they can’t get out of the way. That’s the story we want to tell with this card. It’s a really fun way of using mechanics to express these characters in a way that’s really satisfying. Throughout the development process, the art direction team focused on creating the look and feel of a Magic card while representing something that isn’t normally done in the game, which is to show off the likenesses of real humans. We wanted this Michonne to look like the Michonne that people see.”
The Walking Dead Secret Lair will be available for preorder Oct. 4. View an exclusive preview card above!
