CC BattleGrid

CC BattleGrid is a trading card game created by Ryan Nurse and Animatron Studios. First conceived in October 2013, it has not yet been publicly released, but two demonstration battles were published as part of Project 20:15, and a video game adaptation is planned for the future. The "CC" in the name stands for both "collectible cards" and "Chip-based Cybernetics", the system on which the game is played in-universe.

CC BattleGrid pits two players against each other as they attempt to reduce their opponent's health to 0, using a limited deck of cards known as "Chips". Drawing on previous gaming systems invented by Nurse, and unlike most traditional TCGs, BattleGrid has a fixed hand size, no playing field, and a very fast pace; it is possible to win in only a single turn. Considering these and other quirks, and the game's starter set of only 64 Chips, BattleGrid 's status as a true trading card game is questionable.

Rules
BattleGrid is set in a near-future universe where many humans are equipped with a bionic system called the "Chip-based Cybernetic System", or CC System for short. The CC System consists of a touch-screen computer with six Chip slots built into the user's non-dominant arm, and a "holovisor" that provides a virtual heads-up display. Functionality is provided by installing various Program Chips into the slots. BattleGrid is presented as a virtual-reality game that utilizes this system, and requires the use of all six Chip slots in order to run.

In a game of BattleGrid, each player starts with 10,000 "Chip Points", or CP. Players lose CP when attacked, or through various card effects, and lose when their CP is reduced to zero. Players may also lose if they have less than six Chips available to use at any time. There are thus two strategies for winning: reducing the opponent's CP to zero, or forcing them to "burn out" Chips until they run out.

Chips and stacks
Each player requires a deck of 25 Chips, known as a "stack". This is significantly smaller than most other TCGs, reflecting the game's rapid pacing. Certain Chips have restrictions limiting the player to a certain number per stack, but other than this, there are no rules restricting the composition of a player's deck, and players are in fact permitted, if they so wish, to use a stack consisting of 25 of the same Chip. This is, of course, considered an extremely poor tactic, and it is generally recommended that players use a balanced stack.

Chips are sorted by their Type, System and Rarity. There are four colour-coded Types: Blue Chips deal damage to the opponent; Green Chips provide benefits to the player; Red Chips hinder the opponent in some way; and Black Chips affect both players. A Chip's System determines how it is used: Passive Chips generate a passive effect for as long as they are in play, Dormant Chips have no effect until they are triggered by a certain action (usually an opposing attack), and Active Chips have no effect until activated by the player on their turn. Some Dormant and Active Chips have a limited amount of "charges", or uses: once this limit has been reached, they "burn out" and must be discarded, with a new Chip drawn from the stack to replace them.

A Chip's Rarity is ranked using a ten-star system, with a 1-Star Chip being the most common and a 10-Star Chip being the most rare. Rarer Chips are usually more powerful. A Chip's Rarity has no direct effect on gameplay; however, some tournaments may impose limits on which cards can be used.

The game also features an elemental system, where some Chips have elements attached to them. There are five elements - Fire, Thunder, Water, Ice, and Earth - with each being strong against two elements, weak against two elements, and neutral against itself, in a rock-paper-scissors configuration. For example, Fire is strong against Thunder and Ice, but weak against Water and Earth.

Turns and gameplay
Players start by shuffling their stack, then drawing the top six Chips and placing or "installing" them in their hand. Turn order is decided by a coin flip, or optionally (as seen in Project 20:15) one player can volunteer to go second. Any Passive Chips in the player's hand must be declared upon installation, and any Dormant Chips must be declared once their effect has been triggered.

On each turn, the player activates one of the Active Chips in their hand, if they have any. They may also optionally discard a Chip and draw another one from their stack. If a Chip runs out of charges after use, or is forcibly burnt out by another Chip's effect, the player must also discard and replace it. Play continues to rotate between both players until one runs out of either CP or Chips, and loses.

It is possible for a game of BattleGrid to last only a single turn. The strongest attack in the game, Ultima Overclock, deals 6000 CP of damage, and there is a Dormant Chip named Perfect Reflection that deflects an attack back at the opponent at double the strength. If a player activates Ultima Overclock only for it to be countered by Perfect Reflection, and they have no shields to mitigate the damage, they will receive 12,000 CP of damage and will be killed instantly.

Development
Nurse first began developing BattleGrid in October 2013, shortly after his arrival in Cambridge. Its unique battle system, wherein the player's attacks, "spells", buffs and debuffs are all contained in a number of limited slots, was seen as an "evolution" of previous systems created by Nurse. Nurse spent several months developing the concept, creating and refining the game's Chips and ruleset.

Releases
The main BattleGrid-themed release currently planned is a story-driven game simply titled CC BattleGrid, which follows a teenage boy named Corey as he and his sister Alexa battle a corrupt company planning to hack the world's CC Systems.