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G.I. Joe deckbuilding game revives the classic cartoon and toy line in card form

As Cobra slithers out once again.

Command a team of G.I. Joes against the nefarious forces of Cobra in the upcoming G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game.

Based on the beloved toy line of action figures and cartoon series released throughout the 1980s, the G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game sees players teaming up as various heroes from the franchise in order to stop the evil organisation of Cobra. The deckbuilding game will support from one to four players and will contain a story mode with two separate missions for players to experience.

The first mission will have players attempting to destroy the dangerous M.A.S.S. Device - which first appeared in the original animated show - that’s armed and ready to be used by Cobra. Players will need to rally their bands of G.I. Joes to stop the weapon from firing and destroying entire cities by discovering its location in a secret temple. Whilst the second mission is based on an entirely new plotline that features Dr Mindbender - a powerful villain who uses their brainwashing abilities to control the minds of the world’s leaders for Cobra’s bidding. In this mission, players will need to take down Dr Mindbender’s operation with the brainwashed government and Cobra working against them.

G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game cards

During the game, players will each start with their own special leader card and a collection of rookie G.I. Joes within their deck. Players can then use these cards to perform actions - depending on the text shown on the card - as well as acquire new cards from the Hanger Bay, or market. As the players progress in the game, they’ll be able to gain more powerful cards to put into their decks, eventually getting stronger G.I. Joes to use in their fight against Cobra.

The Cobra threat meter will begin on a different level, depending on the starting player-count, with the team needing to keep an eye on it in order to prevent it from getting too high, too quickly. Throughout the game, players will have to contend with complication cards that will be drawn during each of the different acts - causing bad things to happen for the heroes.

Should players be able to complete their mission objectives before the Cobra threat marker reaches the very top, six Cobra battalions are in play or the main deck runs out of cards, then they win the co-op game.

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The G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game was created by TC Petty III, a game designer responsible for creating both Vivajava: The Coffee Game and its follow-up, Vivajava: The Dice Game, alongside the sci-fi themed Xenon Profiteer and the upcoming horror game about conducting questionable experiences in a gothic castle called My Father’s Work.

Renegade Game Studios is the studio set to release the G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game, after previously publishing a deckbuilding game inspired by the Power Rangers cartoon and toy line, and is best known for releasing Clank! alongside several sci-fi roleplaying games such as Kids on Bikes and Overlight.

The G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game is set to be released sometime this October for a retail price of $45 (£32).

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Alex Meehan avatar
Alex Meehan: After writing for Kotaku UK, Waypoint and Official Xbox Magazine, Alex became a member of the Dicebreaker editorial family. Having been producing news, features, previews and opinion pieces for Dicebreaker for the past three years, Alex has had plenty of opportunity to indulge in her love of meaty strategy board games and gothic RPGS. Besides writing, Alex appears in Dicebreaker’s D&D actual play series Storybreakers and haunts the occasional stream on the Dicebreaker YouTube channel.
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G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game

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