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On Day 2 of PAX East I was able to check out a number of videogames, but also got a chance to sit and play the UniVersus release of the PAX East 2025 Attack on Titan: Apocalypse CCG Preview. This game is set in the rich multi-property CCG set of universes created by UVS games, and as a fan of the show and CCGs I had a blast with this preview.
Joining properties like TMNT, Street Fighter, Star Trek Lower Decks, Critical Role and many others, the Attack on Titan cards and ecosystem made for a fascinating game to experience. The demo was focused on Attack on Titan so I only tried the new cards in that universe, but I was told they would work alongside any cards from the UniVersus lineup.
As in many CCG games, the play starts by choosing a hero – I had Eren and my opponent had Mikasa – and then drawing cards according to your character’s draw limit. Then you ready as many cards as you can. This involves placing the card and drawing a card to see if your card is less than the amount on the board plus the card.
This ready phase goes on until all cards you can play are on the table; sometimes keeping some in hand to block also helps. Once all cards are ready, a new draw is done, up to the card limit, and the attack phase starts.
Attacks can be enhanced by readied cards and blocked by opposing cards. Then damage is decided. Once the attacks are done the turn ends, cards go back to their pools, attacks are discarded and the next player takes their turn.
It was a fast-paced and fun game which I picked up fairly quickly. I was happy to hear that the full game will have much more depth in the cards, and some characters will transform under some conditions. The demo cards were pretty vanilla but the full cards had much more detail, enhancements, attacks, and options.
An amazing aspect of this release is that a number of key cards will have chrome variants with original illustrations created exclusively by series creator Hajime Isayama. I got to see some of these cards. They were stunning and felt truly special and unique to this game.
If you are a fan of the Attack on Titan and CCGs I cannot recommend this game enough. It was fun, the ability to meld in other universes was amazing in practice, and the cards themselves really capture the world in a way that really impressed me.
