hello world!
Welcome back beyond the Looking Glass, where the many mad reflections of Wonderland and its denizens can appear anywhere and in any shape! You will be delighted to see many familiar faces appear in various trading and competitive card games that are quite popular on Earth. Some of these “visions” of Wonderland build off the fantastical interpretations of Lewis Carroll, while others are as strange and dark as the madcap reality of the Crystal Continuum.
Leading the pack is perhaps the most obvious use of Alice in Wonderland - the Disney card game Lorcana. Set in a magical realm of the same name, Players wield “magical inks” to call on familiar heroes and villains from the Disney universe. Some of these characters and moments are pulled straight from established Disney lore, while others are transformed by the fantastical realm of Lorcana.
Players compete to be the first to collect 20 Lore, using their various cards to quest their Lore and challenge their opponent's characters. Character, Item, and Action cards allow a variety of play options and, while there are a variety of Abilities shared between different Characters and Items to shake up the basic rules of Lorcana, there is a unique spice to those that hail from Wonderland.
It should be said that in Lorcana, the first turn a Character enters play they cannot take any actions unless they have a special ability to do so. Following the White Rabbit, a majority of the Lorcana cards based on Carroll's Wonderland are focused on their ability to Rush, therefore skipping over that rest period so you're not late collecting 20 Lore.
In its early years and already possessing flavorful and fun mechanics, Lorcana provides a magical vision of Wonderland's madness. For those not too familiar with trading card games or the mad story behind the Looking Glass, this vision of Wonderland is an easy entrance for Players at any level of experience.
However, if mad-as-a-hatter gameplay is what you are after, then you should read on…
From the Japanese media giant Bushiroad, Cardfight!! Vanguard is set on Planet Cray, a nexus where many worlds overlap and influence each other, particularly with your world of Earth. Colliding realities and players using powers beyond imagining? Sounds quite familiar to anyone in the know regarding the wars beyond the Looking Glass.
In Cardfight!! Vanguard, Players call upon a “Vanguard” to fight their opponent's champion in a battle to be the first to inflict six damage. Your Decks are formed from a Normal unit and Trigger card types, at the most basic level of play, with additional types introduced with each new iteration of the game. While it would be a most intriguing discussion, the deeper realms of play will await those who feel the urge to card fight.
Hailing from the lawless Dark Zone of Planet Cray, we see a dark mirrored version of Wonderland in the maniacal Nightmareland cards. When choosing the grim forces of Nightmareland, your Vanguard's “soul” matters quite a bit. In Cardfight!! Vanguard, when a Player calls upon a stronger grade Vanguard, that new Vanguard is stacked on top of the previous Vanguard(s) and that stack is the Vanguard's soul.
The more powerful Nightmareland units benefit from possessing multiple units with the Nightmareland name while the supporting Trigger units place themselves in your Vanguard's soul to continuously power them up for battle. The deeper the cards are stacked, the greater your favor in battle. Here in Nightmareland, the Queen and her minions serve as offense while Alice and her companions focus on recurring resources and recovering damage.
Should the complexities of Cardfight!! Vanguard and the Gothic fantasy realm of Nightmareland not appeal, then perhaps a modern interpretation is what you're seeking in the Looking Glass.
One of the original “Big Three” card games, the long-running Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise has paid homage to many imaginative worlds beyond its own. Now Wonderland is ready to duel! In the latest deck-building pack, the brand new “M∀LICE” archetype is set to take Duelists on a trip through a digital rabbit hole.
Before diving deeper, a cursory explanation of Yu-Gi-Oh! is necessary to appreciate the little touches done to bring Wonderland into this card game's space. Players (or Duelists) make their Main Deck with 3 different card types: Monster, Spell, and the often parodied Traps. Unique monsters typically played by using Main Deck monsters are stored in the Extra Deck. On the field, Players use monsters to do battle and Spells & Traps to change the flow of play in their favor as they try to reduce their opponent's Life Points from 8000 to zero.
In an appropriate portmanteau, this series of cards gets its unifying name from “Alice” and “malware,” adding a sci-fi cyberspace aesthetic to the M∀LICE cards. The monsters are themed after chess pieces, with the Pawns in the Main Deck and the Queen in the Extra Deck, and each monster takes on familiar names with hacker motifs. The Cat, the Rabbit, & the Dormouse all appear as Pawns with their own Suits, benefiting your Queen with protection from card effects or specialized ways of removing your opponent's monsters while on the field.
Presently, the cyberspace of “M∀LICE In Underground” has several Queens; “Hearts of Crypter,” “Red Ransom,” and the “White Binder” Queens rule. Each Queen can remove your opponent's monsters by cycling your own and you can add a M∀LICE Spell or set a M∀LICE Trap to further your control of the field. Aside from the pleasant theme of Pawns protecting the more powerful Queen’s moves, all M∀LICE monsters can take a trip down the rabbit hole.
In Yu-Gi-Oh! there is a concept called Banishment, wherein a card is removed from the game and sent to a special limbo zone that can't normally be interacted with. However, the M∀LICE monsters can move themselves in and out of Banishment, often triggering their effects to further confound your opponent. Just be wary dear Duelists, this is a dense game that contains many ways to counter-play your opponent and the Red Queen would be displeased to see you give Wonderland a bad name.
With the draw of a card you can unlock victory or suffer defeat, but along the way with some clever play, you can show your personality and creativity. That is the beauty of a card game: there are set rules and designs to guide you through the basics and once you've mastered those, the existence of cards that bend or break some of the rules gives Players the opportunity to have fun and express their skills. Who knows where Wonderland will pop up next? If you have seen through the Looking Glass, then you can expect to see more things Alyss in the cards.
Marco Arizpe graduated from the University of Southern California and The American Film Institute with degrees in filmmaking and screenwriting. His brand of borderland gothic horror stems from his experiences growing up in a small town where Texas and Mexico meet. Culturally steeped in a rich history of all things terrifying, Marco never fails to bring forward indigenous folklore in contemporary and fresh settings.