Heresy: Kingdom Come
A cyberpunk CCG of angels, demons, and digital realms.
The base set, containing 374 cards, came out in September 1995. A 90-card expansion called Project Demiurge was planned for June 1996 but was never published due to poor sales; the company had made its release conditional on receiving enough distributor orders.
The game’s setting imagines a continuation of the War in Heaven between angels and demons, now playing out in a futuristic cyberpunk world. The barriers between the physical realm (the Wilds), the digital realm (the Matrix), and the spiritual realm (Heaven) have thinned. Fallen angels on Earth are trying to use the Matrix to open a portal and ascend back to Heaven. Meanwhile, conflict rages among angels, demons, human governments, corporations, criminal groups, artificial intelligences, hackers, and cybernetically enhanced humans.
Players take turns placing cards into one of two zones: the Wilds (physical realm) or the Matrix (digital realm). To open a card means to turn it sideways. A player wins by generating enough tau to open a portal and ascend to Heaven.
Each card belongs to one of eight convictions, shown by a large icon in the top right corner: Acquisition, Devotion, Evolution, Preservation, Rebellion, Stagnation, Technology, and Tradition. There are six card types. Location cards can be opened to generate aura (tied to a conviction and used to play other cards of that conviction) or to store tau (needed to win). Character cards represent individuals that stay on the board and can fight. Aleph cards are artifacts that also remain in play. Enhancement cards attach to other cards, usually characters, for various effects. Celestial Power cards are one-time effects that can only be played during the player’s turn. Miracle cards are also one-time effects but can be played at any time.
The card name appears at the top middle above the art. The conviction icon is in the top right. Non-location cards have a call value in the top left, showing the requirements to play the card: call influence (the number of locations of that conviction the player must control) and call aura (the amount of aura that must be paid). Additional attributes appear in small boxes on the left side: attack/defense (for locations and characters), virtual support, tau storage, free will, and aereopagus votes. At the bottom are card type and subtype, rules text, and flavor text in italics.
The oversized cards were taller than
- published
- 1995
- publisher
- Last Unicorn Games
- field
- Collectible card game
- genre
- Religion-themed fantasy in a cyberpunk setting
- known_for
- Oversized cards, unique setting blending angels, demons, and cyberspace
Lore & Background
Heresy: Kingdom Come was released in September 1995 with a base set of 374 cards. An expansion called Project Demiurge with 90 cards was planned for a June 1996 release, but due to poor sales, no expansion sets were ever published. The company delayed the release dependent upon 'sufficient orders from distributors.' The game's theme is the continuation of the War in Heaven between angels and demons in a futuristic cyberpunk setting, where barriers between the physical realm (the Wilds), the digital realm (the Matrix), and the spiritual realm (Heaven) have grown thin. Fallen angels on Earth try to use the Matrix to open a portal to ascend back into Heaven, while Earth is torn by conflict among angels, demons, human governments, corporations, criminal organizations, artificial intelligences, hackers, and cybernetically-enhanced humans.
Reader's Guide
Heresy: Kingdom Come is significant as a distinctive entry in the mid-1990s CCG boom, offering a unique blend of religious mythology and cyberpunk aesthetics. Its oversized cards, similar in height to tarot cards, emphasized the game's mystical themes and allowed for larger artwork by notable artists such as Tim Bradstreet, Gerald Brom, and Bernie Wrightson. However, the larger size was criticized for not fitting standard card sleeves and making shuffling difficult. The game received a positive review from Steve Faragher in Arcane magazine, who rated it an 8 out of 10, noting that 'startlingly original atmosphere is just as important as innovative mechanics in CCG.' Despite this, poor sales prevented any expansion sets from being released, and the game is now out of print. Its legacy lies in its ambitious thematic fusion and its departure from standard card dimensions, making it a collector's curiosity.
Did You Know?
- Heresy: Kingdom Come used oversized cards, similar in height to tarot cards, which did not fit standard card sleeves.
- The game's setting involves fallen angels using cyberspace (the Matrix) to open a portal to Heaven.
- An expansion called Project Demiurge with 90 cards was planned but never published due to poor sales.
- The game features eight convictions: Acquisition, Devotion, Evolution, Preservation, Rebellion, Stagnation, Technology, and Tradition.
More in Angels in popular culture 1-24
Elsewhere in the Angels in Popular Culture universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record