Antematter Combines Texas Hold'em With Sci-Fi Strategy

Antematter, an upcoming board game by BardShark Games, uses Texas Hold'em as a core mechanic for a unique sci-fi strategy game. Earlier this month, BardShark launched its Kickstarter for Antematter, a 2-5 player board game that combines poker with strategic sci-fi resource collection and management. In Antematter, players choose one six unique crews that they send out into the Conflux to collect valuable Nephelium. Players then work their way through two phases - in the first, players set courses to collect Nephelium chips on a hex board, dodging obstacles and opponents while gathering as much resources as they can. In the second phase, players then use their resources to play a round of Texas Hold'em, bluffing or manipulating the deck to get the best possible hand. The game continues until a player reaches a certain chip threshold (determined by the number of players) while possessing a "Token of Respect" for at least a full round. Players get the Token of Respect when they're 500 chips away from the finish, which flags them so that other players know to try to steal away as many chips as they can.

While Antematter uses poker as a mechanic, this isn't a game that necessarily requires proficiency in cards. Players can manipulate the poker phase with the use of their unique crew cards, many of which are designed to help mitigate lousy hands or rob rivals of their resources without heavily investing in a round of poker. Game designer Aaron Moline explained that it's entirely possible to win Antematter without being good at poker. "I want to stress that there have been many games where the person who won Antematter won that game did not win a single hand of poker," Moline said during a phone interview. "There is a pathway to victory, and this is something we really wanted to make sure we provided, a pathway to victory for someone who isn't interested in poker, or isn't great at poker, or simply got terrible, terrible luck. That player is still going to be able to win using the board and using their cards on the board and in poker."

It also helps that you can't get knocked out of Antematter - players will get their initial 300 chips back should they ever lose their entire stash of resources. "There is a huge amount of comeback potential in our game," Moline said. "Not only because poker is such that you can double or triple up in one hand if you play your cards right, but because you don't lose your cargo when you go all in and you lose. You can still have that initial investment back and then travel to the center hex and get a whole lot of chips, so then you're immediately back in the running."

There are other unique elements that keeps Antematter from going stale after a few rounds. Each crew comes with its own set of abilities, with different strategies and playing styles attached. The poker deck also has 4 Grifter cards that add a lot of chaos to rounds of poker - players who are dealt Grifter cards can decide whether to switch it out or keep it and try to bluff their way to victory and win a bonus. However, if they get to the point where they reveal their cards, they automatically lose that hand. Grifter cards have other abilities when revealed as a community card, which also switch things up.

Antematter is part of a wider world, one that Kickstarter backers can explore via a comic book being published as a reward to backers. A pledge of $60 will get both the game and the comic, and premium editions are available at higher pledge levels. You can check out the full Kickstarter here - the Kickstarter remains open until September 24th and is approaching reaching 300% of its initial goal.