AUTHORITY
Institutions, legitimacy, command and the right to decide.
THE SLEEPER ARCHIVE · GAME DEVELOPMENT
THE ARCHIVE
CAN BE PLAYED.
A strategic card game about power, infrastructure, information and the people who decide what survives.
The physical records began as a way to hold the story. The game develops a second life for the same world—without turning the complete narrative into a chase product.
THE PRINCIPLE
STORY FIRST.
GAME SEPARATE.
ARCHIVE EDITIONS
Complete narrative objects. No randomized story cards. One Archive gives you the full story it contains.
GAME PRODUCTS
Playable cards built for deck construction, factions, rarity, alternate treatments and competition.
THE CORE CONFLICT
POWER HAS
MORE THAN ONE FORM.
INFLUENCE
People, belief, mobilisation and public momentum.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Transport, energy, machines and the systems everyone depends upon.
KNOWLEDGE
Records, evidence, secrets and the power to change what others know.
A deck does not simply attack until an opponent reaches zero. It builds a version of the future by controlling different forms of power—and denying them to others.
CARD FAMILIES
BUILD AN
ARCHIVE.
FIGURES
People capable of changing how the board works.
FACTIONS
Competing political, social and economic forces.
PLACES
Districts, institutions and strategic locations.
SYSTEMS
Transport, communications, energy and industry.
EVENTS
Moments that alter the state of the city.
RECORDS
Information that can expose, preserve or rewrite what happened.
THE FIRST FORCES
FOUR WAYS TO
CLAIM THE FUTURE.
THE SLEEPER
Legitimacy, inheritance and authority recognised because others believe it should exist.
THE ORDER
Institutions, hierarchy and the machinery of governance.
THE PEOPLE
Numbers, mobilisation, unrest and collective power.
THE SYSTEMS
Infrastructure, engineering and control of what keeps the city alive.
FIGURES CHANGE THE BOARD
CHARACTERS ARE
NOT JUST NUMBERS.
The Heir may turn recognition into authority. The Engineer may keep systems functioning through disruption. The Archivist may reveal or preserve records. The Organiser may turn unrest into influence. The Commander may convert force into control. The Unknown may break assumptions the other factions rely upon.
OPTIONAL FORMAT
THE
STAKE.
Standard matches never put ownership at risk. The Stake is different: both players deliberately agree to put one physical card on the line before the match begins.
THE STAKE
Before setup, each player selects one eligible card from their collection and places it face down in the Stake area. After both players commit, the cards are revealed and accepted by both players. The match then begins. The winner claims both staked cards.
MUTUAL AGREEMENT
Stake play happens only when both players choose it before the game. Standard play remains the default.
KNOWN RISK
Both cards are revealed before play. Either player may decline the proposed stake before the match begins.
OUTSIDE THE DECK
The staked card is not part of the 30-card deck and has no gameplay effect unless a future format explicitly says otherwise.
EVENT CONTROL
Organisers may restrict eligible cards, set value or rarity limits, or disable Stake play entirely.
The Stake is intended as an optional collector format between consenting players and may be limited by venue rules or local law.
PROTOTYPE V0.2
THE RULES
ARE PLAYABLE.
The current prototype now has a public setup, turn structure, city board, status system and three victory routes.
PROTOTYPE V0.2
24 CARDS.
READY TO BREAK.
The first interaction pool now has exact costs, power values and rules text for paper testing.
PROTOTYPE V0.3
FIVE LEADERS.
36 CARDS.
Leader Affinity and Legacy now make deck construction part of the game.
CURRENT STATUS
THE PHILOSOPHY
IS PUBLIC. THE RULES ARE NOT LOCKED.
We are revealing the structure before publishing a complete ruleset. The game must meet three conditions before release:
EASY TO LEARN
STRATEGICALLY DEEP
RECOGNISABLY SLEEPER ARCHIVE
Prototype rules, sample cards and playtest material will be published only when they are coherent enough to be tested rather than merely imagined.
THE SLEEPER ARCHIVE
STORY.
WORLD.
GAME.
Archive 001 remains complete. After the Sleeper expands the world. The game lets players contest what that future becomes.