Project K is Riot’s new trading card game. And no, it’s not a Legends of Runeterra physical version. Are they killing they previous card game?
More League lore content will hit the stores, as Riot Games just announced Project K: Their new Trading Card Game (TCG). Yes, just like Legends of Runeterra, but physical. No, it's not the same game as Legends of Runeterra in a physical format.
Let us explain: Project K is inspired in LoR, and will be using some of the game's art for their cards. However, the game has different mechanics, and the gameplay will include 1v1 and 2v2 modes. This is what the creators call "social multi-player".
The game's release date will happen during 2025. On the announcement, the creators of the League TCG, Project K, said they already found a partner for the printing and distribution in China. Thus, this will be the first country the game will be available. They also confirmed the game will be open for the public to test during the TFT Macao Open, on Dec. 13- 25.
What will happen with Legends of Runeterra when Project K is released?
While no news on LoR's future has been shared by Riot, a competing TCG with its own digital card game has concerned the community. During Project K's announcement, Riot showed no intention to shut down their previous card game. Despite that, League's physical TCG cards look very similar to LoR's. This ignited the LoR active community, which crowded Reddit's frontpage with dead-game memes.
Legends of Runeterra official social media account shared an X post congratulating Dave Guskin, former LoR team member and League's new TCG Game Director. Let's not forget the game was updated recently, on Dec. 4.
Project K is not a physical version of the fantastic Legends of Runeterra, but it does inherit some of the rich champion design philosophies of LoR. It also benefits from incredible art drawn from all over the Runeterra IP and other League IP games.
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How do you play Project K?
The game makes some clear distances from Legends of Runeterra, noticeable on the current state of the cards' design. However, the rules for the game are not public, and the game itself is still in development.
During the announcement, we could see some horizontal cards that could work as boosters. Also, some champion cards and power-ups for them. They also introduced "Battlefield" type cards, which means you can interact with the board's current terrain.
Lastly, the game developers referred to their decks with names like "Jinx fury, chaos, tempo-aggro deck" and "Yasuo calm-chaos deck". This could mean that you base your deck building on certain champions, and then boost them with extra cards.
Also, Riot announced an "Arcane collector pack" for the Project K's launch. The presale will take place early in 2025, with the cards already adapted for the English language.
While we wait to get our hands on the first League physical TCG pack, make sure to catch up with all the Arcane lore with this selection of articles:
And, of course, keep reading esports.gg for more news!
