Kord

Juggle cards. Create music. Save the universe.

Part deckbuilder, part sequencer, part planetary defense. Load cassette-cards into defense slots and race against time. Complete all three missions and the tracks you build combine into a unique final composition.

What is it?

Kord is a deckbuilding puzzle game where you're racing to save planets from a spreading cosmic infection... and composing music in the process! 

Each planet's defense matrix is an instrument track. Each card you place is a musical phrase in the timeline. 

Complete a mission, and your placements become a multitrack composition. Complete all three missions, and those tracks combine into a final masterpiece -- your soundtrack of victory, unique to that run.

How does it play?

- Draw cassette-cards from your deck

- Place them into defense matrix slots before time runs out

- Your first card commits that planet to an instrument (guitar, keys, drums, etc.)

- Each placement slot is also numbered and corresponds to the same slot on other matrices. 

- To ensure harmonic consistency across matrices, placing a particular suit in a slot locks that suit for the same numbered slot in other matrices.

- Subsequent cards must match. Every placement narrows your options

- But card placements themselves are not locked. Move cards around the matrices to eligible slots (indicated visually) or even back to your hand to shift the possibilities

- Juggle cards to keep your hand alive

- Complete objectives to earn resonance and buy new abilities, like being able to stack cards in your hand, or swap-out cards

- Three missions (3, 4, then 5 planets) build toward a final multi-track composition

The payoff:

Beat the run, and you hear the music you made. Lose one planet, and it's all over.

Who Is This For?

Players who enjoy:

- Deckbuilders (Balatro, Slay the Spire, Inscryption)

- Timed puzzle pressure (Into the Breach, Tetris Effect)

- Emergent creativity (making something unique without "trying")

- Retro sci-fi aesthetics (cassette tapes, 70s/80s nostalgia, tactile interfaces)

What Makes It Different

Most music games test your rhythm. Kord doesn't care if you can keep a beat—it cares if you can manage a hand of cards under pressure. The music isn't the challenge; it's the reward. Every run produces a completely different final composition, yet because the rules enforce cohesion, it always sounds intentional.

You're not playing music. You're accidentally writing it.

The Threat

A cosmic entity named Discordia is spreading dissonance across the galaxy. Worlds are falling to waves of sonic infection. Your cassette-cards power planetary defense matrices—the only thing that can push back the noise and restore harmony to the universe.

Alpha Playtest Callout

What we need:

- Is this even fun? What elements are engaging and can be expanded on? What elements are annoying and need to go?

- Is the time pressure right? Too stressful? Not enough?

- Do the card placement rules feel clear?

- Is hearing your final composition satisfying?

- UI/UX clarity

- Bug reports

What to expect:

- Early alpha build - expect rough edges

- 1 galaxy, 3 missions, 12 planets

- Session length: ~20-30 minutes per run

- Web build only for now