Rush of Ikorr brings Overwatch-inspired mechanics to a novel 3v3 card game

Rush of Ikorr, a new trading card game from Upper Deck, broke cover on Wednesday with a news release. In a private briefing ahead of the announcement, director of entertainment brands Travis Rhea tells Polygon that the game, which is designed around a novel 3v3 multiplayer format, was inspired by the company’s work with video game brands as well as the hit hero shooter Overwatch. 

“[Upper Deck] was founded in 1989 on the premise of How do we make a better baseball card?” Rhea said. “That premise of how do we do something better has really carried over into everything we’ve done over the three decades we’ve been in business. And that is no more true than with our games.”

Since “95%” of what Upper Deck does relies on licensed intellectual property, Rhea said that the request from the company president was to “make the best TCG that the world has ever had” without relying on a license. To that end, Upper Deck elected to theme the game based on historical cultures, and the game will launch with content sourced from the histories of Greece, Egypt, Japan, and Mesoamerica — specifically the Maya civilization. Rhea said that the company worked closely with several consultants to make sure its approach for Rush of Ikorr was both sensitive and engaging for modern audiences.

“We found out so much about these cultures that was (a) even more interesting, and (b) maybe we had the wrong idea on some of these cultures,” Rhea said. “We’ve all kind of looked at something that maybe isn’t pop culture and thought that maybe that was historically accurate. And then we got in school and we learned that’s probably not the way it was really intended to be. Maybe Hollywood took some liberties when they created that.”

Rush of Ikorr was designed with cooperative multiplayer in mind. He said that teams of three can bring decks to bear with multiple design goals, including attack, defense, and healing. The game also plays well 1v1 and 2v2, he added. In all modes of play the game will allow for direct conflict between opposing sides and the various historical and fantastical characters on the table, but to win players must “raid” in order to gather a mysterious substance called Ikorr. 

“Essentially this mystical item comes crashing down from the sky and starts to fold reality in on itself and timelines start to merge together and all of a sudden you have a platform where all of these different cultures could interact with each other, and they all are chasing that,” Rhea said.

Only by snagging 15 Ikorr can the game be won in the 3v3 mode, while other modes play to a lesser sum.

Another novel aspect of the game is a transparent overlay called an Infusion. Infusions will feature alterations, perks, and other boons that can be added to standard cards to make them more powerful. Rhea said that Upper Deck kept Infusion overlays especially thin, so that they can be sleeved along with standard cards in such a way as to prevent players from cheating by surreptitiously searching for certain cards in an otherwise random deck. One Infusion will appear in every $3.99 booster pack, and will offer the same kind of chase experience as other cards.

The rollout of Rush of Ikorr has been complicated by an ongoing legal dispute. A lawsuit filed by Upper Deck in June 2023 claims that game designer Ryan Miller stole elements of the Rush of Ikorr design and used them in Disney Lorcana after joining the California-based trading card company Ravensburger. Since the lawsuit against Ravensburger and Miller is ongoing, Rhea was not able to comment on the status of the litigation beyond noting that “the original designer for this game is the subject of a lawsuit that [Upper Deck has] with Ravensburger at the moment.”

The company followed up with an email statement from Upper Deck president Jason Masherah: “We cannot comment on ongoing litigation but we are very confident and proud of our game, and Upper Deck stands strongly in the creation and protection of its intellectual property.”

Following the reveal of Rush of Ikorr, Ravensburger noted that it has asked a judge for the current lawsuit to be dismissed. It also referred back to the statement it provided Polygon in 2023 about the merits of the case.

Rush of Ikorr is expected to go on sale this summer. The launch is expected to include multiple starter decks, retailing at $19.99.