We all love tokusatsu, right? Power Rangers, Ultra Man, and Kamen Rider are all franchises that hold a special place in our hearts. We also love card games. Why not marry the two?
HERO BOOSTER is a card game by Anaseed Man that features original superheroes inspired by the Japanese classics. The game is currently on Kickstarter where it has been successfully funded.
HERO BOOSTER seems to be rather simple but executes its ideas well. The cards are hex shaped, which allows for the heroes to be powered up by weapons and armor. Both players have a set amount of hit points and will summon heroes in order to deplete their opponent’s hit points. The simple mechanics allow for HERO BOOSTER to be learned quickly, making it perfect for younger people.
We got a moment to speak with creator Anaseed Man about his first card game. “HERO BOOSTER actually came about completely by accident,” he recalls. “The illustrations were initially just going to to be used for some stickers which were inspired by, of all things, some stickers that came with certain soft drinks in Japan to promote the release of Mad Max: Fury Road.” Those stickers were eventually handed out at conventions, leading to people being confused and thinking that they were for a card game. That’s when the lightbulb went off for Anaseed Man.
“I spent a long time playing around with the rules, I’m still adjusting now in fact. From the beginning I knew I wanted it to be a very approachable game that didn’t bog you down with extensive rules,” Anaseed Man says. When asked about what inspired HERO BOOSTER, Anaseed Man said that the classic games like Magic the Gathering was a big influence on the design. “My thought process behind making things, be a comic or a game is ‘I like X, but why isn’t there one based on Y’,” he said. “With HERO BOOSTER, the influence was as linear as ‘I like card games, I like henshin heroes. Guess I’ll combine the two’.”
Despite the lack of experience, Anaseed Man still has creative chops. He has been in the comic book industry since 2011 when he published his webcomic Gart. The series is about a half imp, half goblin who constantly gets into fights that are bigger than him. Since then he has made appearances in UK conventions making comic book and zines.
When asked about his favorite comic books, Anaseed Man first answered that Dragon Ball was always a favorite of his. “Akira Toriyama definitely had a huge impact on my work,” he said. “I really love the French comics scene. They always seem a lot more prominent over there than they are over here (In the UK). It would be great to see more titles released in English,” remarked Anaseed Man. “I’m sure it will come as no surprise that I’m really into BOOM’s Power Rangers series too!”
In addition to comic books and tabletop games, Anaseed Man would like to step into animation as well. “I’ve been toying with the idea of pitching a cartoon for a number years. Funnily enough, it is based on some of the characters from the HERO Booster.” For now, Anaseed Man is focusing on HERO BOOSTER.
HERO BOOSTER is now fully funded on Kickstarter, but there is still time to secure a copy here. The campaign is set to conclude on December 29th, 2018. You can get more updates from Anaseed Man’s Twitter and Instagram.
