Skytear Horde
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The castle still stands. The portals keep opening. And the Outsider hasn't arrived yet.
What it's about
The cooperative card battler that never gives you a break
Hordes of monsters pour from the six lanes of the battlefield. Each turn they destroy walls, plunder resources, deplete your deck. Skytear Horde, designed by Giacomo and Riccardo Neri and illustrated by Riccardo Parmeggiani, translates the adrenaline of digital card battlers — Hearthstone, KeyForge — into something that plays on the table, in Italian, in thirty minutes.
Choose a hero, deploy allies and towers in the lanes, repel the horde. But defending the castle is not enough to win: you must counterattack, destroy the portals that generate monsters, and face the final boss — the Outsider — in the decisive confrontation.
Three ready-to-play Alliance decks and three Horde decks included in the box. No additional purchases needed to start. Setup in one minute, game in thirty.
Defending is not enough. You must understand when to stop resisting and start attacking — before the deck runs out.
The secret of Skytear Horde in one line
Every turn is double pressure: the castle crumbling and the deck emptying. Choose poorly and you lose on both fronts.
From the game experience
Skytear Horde
FrogScore · FroGames editorial rating · based on rules, international reviews and game sessionsWhat you control in each game
Your arsenal against the Horde
The hero and the castle
Choose from 12 unique heroes and 6 castles. Each combination offers a different play style and changes how you approach the six lanes.
The Alliance deck
Three pre-constructed decks with distinct play styles. No extra purchases to play — but test combinations to discover the best synergies.
The Horde deck
Three Outsider bosses with their hordes. Each Horde deck has its own pace and threat. Choose your opponent, adjust the difficulty.
The six lanes
The battlefield is divided into six lanes. Each lane is an open front. You cannot defend them all — you must choose which to sacrifice.
When the Outsider finally appears, the deck is almost depleted and the castle hangs by a thread. And that's exactly where the game wants to take you.
🎲Components234 cards + 50+ tokens
🃏Recommended sleeves1 size · 234 total cards
A five-act game
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
The portal opens and the Horde advances
Setup in one minute. Horde cards reveal the monsters that will occupy the six lanes. The castle has 20 health points. The deck is full. For now. You look at the lanes and immediately realize you can't defend them all.
The minions begin to pillage
Two lanes in crisis, the side minions pillaging and forcing you to discard cards from your deck. Each discarded card is one less resource in the endgame. You realize that defending is not enough — you must attack, but do you have the strength to do so?
The first portal falls
You manage to destroy the first portal. A moment of relief — but the second portal immediately appears. The castle has lost some health points. The deck is halfway through. The Outsider has not yet arrived.
The Outsider enters the field
The final boss is on the battlefield. The castle barely holds. The deck is almost exhausted. Every card played now must count double. There's no room for error — there's only the right move or defeat.
Victory or defeat — either way, you play again
The Outsider has fallen — or the castle has crumbled. In both cases, you're already thinking about what to change: a different hero, a harder Horde deck, increased difficulty. The "just one more game" feeling is already in the air.
How to play
The flow of each round
Seven phases that repeat with precise rhythm. You learn them in one game, master the balance in three.
Draw cards, recover mana, prepare resources. This is when you plan — a few seconds that define all subsequent decisions.
The Horde plays new cards into the lanes. Monsters automatically advance according to the Horde deck rules — relentless, deterministic, ever stronger.
You play your cards: allies in the lanes, defensive towers, spells. Each card costs mana — spend it well because it won't return until the next turn.
The three final phases: special Horde effects, lane-by-lane combat, minions pillaging undefended lanes by removing cards from your deck.
Why it's different from others
Six mechanics that make a difference
Two ways to lose, one way to win
The castle is destroyed and the deck runs out: two independent loss conditions that feed into each other. Defending well but ignoring pillaging will kill you just the same.
Six lanes to manage simultaneously
You can't guard everything. Each turn you choose where to concentrate your forces and what to sacrifice. That choice will haunt you for the rest of the game.
Pre-constructed decks, deep synergies
No deckbuilding to learn to start, but each Alliance deck has specific synergies that you discover as you play. Mixing different decks multiplies the combinations.
Deterministic but unpredictable Horde
The Horde is not random — it follows precise rules that you can learn. But the order of cards in the deck changes each game. You can plan, but not predict everything.
Three real difficulty levels
Easy, normal, hard: these are not marketing labels. The difference between normal and hard is the difference between a manageable game and one that puts you in crisis from the first turn.
30 minutes, setup in 60 seconds
The box opens, the field is prepared, you play. No time lost in preparation. No pause to figure out the next turn. The pace is intense from start to finish.
How it ends
One way to win, two ways to lose
Victory requires destroying the portals and defeating the Outsider. But the Horde can stop you earlier in two different ways — and often both advance together.
Victory
- Destroy both Horde portals
- Confront and defeat the Outsider in the final showdown
- The castle must hold until the last hit
Defeat
- The castle is destroyed by monsters in the lanes
- The Alliance deck runs out due to minion pillaging
- Both conditions can occur simultaneously
Skytear Horde is the cooperative card battler that lives up to expectations: short, intense, with real tactical depth and a constant desire to play again.
Frequently asked questions
FAQ about Skytear Horde
Is it really comparable to tabletop Hearthstone or KeyForge?
The feeling is authentic: you build a defensive line, manage resources, play card combos. But Skytear Horde is cooperative — you don't compete against another player, you fight together against the game-controlled Horde. The asymmetry and dual loss conditions make it its own experience, not a clone.
Do I need to buy expansions to fully enjoy it?
No. The base box includes three Alliance decks and three Horde decks with as many bosses, three difficulty levels, and the possibility to mix combinations. Expansions add new heroes, castles, and bosses for those who want even more variety — but they are not necessary to experience the full game.
Is it suitable for those who have never played card games?
With some reservations. The basic rules are learned in one game and setup is quick, but managing lanes and balancing defense and attack require a few games to master. Those new to card games will find the learning curve manageable, though not immediate.
With how many players does it work best?
Solo, the experience is complete and designed without compromise — it's one of the game's strengths. With two players, deck coordination adds an interesting cooperative dimension. The competitive mode (one player controls the Horde) radically changes the dynamic and requires more experience.
Is the game in Italian?
Yes. This is the Italian edition published by Pendragon Game Studio. All cards, the rulebook, and game texts are in Italian.
Are there compatible expansions?
Yes. Skytear Games has published several expansions — including new Alliance decks with new heroes and castles, and new Horde decks with different bosses. All expansions are compatible with the base box and can be mixed freely to increase variety.
Skytear Horde is a cooperative and competitive card game for 1–3 players (age 14+, duration 30 min). Designed by Giacomo Neri and Riccardo Neri, illustrations by Riccardo Parmeggiani, published by Skytear Games. Italian edition by Pendragon Game Studio. Mechanics: lane-based card battler, pre-constructed decks, and dual loss conditions. Three Alliance decks and three Horde decks in the base box, three difficulty levels, setup in 60 seconds. Inspired by tower defense and digital card battlers like Hearthstone and KeyForge. Supports official solo mode. 234 cards (63×88mm), 50+ cardboard tokens. Available on FroGames.it.
Skytear Horde
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