MicroProse Computer Game Cards

Index | Astral | Development | Tokens


After many delays and a total conversion from DOS to Windows 95, Microprose released the Magic: The Gathering computer game in April 1997. Aside from random duels against the computer using customizable decks, the game featured an enhanced campaign mode set in the plane of Shandalar, a deck builder, and a multimedia tutorial. Over 400 cards, taken from all sets printed to that date, were included.

The Magic: The Gathering computer game was released in different languages:
English (U.S. and U.K.): Magic: The Gathering®. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio
French: Magic: L'Assemblée®. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio
German: Magic: Die Zusammenkunft®. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio
Italian: Magic: L'Adunanza®. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio
Japanese (September 1997): Magic: The Gathering®. Cover Illustration Shivan Dragon by Melissa Benson
Korean: Magic: The Gathering®. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio
Spanish: Magic: El Encuentro®. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio

Part of the Magic: The Gathering game is a set of 12 cards called Astral set which is not available in physical form. These cards incorporate various random attributes that would be difficult or impossible to replicate in real life and each card had its own associated sound effect. Astral cards were generally only able to be obtained in dungeons. In the first 50,000 boxes of the Magic: The Gathering computer game an oversized version of the Aswan Jaguar was included.

Some of the cards in the Magic: The Gathering computer game produce tokens. These tokens are resembled by cards featuring unique artwork.

Bottle of Suleiman (Arabian Nights) produces Djinn of the Bottle token.
Mishra's Factory (Antiquities) produces Assembly Worker land.
Necropolis of Azar (Astral card) produces Spawn of Azar token.
Rukh Egg (Arabian Nights) produces Rukh token.
Serpent Generator (Legends) produces Poison Snake token.
Tetravus (Antiquities) produces Tetravite token.
The Hive (Alpha) produces Wasp token.

Errors, Misprints and Typos
The Djinn of the Bottle token was attributed to the wrong artist Jesper Myrfors instead of Randy Gallegos
The Poison Snake token was attributed to the wrong artist Jeff A. Menges instead of Mark Tedin.
The Spawn of Azar token was attributed to the wrong artist Rob Alexander instead of Randy Gallegos.

The game code holds many more cards than appear in the game. Aside from the remaining unused standard cards, there are lots of development cards which represent unrealized concepts. Most of them have no art and none of them has card text.

4.5 Are there any hidden cards?
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Yes. There are in fact... Taking a look at the files (see FILES) shows that extra Astral cards exist.

There are 9 Land Cards hidden in the game:
Red Guild, Blue Guild, White Guild, Green Guild, Black Guild, Artificer's Guild, Bright Society, Grey Society, and Dark Society.

I know that the Guilds are for multiplayer, and I assume the Societies are also.

There are 4 'other' cards in the same section:
Gladiator, Master, Royalty, and Veteran.

Also included is the 5 cards for the MTG books:
Arena, Mana Crypt, Nalathni Dragon, Sewers of Estark, Windseeker Centaur, and Giant Badger.

Finally, there are some very strange cards!
MPS Logo, Across The Rhine, CivNet, Terror from the Deep (24/24Creature!), and World Card!

I don't know how to get these cards, or if they are ever going to be made playable.

The data for all the cards in the game (type, name, description, etc.) is contained in a file called "master.csv" which is actually a .xls spreadsheet which can be easily read by Microsoft Excel. While it's fairly useless to edit it (saving changes leaves you with a corrupt game) it's interesting to note the amount of development-related jokes and references you can find in there. For instance, there's a "Terror from the Deep" card with an amusing description that refers obviously to Microprose's X-COM: Terror from the Deep, as well as other MPS games.


In September 1997 an expansion set called Spells of the Ancients was released which increased the card pool by over 130 cards, taken from the Arabian Nights, Antiquities, and the core set. Additionally it added a sealed deck generator. It was released in different languages:
English (U.S. and U.K.): Magic: The Gathering® Spells of the Ancients™. Cover Illustration Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin
French: Magic: L'Assemblée® “Sortileges des Anciens™”. Cover Illustration Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin
German: Magic: Die Zusammenkunft® “Spells of the Ancients™”. Cover Illustration Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin
Japanese: Magic: The Gathering® Spells of the Ancients. Cover Illustration Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin
Polish: CD bundled with Swiat Gier Komputerowych magazine, issue #7/2001.

In February 1998 the main game was rereleased in a special edition named Duels of the Planeswalkers. The card pool was increased to over 480 cards, with the 80 new cards being from Legends and The Dark. Furthermore a software named ManaLink was added which allowed to play against other players online. It was released in different languages:
English (U.S. and U.K.): Magic: The Gathering® Duels of the Planeswalkers™
French: Magic: The Gathering® Duels des Arpenteurs d'Univers™
Japanese: Magic: The Gathering® Duels of the Planeswalkers™. Cover Illustration Elves of Deep Shadow by Jesper Myrfors
Polish: CD bundled with Swiat Gier Komputerowych magazine, issue #9/2001.

For the Japanese version, 5 different products were available:
Magic: The Gathering®: 26 September, 1997. Cover Illustration Shivan Dragon by Melissa Benson
Spells of The Ancients®: 27 February, 1998. Cover Illustration Juzam Djinn by Mark Tedin
Duels of the Planeswalkers®: 21 August, 1998. Cover Illustration Elves of Deep Shadow by Jesper Myrfors
The Online Edition®: Magic: The Gathering and Duels of the Planeswalkers: Cover Illustration Fountain of Youth by Daniel Gelon
The Online Plus®: Spells of The Ancients and Duels of the Planeswalkers: Cover Illustration Serra Angel by Douglas Shuler

The Official Magic: The Gathering - Strategies & Secrets book was released on February 1997:
Author: Beth Moursund
Publisher: Sybex Inc
ISBN-10: 0-7821-2031-8
ISBN-13 978-0782120318
385 pages
Original retail price: $19.99


Magic: The Gathering computer game front and disc


Magic: The Gathering computer game front and back. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio


Magic: The Gathering sealed Limited Edition Pack computer game front and back. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio and Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin


Magic: The Gathering computer game: U.K. version front and disc


Magic: The Gathering computer game: U.K. version. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio


Magic: The Gathering French computer game front and disc


Magic: The Gathering computer game: French. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio


Magic: The Gathering German computer game front and disc


Magic: The Gathering computer game: German. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio


Magic: The Gathering computer game: Japanese. Cover Illustration Shivan Dragon by Melissa Benson


Magic: The Gathering computer game: Korean. Cover Illustration Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio


Spells of the Ancients expansion set front and disc


Spells of the Ancients expansion set front and back. Cover Illustration Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin


Spells of the Ancients expansion set: U.K. version front and disc


Spells of the Ancients expansion set: U.K. version. Cover Illustration Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin


Spells of the Ancients French expansion set front and disc


Spells of the Ancients (Sortilèges des Anciens) expansion set: French. Cover Illustration Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin


Spells of the Ancients expansion set sealed: German. Cover Illustration Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin


Spells of the Ancients expansion set: Japanese. Cover Illustration Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin


Spells of the Ancients Polish expansion set front and disc


Cover of Swiat Gier Komputerowych Polish Magazine, issue 07/2001 with Spells of the Ancients CD


Duels of the Planeswalkers Special Edition front and disc


Duels of the Planeswalkers Special Edition front and back


Duels of the Planeswalkers Japanese. Cover Illustration Elves of Deep Shadow by Jesper Myrfors


Duels of the Planeswalkers Polish expansion set front and disc


The Online expansion set: Japanese. Cover Illustration Fountain of Youth by Daniel Gelon


The Online Plus expansion set: Japanese. Cover Illustration Serra Angel by Douglas Shuler

MICROPOSE ADVERTISEMENTS FROM THE DUELIST, SCRYE, INQUEST, SPIN, ETC...


Micropose Advertisements from February, March and April 1995


Micropose Advertisements from May 1995, July 1995 and August 1995


Micropose Advertisement from February 1996


Micropose Advertisements from May 1996, March and ? 1997


Micropose Advertisements from October and December 1997


Micropose The Online expansion and Duels of the Planeswalkers Japanese Advertisements

MICROPOSE ART


Goblin Polka Band Astral card Original Art by Quinton Hoover


Artificer's Guild Development card full art by Quinton Hoover


Blue Guild Development card cropped art and Original Art by Pat Morrissey

MICROPOSE BOOK


The Official Magic: The Gathering - Strategies & Secrets book front cover and back

MICROPOSE MANUALS


Magic: The Gathering U.S. manual front and back


Magic: The Gathering U.K. manual front and back


Magic: The Gathering Japanese manual front and disc


Spells of the Ancients U.K. manual front and back


Duels of the Planeswalkers manual front and back

EXTERNAL LINKS
Expanding Shandalar, by Beth "Bethmo" Moursund in The Duelist Online
Astral Cards, Feature Article
A Magic History of Time, Feature Article
The Goblin Polka Band tune
Magic The Gathering 1997 MicroProse (Full Soundtrack) Broken Link
Magic The Gathering 1997 MicroProse (Full Soundtrack).
MicroProse Magic: The Gathering FAQ by Dana Huyler

INTERNAL LINKS
Oversized Thorn Elemental


Astral - MicroProse Computer Game Cards
SETNUMCARDNAMEARTISTSOURCEDATEINFO
001 Aswan JaguarPat MorrisseyMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
002 Call from the GraveQuinton HooverMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
003 Faerie DragonNéNé ThomasMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
004 Gem BazaarLiz DanforthMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
005 Goblin Polka BandQuinton HooverMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
006 Necropolis of AzarRob AlexanderMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
007 Orcish CatapultMelissa BensonMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
008 Pandora's BoxAmy WeberMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
009 Power StruggleMark TedinMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
010 Prismatic DragonAmy WeberMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
011 Rainbow KnightsDouglas ShulerMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
012 WhimsyAnson MaddocksMagic: The Gathering computer game card1997-04YES 
 


Development - MicroProse Computer Game Cards
SETNUMCARDNAMEARTISTSOURCEDATEINFO
001 Artificer's GuildQuinton HooverMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
002 Black GuildUnknownMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
003 Blue GuildUnknownMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
004 Bright SocietyUnknownMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
005 Crystal BallFrank FrazierMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
006 Dark SocietyQuinton HooverMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
007 Data CardNoneMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
008 GladiatorUnknownMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
009 Green GuildUnknownMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
010 Grey SocietyUnknownMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
011 MasterMark TedinMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
012 MPS LogoFrank FrazierMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
013 NoneNoneMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
014 Red GuildMelissa BensonMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
015 RoyaltyPhil FoglioMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
016 VeteranDan FrazierMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
017 White GuildUnknownMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
018 Wizard of the Cost LogoUnknownMagic: The Gathering computer game development card1997-04YES 
 


Tokens - MicroProse Computer Game Cards
SETNUMCARDNAMEARTISTSOURCEDATEINFO
001 Assembly WorkerKaja & Phil FoglioMagic: The Gathering computer game Mishra's Factory token1997-04YES 
002 Djinn of the BottleJesper MyrforsMagic: The Gathering computer game Bottle of Suleiman token1997-04YES 
003 Poison SnakeJeff A. MengesMagic: The Gathering computer game Serpent Generator token1997-04YES 
004 RukhChristopher RushMagic: The Gathering computer game Rukh Egg token1997-04YES 
005 Spawn of AzarRob AlexanderMagic: The Gathering computer game Necropolis of Azar token1997-04YES 
006 TetraviteMark TedinMagic: The Gathering computer game Tetravus token1997-04YES 
007 WaspSandra EveringhamMagic: The Gathering computer game The Hive token1997-04YES