Draft:Super Nova (card game)

Super Nova Card Game is a collectible common-deck card game (CCG) published by Heartbreaker Hobbies in July 1995. It was developed by Heartbreaker Hobbies in conjunction with Buccaneer Games and based on a science fiction theme of intergalactic conquest.

Contents
All players use the same shared deck. According to the Scrye price guide, the game was sold only as booster packs and players would "add to the common deck between them". This was different from most other CCGs, where each player was required to first build an entire deck of cards before entering a game.

The purpose of the game is to conquer and control planets. Each planet has a Population Potential; the player to achieve a certain total Population Potential is the winner. Rules were included in each booster pack, but these rules did not include the actual Population Potential total that was needed to win the game.

Development
John Montrie first conceived of the idea of Super Nova in January 1994 as a science fiction card game to meet the popularity of Magic: The Gathering.

Reception
In the January 1996 edition of Arcane magazine (Issue 2), Andy Butcher noted that this game "was something of a refreshing change from the flood of collectable card games that's still deluging the market." He liked the unique aspect that all players share all the cards, so there was no need to build one's own deck. He commented that "Play is fast, mainly as everyone performs the various phases of a turn at the same time, and the whole game is quick and simple to pick up." However, he did note that "the rules don't actually tell you what Population Potential you need to win", and gave the game a below average rating of 6 out of 10 overall.

InQuest rated the game 2 stars and felt that the rules could be improved, noting that the only worthwhile strategy is to play as many cards as possible and thereby draw more cards to get special cards.