At Gen Con, I had the opportunity to sit down with WOTC Brand Manager Drew Nolosco for some background on the Transformers TCG. We didn’t discuss so much rules of play, mind you, but more design philosophy for the game. I’m impressed by the thought process that went in to it and expect that fans of the property will find that the game delivers a solid Transformers experience. The Transformers TCG is a head-to-head battle game, for sure, but the focus is clearly on characters. Every Transformer character card is oversized, foiled, and two-sided, one for bot mode and one for alt mode. The remaining battle cards provide tactics and upgrades for a player’s chosen Transformers team.

In the first wave, the 40 character cards total do include some of the rarer Transformers. And despite their unusual size for CCG packaging, every booster will have one character card.

Another WOTC goal with the Transformers TCG was to create a game for intergenerational play. The basic rules and goals—to KO all an opponent’s characters—were developed for children as young as 8, while still supporting more complex card-playing strategies for older players. The game allows for strategic play in defense as well as offense. And the rarity system was not only designed to make it easier to collect a broader range of characters, it also features a type of graduated complexity. That is, the more complex game rules only come in to play on rarer cards, thus easing people in to more advanced play.

WOTC is planning for some Transformers TCG events but not for much of a tournament scene.

While limited sales took place at Gen Con and San Diego Comic Con, full retail release is scheduled for September 28th. Starter Sets will come with four character cards and 40 battle cards for $15, boosters one character and seven battle cards for $4. There will also be a mobile companion app to assist with building teams and tracking damage.

I’m told also that putting the characters on oversized cards allows for experimentation. So look out for some possibly even larger or unusually shaped cards in future releases.