What drew you to Altered and Equinox as a company, and how did you get the job?

I was contacted on LinkedIn. I went to the studio for several interviews, and the thing I told myself was: “I don’t want to work on a TCG that I don’t like.” So, I tried the game—it was an early version, different from today’s game. I played the early version of Nevenka, where you could target any character and potentially remove their character if you were desperate. I lost to Eric playing Yzmir, but I loved the game. I did a final interview and got the job.

The game was very different then: placeholder art, and even the faction names were different—Lyra was called the Muses for example.

What is your favourite thing about your job?

I would say the community is what I like most. I remember back in June 2023, when I started, it was very calm—only the beta play testers knew about the game. The only Discord that existed for us was the internal one. So, building the community from the ground up and seeing things like becoming one of the most used emojis on the server… I think that’s fun.

When you look at other entertainment companies where people are very invested in the product, one of the most rewarding things for fans is being able to talk to the company. That’s something I wanted to be able to do, and Equinox allows that. That’s my favourite part of the job: being able to talk with a passionate community.

I saw a post on Reddit yesterday about how important the community culture is for the game, and I think that’s absolutely right.

What is the best or coolest thing that has happened to you, Loki, because of Altered?

I have a card with my face—and my late cat—on it. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? Getting ideas and being able to execute them, that’s amazing!

Setting up the boss battles—one of the most awaited activities at conventions—is probably the coolest part. Especially since I have my own boss card.

But just from a human perspective, I’ve been able to travel a lot. I’ve been to the U.S. at least half a dozen times. In the past two years, I’ve probably travelled more for work than I had in my personal life before. Seeing other countries and cultures is really cool.

How have you seen the Altered community grow and change since the game’s release?

I was just thinking about that yesterday. There are people I’m really glad stayed committed to the game—I even have all their names on my playmat. Some of them became friends, and I can see the bonds forming between players.

Since release, the game empowered people to become true advocates. I went from just “a little guy doing things” to being a brand ambassador, helping others. I’m really proud of how some people became key members of the community.

Actually, I believe you, Gavken, were one of the first to post about Altered on BGG, and now you’re here doing this interview. That’s super cool. I also think about people like Saphire, who started cosplaying and now organizes a world qualifier.

Equinox (not just me) has been able to empower people to step up.

What has surprised you about the community in the past year?

Eazy becoming a mod. I was surprised that I eventually gave in! It surprised me how I grew through Stockholm Syndrome 😊.

More seriously, what surprised me most is how committed people became to a game that wasn’t already a giant IP. If you have a famous brand, people will flock to it—but Altered was still fairly new. Yet, we’ve seen members of the community do incredible things.

Take 39cards.com for example—probably one of the most important tools to play the game. It’s not surprising for a TCG to have that, but the speed and quality of execution were impressive.

Also, the amount of cosplay and events—even from people who don’t actively play—is surprising. And yes, even fake items showing up on Temu. That means we’ve made it.

What’s your favourite cosplay so far?

I’ve liked all of them. I love seeing different interpretations of the same character. For example, we had two Nevenkas: Anna Margaret in the U.S. and Lynn Delacour in France. Completely different styles—different wigs, fabrics—but both amazing. I really liked Saphire’s Requiem cosplay too.

Lately, I’m especially into seeing original characters. I believe there’s a lot of room for interpretation and personal creativity in our universe.

Could a cosplayer become a card?

That’s something we’ve already discussed. We even did a Halloween contest about a year ago where people cosplayed their own characters. We considered making one of the costumes official, but it wasn’t in the rules, so we didn’t follow through. We’ll probably do it one day—I want to.

I also want to see people reimagine existing characters. For instance, Vaike in the snow drinking hot chocolate with a Brassbug. I love that stuff.

That’s something I appreciate in other games, like Overwatch. I’d love to do something similar, even before we launch the RPG. Imagine at a convention, you could create your own hero card and effect to face the boss. I don’t have time to do it yet, but I’d love to.

Altered has no limits when it comes to imagination. Yoshi even told me he sometimes wants to make players’ characters official. This sense of belonging to a faction (except Axiom 😄) is something we should celebrate. We’ve started to do that with the Tumults.

How do you decide which cons/events the team will attend?

At Equinox, it depends—Altered is distributed by Asmodee, so we generally go where they have a presence. If they don’t, we usually don’t either.

That said, I’m really proud that when people learn the game, they often end up getting starter decks. For example, here at UKGE, we sold out of starter decks by Saturday at 4 p.m. That’s a good problem to have—it means people are enjoying the game.

The key question for us is: Should we be there as a company? If the answer is yes, we go.

People sometimes ask me, “Are you a designer?” and I say no—we have a team of people doing that back at the studio. I’m the public face of the brand, and I have to decide where I can do the most good.

In the U.S., for instance, I need to decide: is it more useful to be at a convention, or at a World Qualifier? Is it more important to support the community, or to teach new players?

At cons, I can show fun stuff like the boss battle and explain the community aspect. But these choices always come with a cost—we can’t be everywhere.

Is there an event/collaboration you haven’t done yet but would love to see?

I’d love to see how Altered would do at a convention that’s not about board games or TCGs—like a Comic Con. Personally, when I see something visually striking, like Overwatch, I either commit or force myself to stay away because I know I’ll spend too much.

It’s the same with Altered. People see the game and think, “Wow, that looks great,” even if they’re not TCG players. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to get someone to try it. We’ve had players say things that our marketing team hadn’t even considered. Like, “I love this Ordis outfit—can I get that jacket?” Or, “I want a plushie of that character!”

So yes, maybe we should do Comic Con or Anime Expo, and bring other types of products. Even if people don’t play, they might love the factions or the lore enough to buy merch.

Nevenka is a good example—she’s colourful, easier to cosplay than someone like Teija. I’d love to collaborate more with high-profile cosplayers to showcase what Altered looks like. People might just say, “That looks beautiful,” and want to know more.

What new experiences (boss battles, 2v2, etc.) are coming to events like UKGE, PAX, Gen Con?

Earlier in the interview, we kind of invented “Create a Hero” on the fly—so yeah, I might do that! But I’ve got some big tasks ahead before I can work on that properly.

Imagine someone creating a new Sylas and thinking, What would this hero do?  Also, as a side note, if you want to fight against Sylas, come to Lille.

And don’t forget having a character playing Altered is already canon—the alt-art Loki card from the Kickstarter is literally playing the game. I’d love to bring more of that vibe.

We’ve also got other bosses coming: the art for Sweorkie (Bravos) and Triny (Axiom) is done—we’re just finalizing their abilities. Boss battles will be improved, and when there’s no playmat, there will be a medal instead like the one below.

We’re also setting up another cosplay contest. I hope we’ll have new experiences ready by Lille.

What feedback did you get from the first Tumults, and are changes coming?

From what I’ve seen, not many complaints—but maybe that’s because I filter them out. 😄

That said, I think the biggest feedback was the lack of surprise—Ordis and Yzmir were the winners, and people kind of expected it. Maybe they looked the meta up on 39cards or BGA and weren’t shocked by the result. That’s something we should work on.

Now that Worlds is coming and WFM has launched, how is Equinox keeping Altered top of mind?

Equinox has a few things in motion, starting with the WFM promo: bonus unique cards with Print on Demand in May and June.

I’m also running several social media campaigns and working with high-profile cosplayers and influencers to create content and reach new audiences.

We’re running paid ads on social to promote the game and its presence on BGA. With the Marketplace now live, it feels like a second soft launch—a second coming of Altered.

Now that the full vision is out there, people who follow TCGs know us. If a shop is into TCGs, chances are they’ve heard of us—even if they haven’t tried it. But here’s the thing: you can’t just expect people to drop their main TCG. What we can do is become their second game.

Even better, we can appeal to people who’ve never played a TCG. How? By showing them something beautiful and different—like BGA, or the lore, or the community. That’s what Régis wanted: a game that makes people dream.

Maybe you used to play mobile games, and now even your parents do. You might not be into manga or Yu-Gi-Oh, but Altered feels like something you could play with your kids. There’s a huge audience out there, outside the typical gaming sphere. The challenge is: how do we reach them, when the market is already saturated?

We need to get the game into new types of stores. It’s not easy—but I like challenges.

Any plans to celebrate Altered’s first anniversary?

There’s no final marketing plan yet, but there will be new alt-art versions of BTG cards created by the Musubi, available for all players as an anniversary gift. Even future players will be able to print them via PoD.

We’re also working to make the World Championship a real celebration. Will there be plushies? Maybe.

Worlds will be a celebration of everything Altered, and the Musubi cards will be a big part of that.

When will the next round of Learn to Play outreach hit?

The “learn to play” stuff at conventions will definitely continue.

We also launched the Hive initiative, to identify community builders who can teach the game and gather local players. As part of that, we’ve created kits for the U.S. that will soon be sent out to selected community members. They’ll use these kits to teach new players and generate shop-level interest.

After UKGE, we’ll also need to check how many new accounts have been created. Different regions might need different strategies. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but the Hive is a good first step.

The last two reveal seasons were a bit chaotic. Are there plans to improve the process?

We want to give people different ways to discover new cards. Some TCGs use community reveals to get players talking—and we’ve got a big online community. The tiniest teaser can spark a whole Reddit thread. At the same time, we also want to encourage people to visit their local shops and reserve special cards for specific channels—like demo decks.

With Trial by Frost, we were trying to get the Marketplace up and running at the same time. And for Whispers from the Maze, we had the full launch of both the set and the Marketplace. There was just too much going on all at once. We had to prioritize, and delaying the Marketplace would’ve been a huge mistake.

So yes, things were tight. But for Set 4, which is larger and introduces new heroes, communication will be very different. We want to set a new standard in marketing. People will be surprised—in a good way.

Who do I need to bribe to get a card reveal next time?

No bribes needed 😄

I’m more on the community and influencer side. I’ve got a work phone constantly buzzing, and I’m always scanning platforms. I have a list somewhere—506 influencers—but I don’t have time to monitor all of them constantly.

What I look at is who’s making content and how consistent it is. I do get more emails than I have cards to give. Sometimes, I send a card and never hear back. Life happens. The best way to get on the list is just to be active and visible. My list isn’t always up to date, so if I see your email or notice your name popping up with good content, you’ll get noticed.

Once we publish the article announcing the new set and introduce the name, that’s when reveal planning begins (yes, I know I’m asking for a wave of emails by saying that).

I care more about human connection and communication than big résumés or egos. Some creators are just starting out, and I want to help them grow. But—and this is important—if you leak stuff, you won’t get another reveal. To me, reveals are tools creators can use to grow and engage their audience. I take that seriously.

What are you most excited about for the future (that you’re allowed to talk about)?

I’m really excited about Worlds.

There are so many people in the community I’ve grown close to. I’d love for Worlds to be that moment when we’re all together—like a full-on Altered convention. It’s about celebrating the game, growing the brand, and sharing something we love.

That’s what excites me most.

[Loki’s birthday cake with a mystery guest on top!]

Interview conducted at UKGE 2025 by Gavken and Saphire.