Hybrid co-op strategy
on Mars.

No. You always need a tablet to play Red Messiah. The companion app on a tablet in the middle of the table is core to the hybrid design — it runs the six-phase year, scans cards via QR, tracks resources, and resolves rules. You need at least one tablet (or a large phone) shared by the table.

Any iOS or Android tablet from the last few years. For the on-device language-model option (Gemma 4 or Qwen 3), you'll want at least 8 GB of RAM — newer iPads or modern Android flagships handle this comfortably. Older or low-end tablets can still play: they'll fall back to the static pre-written event pool with the AI feature off.

Technically yes, but a tablet is strongly recommended. The app shows shared information to everyone at the table — phone screens are too small for that. We recommend at least an 8-inch tablet.

Both. The iOS app is approved on the App Store (release pending). The Android app is fully developed and currently in store-review.

Yes. You can turn the AI off in the app settings. The app then uses standard pre-written events that we curated by hand. Completely offline, no LLM, no cloud calls. The game plays the same — you just lose the dynamic-event variety.

Depends on your AI configuration. With AI off, the game is fully offline and uses pre-written events. With AI on using an on-device LLM (Gemma 4 or Qwen 3), it stays fully offline on tablets that can run the model locally. With AI on using a cloud LLM (where supported), internet is required for the cloud call. Most configurations are offline. The app itself works offline once installed.

On-device: Gemma 4 (Google) or Qwen 3 (Alibaba), both open-weight models that run locally on your tablet. The AI is sandboxed by the game rules — it can only generate narrative event text, never change card costs, resource math, or balance. Full AI tool disclosure is on the main project page.

The AI narrates and reacts to events at the table — but its outputs are bounded by an internal rule set we designed at 7Wolf, so it stays inside the design envelope. We don't publicly disclose the exact guardrail mechanism (7Wolf Studios special recipe). The result feels alive at the table without breaking the design. If you'd rather skip it entirely, you can comfortably play with the AI off — the pre-written event pool gives you the same structural gameplay without any LLM in the loop.

Fair. Three things to know. First, the design is human: rules, mechanics, balance, faction abilities, and victory conditions are designed by Mathias by hand. Second, the AI is guard-railed — it operates inside an internal rule set we built at 7Wolf (the exact mechanism is our own recipe, not publicly disclosed), so it can narrate and react inside the design envelope without going off-rails. Third, the AI is fully optional within the app — switch to pre-written events at any time and play offline. The full list of every AI tool used in the project is on the main project page. We use AI as a creative instrument under human direction, not as a replacement for game design.

The design system — every card's mechanical effect, cost, and balance — was designed by Mathias by hand. The flavor text and policy/project descriptions were drafted by Claude Opus (Anthropic) and then reviewed and curated card by card before print. We disclose this fully on the project page because we think backers deserve to know.

Typically 60–90 minutes for 3 players, longer for 4–5. The app handles rules and math, which keeps pace tight — there's no rulebook flipping during play.

2 to 5. The app calibrates for player count. There is no solo mode.

No dice. Outcomes come from cards, votes, and project bids — not random rolls. Variance comes from the cards drawn and the events the app generates.

At launch: English. Card text on the physical cards is English. The companion app is English at launch. Localization to other languages is planned post-launch depending on demand.

We commit to maintaining the companion app on iOS and Android for the lifetime of the printed deck — and we already have experience with this process from another app we have live on iOS and Android. The on-device language models (Gemma 4, Qwen 3) are open-weight, so they keep working regardless of cloud-provider changes. The pre-written event pool is stored in the app and works without any AI or cloud dependency.

Yes. EU and US fulfillment go through standard partners. Shipping is calculated post-campaign in the pledge manager.