Altered, the trading card game that broke records on Kickstarter with a $6.2 million crowdfunding campaign in 2024, recently launched a live beta of its most novel feature called “print on demand,” or POD. Players can now order up additional copies of any card in their collection directly through the game’s online storefront. It’s a feature unique to this card game alone, and it sets it apart from competitors like Magic: The Gathering and Disney Lorcana.
TCGs have traditionally been sold through co-called “blind packs,” with consumers never knowing what’s inside until they open those packs. The same is true of Altered, which is sold in booster packs at stores and online. Each of the cards in Altered, however, also features a QR code. Consumers can scan their packs into a mobile app, dozens at a time, formally locking that card to their digital account. It’s a system that works extremely well and, if you were wondering, publisher Equinox tells Polygon that it’s not using the blockchain.
With that card in their digital collection, players have all kinds of unique opportunities. For instance, they can use cards from their collection to play online in digital games via Board Game Arena. They can also trade or sell the rights to those cards online, through the Altered digital storefront. Or they can order up more copies of that card — including foil copies if they wish — and have them delivered directly to their door.
According to the Altered “onboarding” information available on April 29 on its the website, orders must be placed in batches of 20 called packs. Single cards can be added to a pack as many times as you like, so long as players own the digital rights to at least one copy. Cards can be printed normally with standard art, or with foil treatments instead. However, foiling requires a special card, a collectible that is also found in blind packs, which is consumed on a per-card basis. Players can order at most 15 packs per order for a grand total of 300 cards at a time. When purchasing, players are charged on a per-pack basis with discounts for more packs bought. One or two packs will run you $20 each, or $1 per card, while ordering 13 to 15 packs brings the price down to just $15 per pack, or the equivalent of $.75 each. Customers are responsible for taxes, shipping, and potential customs duties.
The one caveat in the entire scheme are that there are several classes of cards that can only be printed once per year. These currently include “promo cards or alt arts” according to the website. If that applies to a card in your collection, it will be clearly marked in the details of that card online.
The next batch of custom-printed cards will be run beginning May 13, and customers need to place their orders by then to be included. But the website says up to 5,000 packs can be printed every Tuesday going forward, so fans won’t have to wait too long if they miss the window.
