Moon Foundry
What Is a Sandbox Card Game?
A sandbox card game lets players add new cards to the game itself. In Moonfall you do it by fusing two cards in the Moon Foundry.
A sandbox card game is a card game in which the players add to the game itself. Instead of only collecting a fixed set, they bring new cards into it. In Moonfall you do it in the Moon Foundry: fuse two of your creature cards, and if no one has fused that pair before, the game designs a new card for it. The first player to fuse the pair is credited as the card's discoverer.
Where the word comes from
Sandbox games such as Minecraft and Roblox hand players the tools instead of a finished world: what gets built is up to them. Most card games work the other way round. A design team prints a set, and players collect, trade and combine what was printed.
Moonfall keeps the familiar part, a collection, decks and matches against friends or the AI, and adds a sandbox on top of it: the card pool grows with what players fuse.
How a fusion works
- Open the Moon Foundry and drop one of your creature cards onto another.
- If the pair is new, an AI card designer reads both parents as one idea and writes a new Character card: a name, a mana cost and a short description.
- The game paints four versions of the new card, and you pick the one it keeps.
- The card goes into your collection, ready for your next deck.
Only creature cards go into a fusion, and a fusion always gives a creature. Spells come from elsewhere: Moon Dream dreams up a whole summoner and the spells it casts.
Discovering a card
Every pair of cards is a recipe. The first time anyone fuses a pair, they discover it: the new card exists from then on, and it carries their name as its first discoverer. Anyone who fuses the same pair later learns the recipe and gets the same card; no second card is designed.
Recipes are not shown to other players. A card's parents appear in your Collection only once you know its recipe.
What it costs
Discovering a recipe costs Stardust, whether you are the first to find it or not. The Moon Foundry shows the current price before you fuse; at the time of writing it is 50 Stardust. Fusing a pair you already know again costs no Stardust, and you can craft extra copies of a card you know from your Collection.
A sandbox that keeps going
A card you discover is a creature like any other, so it can be a parent in the next fusion. That is where the sandbox opens up: start from two small cards and keep going, one fusion at a time. Can you fuse a pebble into a dragon? follows that idea.
A discovered card is also yours to use:
- Put it in your decks and play it.
- Sell copies to other players on the Moon Exchange; can you sell the cards you discover? explains how.
- Craft a Stellar version of it, a living card that moves.
The Moon Foundry guide goes deeper into how the designer reads a pair. New cards are written and painted by AI, and AI output can still be imperfect. Ready to fuse? Open Moonfall.
Frequently asked questions
What is a sandbox card game?
A card game in which players add new cards to the game, instead of only collecting a fixed set. In Moonfall, players do it by fusing two creature cards in the Moon Foundry.
Where do new cards come from in Moonfall?
From the Moon Foundry. Fuse two of your creature cards, and if no one has fused that pair before, the game designs a new card for it, with a name, a mana cost, a description and four paintings to choose from.
Who designs the new cards?
An AI card designer writes each new card from its two parents, and an AI painter paints it. The player who discovers the card picks the painting it keeps. AI output can still be imperfect.
Can other players get a card I discovered?
Yes. You are credited as the card's first discoverer, and anyone who fuses the same pair later gets the same card. You can also sell copies to other players on the Moon Exchange.
What does fusing cost?
Discovering a recipe costs Stardust; the Moon Foundry shows the current price, 50 Stardust at the time of writing, before you fuse. Fusing a pair you already know again costs no Stardust, and extra copies of a card you know are crafted in your Collection.