Black & Gold Edition: Campaign Content and Future of the Game
Hi Mages!
Some time ago, several of you asked whether we were planning to offer a full premium version of Mage Noir, with all cards printed in a Black & Gold style. We had already created the game’s Rituals in this format during a previous Kickstarter campaign, and you loved them so much that some of you hoped to see the entire game in this version.
Following this idea, we gauged the community’s overall interest with a survey, and we received some very insightful feedback. Thank you to everyone who participated! Most of the comments were enthusiastic, which made us incredibly happy!
We’re therefore pleased to confirm that this edition will be offered through a crowdfunding campaign at the very beginning of 2026!
Naturally, a few questions also addressed the future gameplay additions planned for Mage Noir…
So why offer this edition? And what does the future of Mage Noir look like?
True to ourselves, we’re writing this post to share our ideas, our thoughts, and our convictions with you.
A Return to the Roots
The first reason behind this edition, though not the main one, is also the simplest to explain.
Because we want to!
We want to respond to our players’ requests, of course, but we also personally want to see this edition come to life.
Did you know that the very first version of Mage Noir ever created and shown to the public already featured bright text on a dark background?
One of the very first prototypes, in 2019
With some research and a better understanding of the production process, we learned at the time that printing the classic version in black on white was far more economical, especially due to multilingual considerations. Printing white text on a black background requires more resources. Such an edition is therefore better suited for a premium version, one that can receive the extra attention it deserves.
After several years of experience printing cards, we wanted to bring the Rituals to life in Black & Gold, which we did in our previous Kickstarter campaign. The final result was as beautiful as we hoped, perhaps even more. That success gave us the confidence to consider releasing a full version of the game that aligns with the original artistic vision: spells depicted on dark, atmospheric cards.
After all, the game is called Mage Noir.
Creating this version is, for us, a return to our roots, an opportunity to finally bring to life the original concept that came out of our imagination six years ago.
Contents of a Black & Gold Pledge
For those of you who love digging into the details, here’s a deeper look at what this special edition contains, we’re sure you’ll be happy to know.
A Mage Noir Black & Gold pledge includes every Mage Noir card released up to the publication date of this blog article, with the exception of Rituals. This means: Season 1 (excluding The Lone Mage), Season 2, and Season 3.
Each card is included in one single copy, specifically:
- 47 Air cards
- 45 Fire cards
- 47 Water cards
- 47 Plant cards
- 50 Mineral cards
- 47 Arcane cards
For a total of 282 cards.
All cards in this edition are printed to be fully compatible with your existing decks. They use the same card back, the same standard size, and match perfectly with all regular Mage Noir cards.
This means all your existing Mage Noir products (sleeves, playmats, large storage boxes, etc.) work flawlessly with this edition.
And what about the 19 Rituals?
As mentioned earlier, the 19 Rituals from Seasons 1 to 3 have already been printed in Black & Gold during our previous Kickstarter campaign, Animal Aenigma.
Those Black & Gold Rituals are therefore separate products and are already exclusive to Kickstarter.
If you don’t have them yet (or if you’d like additional copies) don’t worry! They will be available as Add-ons, so you can complete your collection.
Speaking of completing your collection…
A special pledge will also be available for those who want a full playset of these cards at a favorable price.
(As a reminder, a complete playset means 4 copies of each card.)
We know this option is highly requested by our most dedicated collectors, and we want to thank them for their passion for the game.
And because we know how much they value completion, this pledge will include 4 copies of every Ritual as well, at no additional cost.
One campaign can hide another…
We’re thrilled to bring you this collector edition, and we know it will delight many of you.
We also know that some of you are especially looking forward to new spells and new gameplay content for Mage Noir.
We can confirm that we have many ideas for the future of Mage Noir, and that we intend to bring this new content to you later in 2026, through a second crowdfunding campaign.
The exact content of that future campaign is still being worked on. We must answer two key questions:
- What is the best way to enrich Mage Noir in terms of gameplay?
- How do we keep Mage Noir accessible to new players?
For the first question, we have many ideas, and we still need time to refine them so that only the very best remain.
It’s a lot of work ahead, but with three seasons of experience, it’s a challenge we are well prepared for.
For the second question: Mage Noir has grown and evolved enormously over the years, and we’re proud of the depth its mechanics and expansions now offer.
We are always delighted to see new players discover just how many possibilities the game provides.
However, we must remain careful.
As more expansions are released, this initial excitement could turn into something more overwhelming, simply because of the amount of content available.
One of our goals for the future is therefore to preserve this sense of excitement for new players while ensuring that new cards do not create information overload.
Many options exist to address this issue, and we intend to study them carefully to find what best aligns with the spirit of the game and the expectations of our community.
We still have some work to do before we can reveal more about the new content coming in 2026, alongside this premium edition.
A little more patience, Mages, we can’t wait to tell you more!
Ready for What Comes Next?
Looking ahead, we believe that the best decision we can make as publishers is to strengthen the present of Mage Noir while preparing solid foundations for its future.
By doing this now, we give ourselves the freedom and flexibility we need for the important choices that lie ahead.
In that spirit, creating a premium edition brings several key benefits:
- It answers a clear request from the community.
- It requires no gameplay design work, which frees our minds, and our schedule, to focus on refining the ideas that will shape the next Mage Noir content.
- And finally, it helps us generate the additional resources needed to ensure that the future gameplay reaches the highest possible level of quality: in design, illustration, and physical components.
In short, supporting this premium edition of Mage Noir means supporting our work, and supporting the future of the game.
Until next time, we wish you a wonderful day, Mages. Take care, and have fun!
~Everyone at Double Combo Games.