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"Card Wars" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of the American
animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
''
Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
''. The episode was written and storyboarded by Somvilay Xayaphone and Bert Youn, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and
Pendleton Ward Pendleton Ward is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor who has worked for Cartoon Network Studios, Frederator Studios, and Netflix Animation. He created the series ''Adventure Time'', the Internet series ''Brave ...
. It originally aired on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
on July 16, 2012. The series follows the adventures of Finn (voiced by
Jeremy Shada Jeremy Shada (; born January 21, 1997) is an American actor, musician and singer. He is best known for his work as the voice of Finn the Human from the American animated television franchise ''Adventure Time'' and Lance in '' Voltron: Legendary ...
), a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother
Jake Jake may refer to: Name * Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer * Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach * Jake, a member of the band Enhy ...
(voiced by
John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the ''Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
), a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. In this episode, Finn and Jake play Card Wars, a
tabletop game Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a Table (furniture), table or other flat surface, such as board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, Tabletop role-playing game, tabletop role-playing games, or ti ...
. But things take a turn for the worse when Jake becomes overly competitive. It had originally been planned to produce the episode during the first season because McHale and Ward were actively playing immersive,
worldbuilding Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world or setting (narrative), setting, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. Developing the world with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, culture and ecology is a k ...
games. The episode received largely positive critical reviews, with Alasdair Wilkins of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' applauding how the eponymous game lampooned '' Magic: The Gathering'', ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'', and ''
Risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environ ...
''. Due to the episode's success, a
mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
and a physical version of the eponymous game have been released.


Plot

Jake explains to Finn that his girlfriend, Lady Rainicorn will not play his favorite card game, ‘’Card Wars’’; Finn, however, agrees to play with Jake, and the duo agree that the winner (who will be crowned "the Cool Guy") will be rewarded with soda, whereas the loser (who will be dubbed "the Dweeb") will be forced to drink a terrible concoction including soda, coffee grounds, and
kimchi Kimchi (; ) is a traditional Korean side dish (''banchan'') consisting of salted and fermented vegetables, most often napa cabbage or Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including '' gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), ...
, among other things. With the stakes set, the game begins. Jake explains the complex and arcane rules to Finn, who quickly falls asleep. However, once the board game component begins, Finn gains the upper hand, largely by “flooping” (or “activating”) his Pig card. Time and time again, Jake tries to kill Finn's Pig, only for his plans to backfire. Soon, however, Jake becomes angry and aggressive, and Finn is warned by BMO (voiced by Niki Yang) that if Jake loses, he will become bitter and depressed. Finn, therefore, decides to purposely lose the game for Jake's sake. Once the game resumes, Finn purposely sacrifices his all-powerful Pig, allowing Jake to defeat him. Finn is forced to drink the disgusting liquid concoction, but manages to trick Jake into trying it. The episode ends with the two brothers happily sharing the nasty drink, seemingly on friendly terms again.


Production

"Card Wars" was written and storyboarded by Bert Youn and Somvilay Xayaphone, from a story developed by series creator
Pendleton Ward Pendleton Ward is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor who has worked for Cartoon Network Studios, Frederator Studios, and Netflix Animation. He created the series ''Adventure Time'', the Internet series ''Brave ...
, Patrick McHale, and Kent Osborne. The episode was directed by Larry Leichliter. During the middle of the episode, both Finn and Jake are depicted with grotesque, off-model faces, a trademark of Youn's storyboarding style. These faces necessitated lead character designer Andy Ristaino to drew several unique, key frames, colloquially known as "Bert Youn Specials". Ristaino revealed that he drew at least three of these faces for the episode. Ward later noted, in the DVD commentary for the third season episode "Another Way", that "Card Wars" featured Youn's most extreme and exaggerated faces. Storyboard artist Rebecca Sugar noted that the idea behind this episode had been in development for a long time. Originally, it had been planned to make the episode during the first season because McHale and Ward were actively playing immersive,
worldbuilding Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world or setting (narrative), setting, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. Developing the world with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, culture and ecology is a k ...
games. However, it took until the fourth season for the episode to be made. Nate Cash served as the episode's creative director. He messaged both Youn—who, at the time, was in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
—and Ward via
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
to inform the two that he enjoyed the episode so much. Many of the scenes with BMO were inspired by Erik Fountain and Cash's experiences skateboarding. Cash in particular posed out all of the moves to make them faithful to real life.


Reception

"Card Wars" first aired on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
on July 16, 2012. On the night it aired, it ranked as the number one telecast of the day in the
Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
among boys aged 2–11. It also ranked first in its timeslot among children ages 2–11. The episode first saw physical release as part of the 2013 ''Fionna and Cake'' DVD, which included 16 episodes from the series' first three seasons. It was later re-released as part of the complete fourth season DVD in October 2014. Alasdair Wilkins of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' awarded the episode an "A−" and wrote that, on the surface, the episode "has got to be an instant contender for the most low-key ''Adventure Time'' ever", noting that there are no guest stars and that the action is centered entirely in Finn and Jake's Tree Fort. However, he applauded the episode, arguing that it "absolutely nails the insanity of trying to jump into an overcomplicated, impenetrable game with a much more seasoned competitor". Wilkins compared the titular Card Wars game to '' Magic: The Gathering'', ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'', and ''
Risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environ ...
'', pointing out that ''Card Wars'' "byzantine rules and gleefully baffling terminology" emulates and lampoons the aforementioned games. Ultimately, Wilkins concluded that the episode was successful because of "how real this all feels". Tyler Foster of
DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
named the episode as one of the "highlights" of the ''Fionna and Cake'' DVD, writing, "As the show often feels like a big riff on Dungeons and Dragons, this spoof of tabletop gaming is full of absurd yet deeply familiar moments: the endless rule-reading, the surprise triumphs, and the seething rage." The episode was later nominated for and won a Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR Animation in Television.


Merchandise

The popularity of the episode has led Cartoon Network to market several versions of the game.


Mobile app

On February 16, 2014, a
mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
version of the game developed by Kung Fu Factory was released that expanded the original premise of the show to create additional storylines, characters, creatures and environments while further developing the gameplay rules. The app itself dismayed critics due to its in-app purchases, however, proved popular on the app store rising to #1 in the top paid apps, with review aggregation site
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
awarding the game a 73, denoting "mixed or average reviews". On June 18, 2015 an expansion was released for the iOS app that featured Fionna and Cake along with new gameplay features.


Physical version

A physical version of the game was released on February 19, 2014 by
Cryptozoic Entertainment Cryptozoic Entertainment is an American publisher of board and card games, trading cards and collectibles based on both licensed and original intellectual properties. The company is well known for its "Cerberus Engine Game", the catch name for i ...
. This version, made for two players, features 80 different cards, 8 lane tiles, and 20 hit point tokens. Several variants have been released, including a "Finn vs. Jake" box, a "BMO vs. Lady Rainicorn" release, and a "Lumpy Space Princess vs. Princess Bubblegum" set. On November 15, 2023, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the card game's release, Cryptozoic launched a
Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
campaign to fund its re-release. This "Ultimate Collection" would include all previously released variants of the game alongside several add-ons, such as a play mat and a storage box.


Comic

A 6-issue comic series by Kaboom! is planned, with full subscriptions being sold in advance. #issue 1 released July 2015 with 3 alternate covers by John Kovalic, for
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
and 10-year anniversary commemoration #issue 2 having released August 2015 with 1 cover by Jen Wang


Explanatory notes


References


External links

* {{Adventure Time episodes, 4 2012 American television episodes Adventure Time season 4 episodes Collectible card games Works about card games