Sanctum (game)

Sanctum (game)

For the 2011 indie game, see Sanctum (2011 video game).

Sanctum is a two-player computer collectible card game, played online against human opponents. Players log into a "Game Lobby" (known as "The Gate") to find other players to challenge to a match. It runs on the Windows operating system. It was developed by Digital Addiction in 1997, and was launched to public participation on July 9, 1998. At its peak, the game had over 1200 active participants (who logged in at least twice weekly over a period of three months). Registered users reached 82,000 by 1999, and by May, 2000 had over 100 thousand registered users. It was one of the first online trading card games, and received many favorable reviews.

The virtual "collectible cards" included common, uncommon, and rare, with different powers, in-game functions and artwork. They did not exist as actual physical cards (with the exception of a few that were distributed by Digital Addiction for promotional purposes) but they were owned and traded in an online account, and were played solely within the virtual environment of Sanctum. A registered player was given a certain number of free cards to play, and additional cards could be purchased through Digital Addiction's online card store.

The game had a devoted user following, with player clubs and cabals, tournaments and prizes, secondary card markets, fan fiction, trivia contests, and dozens of fan web sites.

In 2000, Digital Addiction closed its doors. Faced with the prospect of the game vanishing, several players created the non-profit company Nioga ("Non-profit International Online Gaming Association") and acquired the game-related assets of Digital Addiction with the intent of keeping it running for its players. The Nioga members intended to donate all game profits (generated through the sale of virtual cards) to charity. Nioga maintained the game and completed the issuance of an expansion set, Revolutions.

Over time, player retention and game revenues dwindled. The non-profit status of Nioga was eventually canceled, and a long-promised additional expansion, Allies and Traitors, was never released. On June 1, 2010, the Sanctum servers were shut down at the co-location facility.

In January 2012 a new community effort to make the Sanctum game available for play was started at www.playsanctum.net. It is currently working with the player community to develop a game format to interest both old and new players.