Infinite Fun.
Infinite Scalability.
Infinite Replayability.
Welcome to Infinite Melee.
A strategy-first, identity-driven tactical card battler.
by Irreverent Games
Because rules are meant to be broken.
Positioning
Infinite Melee:
Expressive Play. Competitive Systems. Choose how you win.
Infinite Melee is an identity-first tactical battler card game where players can express themselves, and wage battle, through one of eight distinct deck identities.
Each deck is thematically unique, embraces different play-styles, rewards a different way of thinking, and allows players to compete through their favorite fantasy identity.
It is a differentiated, identity-focused battler built for theme, style, strategic depth, variability, replayability, mastery and broad appeal.
Why Infinite Melee Exists
What gap does it fill?
Strategy-first players are underserved
Many card games favor spectacle and collection over meaningful decision-making.
Depth often collapses as games grow
Distinct factions blur together, balance drifts, and mastery gives way to memorization.
Infinite Melee is built around playstyle and thematic identity.
Strategic players want games where how you play matters — not just what you collect.
Infinite Melee is built identity-first. Each deck rewards different approach, enabling the fun to emerge from faction selection, deck building and meaningful in-game decisions.
Differentiation
What makes Infinite Melee different?
Eight faction identities:
provide unique theme, feel and playstyle by deck, all of which sit on a single, unified game engine
Expressive play shines through:
multiple viable play identities drive divergent strategies and emergent outcomes
Position-driven combat dynamics:
melee, ranged and airborne interactions meaningfully alter combat strength, shape strategies and drive combat resolution
Distinct loot economy layers
loot resources with different lifecycles and roles are purpose-built to set appropriate tempo and feel for early-, mid- and late-game flavors
Competitive foundation:
systems are designed for fairness, consistency, and balance, but purposely avoid homogeneity across factions
Elegant tuning architecture:
built to scale new content without power creep or crash-out
Multiple Factions - Broad Appeal
Eight Factions. One Unified System.
Players can engage through the fantasy identity they enjoy most — magic, technology, mythology, modern power — all balanced through a shared system.
If you don’t love wizards but you love machines, Infinite Melee still meets you where you are.
[Faction Icons]
Illustrative Example
Sample Matchups and How Thematic Play Identity Shows Up:
Dynasties vs Steampunks
🥋 Dynasties
Wins through timing, positioning, and martial discipline
Rewards patience, positioning and synergistic interactions
Punishes overextension and sloppy attacks
High skill ceiling, low margin for error
Quick to deploy, quick to strike, quick to be killed
Feels like: outmaneuvering a stronger opponent through swift and flawless execution.
⚙️ Steampunks
Wins through pressure, armor, and inevitability
Absorbs damage while advancing slowly, but relentlessly
Forces opponents into difficult commitments or trades
Thrives in drawn-out, grinding battles
slow to deploy, slow to ramp, but built to last
Feels like: slogging ever-forward, seizing victory when the opponent runs out of answers.
Player choice:
Do you want to outthink your opponent — or outlast them?
Gameplay Loop
Core Gameplay Loop
Choose your deck identity
Build and refine a strategic deck
Deploy characters and resources
Execute tactical combat decisions
Adapt/react to emergent interactions
Prepare to defend yourself
Refine strategy across repeated matches
Target Players
Who is Infinite Melee for?
Strategy and mastery-focused players who crave depth
Players who want skill expression, not solved metas or pre-ordained outcomes
Card game & tactics fans
Tabletop hobbyists seeking challenge / moving into digital
Supports both competitive play and expressive experimentation.
Why players come back
Built to hold together
No solved metas - positioning changes every game
Wins feel earned, losses don’t feel pre-determined
High replayability due to emergent board states and resultant outcomes
Different factions play different games, and the underlying system is built to protect those identities
Clever counters prevent predictable brute force wins
No deck wins purely based on efficiency
Current Status
Where we stand today
200+ character cards designed with ample secondary cards (e.g. arsenal upgrades)
Series 1 base set and Series 2 base set, plus six expansions each, developed or conceptually defined.
Core combat engine and tuning architecture implemented
AI-driven move evaluation / selection engine is operational
Extensive simulation, balance tooling and reporting developed
Playable prototype with defined faction identities
Tabletop-ready for live demos and fast iteration
Platforms
Platforms & Currently Planned Approach
Primary: Hybrid
PC (Steam)
Physical retail packs
Integrated corresponding physical / digital collections and gameplay
Exploration: Digital-first tabletop / hybrid
Future: Console adaptation based on fit
System-first design enables flexible platform expansion.
Competitive and Organized Play
Designed to scale from Day 1
Expressive deck building enables diverse metas
Competitive balance is designed into the core
Tuning is asymmetrical
on average, every deck has a roughly equal chance to beat all the others as a group
but some individual deck matchups lean slightly in one direction, making it slightly more challenging - and rewarding - to “outplay your nemesis”.
Tournament and organized-play formats considered early
Think: Competitive if desired. Accessible if not required.
Partnership Goals
We’d love to chat about
Publisher partnerships and licensing
Publishing + funding to accelerate polish
Co-development, strategic collaboration for GTM and scaling
Live Demo Available
Demo Available
Limited Tabletop Simulator instance and physical card prototypes available for meetings.
Learn More
I’ll be at GDC (March 9–13) and am scheduling short demos and conversations with publishers and partners interested in strategy-first hybrid digital/tabletop games.