Blue Moon, published by Kosmos/Fantasy Flight Games from 2004, is Reiner Knizia's most successful take on the living card game genre. It is a card game for two players that bears some resemblance to the well-known , although the game mechanics are quite different. However Blue Moon is not a CCG; although each player has to use his own deck, there are no booster packs and, apart from a few promotional cards, all cards are sold in decks of fixed composition, so that there are no rare cards. In total, there are 344 different cards. Based in a unique fantasy setting, Blue Moon simulates the struggles of the various peoples who live in the Blue Moon world. Each people has its own unique traits and gameplay mechanics, and is represented by a 30card deck. The base Blue Moongame box contains a small game board, three small plastic dragons and two complete decks for the Vulca and Hoax peoples. Blue Moon cards are oversized and resemble tarot cards: they need special-sized card sleeves to protect them. Additional peoples are the following:
Mimix
Flit
Khind
Terrah
Pillar
Aqua
Buka
In addition, two more decks called Emissaries & Inquisitors: Allies and Emissaries & Inquisitors: Blessings contain additional cards which can be used in at least two ways. Advanced rules in the basic set allow players more freedom in constructing their own decks, each based on a single people with imported cards from other peoples. The Emissaries & Inquisitors decks allow additional deck building possibilities. Many Blue Moon cards carry text to specify the cards' influence on the game. The game is therefore very language-dependent. Known available editions exist in English, German, Dutch, and French. Artwork for game boxes differs. Some promotional cards have been released and given as gifts at various gaming events. In 2006 Fantasy Flight Games published a Blue Moon-related board game called Blue Moon City: this is not compatible with the Blue Moon card game and is a complete German-style board game for 2 to 4 players, set in the same Blue Moon world. It also shares artwork with the Blue Mooncard games, but this is where the links end. During the 2007 edition of the Lucca Comics & GamesItalian comics and games convention, Reiner Knizia himself confirmed that no new decks for Blue Moon are under development, as the publisher is no longer interested in publishing them. So, the game should be considered "complete" with its current set of decks.
