Astro Boy: Edge of Time, a Tezuka-themed CCG, is now on Kickstarter

The last time Astro Boy appeared in his own game was in the woeful Astro Boy: The Game, which released for Wii and PS2 in 2009 to coincide with the film. With the passing of seven recuperative years, Astro Boy is returning in Edge of Time, a collectible card game hitting Kickstarter today. Developed by Active Gaming Media, it's developed in partnership with Tezuka Productions, and will feature many other Osamu Tezuka-created characters.

The Kickstarter campaign is seeking a relatively modest $50,000, which will contribute to the completion of a game which has already been in development for some time. “We are coming directly to the fans via Kickstarter, allowing them to directly influence the final game," the announcement PR read. "Their input will help us improve the game at a time in its development cycle when new paths and ideas can be explored and implemented in order to create the best game possible and honour these characters properly.”

The cast will employ many of Tezuka's characters from a broad range of his universes. Thanks to "a darkness" which "rips through the multiverse", each of the characters end up in a floating cyberpunk city known as The Sprawl. They need to protect this mysterious floating city, of course, and they intend to do so with cards. Collectible cards.

As for how the game will work, it'll comprise 1v1 matches against either AI or other players. The "unique positional combat" provides two rows in combat, with an offensive and defensive row. There's also a story mode and the promise of ongoing development. The Kickstarter, which you can check out over here, will run for 30 days, but no release window for the final game has been announced as yet.

And if none of this sounds exciting, take heart: it means new music from Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka. That's never a bad thing.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.