FragPunk lets you bend its own rules with Shard Cards
Underneath FragPunk's dazzling art style lies an inventive card-based mechanic bound to shake up each round.
The upcoming hero shooter from developer Bad Guitar Studio pits teams of five against each other. If you're familiar with the likes of Valorant, you'll feel at home—each character has their own set of abilities, and the core loop demands (and rewards) tactical precision.
What sets FragPunk apart though is Shard Cards, which give players the ability to unleash abilities, power-ups, and all sorts of over-the-top game-changing effects during matches.
Whenever you're playing Shard Clash—the standard Search & Destroy-inspired game mode where one team plants a bomb and the other needs to defuse it before the timer ends—you and your team will get to pick cards that can significantly alter the experience in the rounds to come.
Here's an explainer on how this innovative mechanic works, and some of the most bonker options present in the game's beta tests.
How do Shard Cards work in FragPunk?
As you play matches in FragPunk, you'll earn a currency called Shards. Shards are awarded for kills, streaks, assists, or by looting them from the ground if you find a Shard Point. At the beginning of each round, you and your team will get to pick from three random cards, using said Shards to activate them.
Shard Cards can cost anything from one to five (or more) Shards, and there's also the option to spend a Shard to redraw individual cards. Some cards will ask for “N” amounts of Shards—basically, the higher the number of Shards you spend on that one card, the stronger its effect will be.
Since FragPunk is a team-based shooter, you'll have to communicate and coordinate with your squadmates about which cards to pick. If there aren't enough Shards in a card, they’ll be returned to your team—but you won’t get the effect in question. Hoarding Shards for a future round is also a possibility, and you can (and probably will) have rounds where your team doesn't activate any cards at all. This might give the opposing team an advantage in the short term, but prove beneficial in the long run if you have a strategy in mind.
While you aren't exactly building a Shard Card deck, there's a vast array of synergies to keep in mind. The combination of Ricochet and Explosive Shots, for example, makes bouncing bullets on surfaces even deadlier. The Medical Error card, which cancels healing for the opposing team, can disable cards like Healing Shot (where shooting teammates will heal them). Others, such as Hard Rain, grant a water shield when staying in a rainy area—a good way to benefit from weather-type cards like Driving Rain.
FragPunk features over 100 Shard Cards that can be unlocked for free just by playing, and there are some significant game-altering picks available. While listing all of them would spoil the fun of discovering and unlocking new cards, below is a selection of over-the-top options that you should prepare for ahead of time.
World Flip
We’re starting off strong, as World Flip turns the map upside down. Your character is "flipped," i.e. walking on ceilings as opposed to the ground. If you’re familiar with a map and can get used to the perspective shift, using the World Flip card can catch the opposing team off-guard, as they'll have to aim upwards instead of at eye level.
Environmental cards
While World Flip is the most eye-catching example, FragPunk features a few different cards that affect how you traverse its corridors and corners.
Driving Rain not only adds a moody ambiance to a map, but also water currents that make traversal slower and more difficult. Fog Phantom cloaks parts of the map in a thick, white mist, which can really affect how you deal with important areas like a bomb-planting zone. Lastly, Frozen Wasteland coats the ground with ice, and allows for sliding (done by crouching during a sprint). Sliding is normally available as a passive ability for just a single character, Axon, so Frozen Wasteland is an enticing pick if you want some extra traversal options.
Big Head and Small Head
These cards are self-explanatory, but hilarious. Mimicking old video game cheat codes, Big Head and Small Head make characters’ heads enlarge or shrink. Perfect for increasing the chances of landing or missing headshots, respectively.
Blade Master
It’s pure fiction, but everyone knows one of the coolest things you can do with a sword is use it to deflect multiple bullets in quick succession. Blade Master adds this as a defense maneuver in FragPunk, allowing you to block attacks coming from the front—as long as they’re above the knees, that is. This card is great for players who are prone to more impulsive charges toward the enemy, giving them a way to deflect incoming projectiles while drawing close, or escape from danger if things go south.
Turtleback
Plushies aren't just for show. The Turtleback card adds a turtle on your character's back that blocks bullets from behind. It’s a perfect defensive maneuver against sneaky enemies, especially when you're turning corners. Sure, it looks silly—but it might save your life.
Death's Embrace
A different take on the concept of a guardian angel. With Death’s Embrace, a Reaper appears behind injured enemies after a few seconds and lays down an execution zone. After a brief delay, it deals 150 damage to any enemy (or ally) within the zone. While the Reaper appears only once for each enemy, the potential of Death’s Embrace shouldn’t be underestimated.
Bio-Warrior
Bio-Warrior allows your team to spawn as zombies upon death. By doing so, you're able to slash through enemies and inflict damage for a while longer. You don't get as much health as usual, but the second wind is definitely helpful—and terrifying for the opposing team.
These are only some of the 100+ Shard Cards you'll find in FragPunk when it launches March 6, free on the Epic Games Store. Wishlisting the game will net you a pack of cosmetics, including a kill counter, sticker, icon, name card, banner background, charm, and an assault rifle fever skin.