MECHA-MERCS: A Co-Op Card-Driven Mecha RPG

Grab a deck of playing cards, two d6, and pilot a crew of scrappy mecha mercs through a card warzone. Built on the Carta System and inspired by Mecha Hack and Dead Belt, it's a quick, family-friendly game for solo or cooperative play. Print-at-home booklet included!

Pilot your mech. Finish the objective. Get paid.

In MECHA-MERCS you command a squad of battle-worn mecha pilots taking dirty jobs in the Fire Ring. Your mission map is laid out in a grid of face-down playing cards. Every flipped card is a gamble: a cache of supplies, a hard-fought battle, a complication to deal with, or the route to the mission objective. The deck builds the battlefield, the dice decide your fate, and the threat level keeps building up until something worse starts stalking you.

How it plays:

• Move: Make a Threat Check and move into the next ZONE card. Fail the check and the threat level climbs toward disaster.
• Reveal: Flip the card. Red suits are resources, Clubs are battles, Spades are events, Aces are uplink stations.
• Act: Deal with an event or fight your way out of a battle by burning Ammo or Armor while keeping your Systems from reaching zero. Collect Supplies or Intel to help you make it through to the Objective and earn Credits. Then decide if its worth it to spend Heat to push further.
• Get paid: Beat the Objective, Upload Intel, defeat the Threat, and Exfiltrate, to collect Credits before repair bills and Upkeep bleed your crew dry.

Built on the Carta System: A simple d6 and playing-card framework that runs light and fast. Inspired by Mecha Hack and Dead Belt, it takes those games' lean, mission-driven energy and puts a family-sized merc squad at the wheel.

Made at the family table. I made this game to play with my kids. The rules are short enough to explain in a couple of minutes.  It plays like a board game in flow, and keeps everyone at the same table working together.  No GM required.

Customize your Mecha:

• Pick your class: 5 prebuilt classes with unique abilities and a blank sheet with details on how to build your own, each with a printable mini booklet
• Upgradable stats: each class starts with base Armor, Ammo, Heat, Systems, and Drones that can be improved over missions
• Acquire Gear: With the success of each mission you'll raise in notoriety and have access to more powerful and expensive gear. Find legendary Mecha-Smiths and make your Mecha shiny

One mission or a whole career:

• One-shot ready: Set up a map, run a mission, get out.  A game in less than an hour.
• Career Mode: Track creds, rep, and upkeep. Run a merc company, buy gear, upgrade your mechs, and fight bigger battles across a campaign.
• Solo or cooperative: Play as a lone pilot or a squad. Everyone works against the map, not each other.

What's in the download:

• Gameplay Manual Booklet: formatted as a print-at-home half-letter booklet. Print double-sided, fold, staple, done. It's also fully readable on a screen.
• Gameplay Manual Digital Format: a pageless digital format with linked table of contents and a fluid vertical flow for ease of use on a phone or tablet.
• Character Sheets: each pilot comes as its own 8-page mini digest booklet (a tiny zine!), with trackers for your core systems, drone bay, databank, mission log, and gear locker. Print them just like a character sheet then fold and cut into a pocket-size zine.

What you need to play: One deck of playing cards (with jokers), two six-sided dice, tokens, and your printed sheets. That's it.