Healing Blade: Defenders of Soma

About this board game

Healing Blade: Defenders of Soma is a 1–2 player card game with a 45-minute play time, casting one player as attacking bacteria and the other as defending antibiotics.

The world of Soma is under siege by the Lords of Pestilence. Invaders such as Anthrax, Pertussis, Cholera, and the Black Death spread through the country, threatening innocent villagers while the Apothecary Healers fight to save them.

Led by ancient warriors including Penicillin, Cipro, and Tetracycline, the Healers rush into battle against wave after wave of attackers. Their different specialties make deployment a central challenge: victory depends on using the right powers in a sophisticated manner.

• Asymmetric conflict: one player attacks with bacteria while the other defends with antibiotics.
• Adapting invaders: bacteria learn to resist and evade Apothecary powers.
• Dangerous diseases: some invaders become even stronger when they are struck down.
• Accessible theme: no prior medical knowledge is required to play.

Created through a collaboration between hardcore gamers and practicing physicians, Healing Blade: Defenders of Soma offers a complex strategic experience inspired by the real-world struggle against infectious disease and bacterial resistance. Its fantasy setting represents current challenges in antibiotic use against common and feared bacterial infections.

With its focus on specialized defenders, evolving threats, and waning antibiotic effectiveness, the game connects engaging card-game strategy with today’s medical quandaries. Players confront a battle where defeating an enemy is not always the end of the danger.