recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Mosquito

## Ability

### Ability

**Rash Decision****(Play)** Your cards in hand gain +16 Power this turn but if you are losing the round, they gain an extra +16 Power.

## Did You Know?

Like Manny Pacquiao, the common **Mosquito** is small but packs a big punch. In fact, it may surprise you to know that this bug is the world’s deadliest animal. For this accolade, however, they don’t have their bite to thank but their ability to carry diseases and spread them across the world. So, not the most popular of characters in a pandemic.

In other news, mosquitos love Carbon dioxide and use it to locate their next feast. They have a special organ called a maxillary palp which helps them follow the smell of CO2 released from our breath. Going somewhere tropical on holiday but worried about getting bitten? Just don’t breathe and you’ll be fine.
Ouija Board

## Ability

### Ability

**Dial-A-Ghost****(Return)** If you have played The Alphabet this game, your cards, wherever they are, gain +5 Power until played and your Ghost card, wherever it is, costs -3 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

Since the deceased don’t have access to phones or the internet (we assume), getting in touch with ghosts requires more rudimentary tools. The most well-known of these is the **Ouija Board**.

The “Ouija, the Wonderful Talking Board” game became a cultural staple when it hit shelves for $1.50 in 1891. What could possibly go wrong? If you’ve never used one, it’s fairly straightforward. Everyone places their hands lightly on a triangular pointer that rests on a board and has the words “yes” and “no” in the corners, an alphabet in the centre, and the word “goodbye” at the bottom.

Simple, right? Well, it’s no big deal, but using the board does come with the risk of opening a gateway to Hell. You don't get that in Monopoly!
Muscle

## Ability

### Ability

**Brains and Brawn****(Return)** Your Pioneers of Science and The Write Stuff cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

Your body contains over 600 of them: the largest are in your buttocks and the smallest are in your inner ear. **Muscles** are vital for every little movement the human body makes – whether it’s a smile to a stranger or a high jump at the Olympics.

Our muscular system is also responsible for keeping our bodies in whatever position they’re in against the pull of gravity. The word ‘muscle’ actually comes from the Latin term ‘musculus’, meaning “little mouse” – the term could have been chosen due to the shape of some muscles, although one theory says that muscles contracting under the skin look like a mouse moving under a rug. Next time you’re lifting weights, think of all the little mice powering your workout! Or… don’t.
Miss Baker

## Ability

### Ability

**Survive Re-entry****(Return)** If you lost the turn, gain +28 Power/Turn next turn.

## Did You Know?

**Miss Baker** was a Monkeynaut and in 1959 she and her companion Miss Able become the first US animals to complete a successful flight into space and return alive.

Born in Peru, she was selected from a group of 25 monkeys in a training program at the Naval School of Aviation Medicine. We aren't sure what the selection process was but we have never wanted to be on a monkeynaut selection committee more.

Able & Baker made the historic journey on May 28 in a Huntsville-built Jupiter rocket. The two monkeys travelled to an altitude of over 300 miles and 1,700 ground miles. They had a special monkeynaut space flight capsule with a special space suit & helmet each. Electrodes monitored their physiological state during the 15-minute suborbital flight into space.

After their landing and recovery, the two monkeys were flown to Washington, DC for a press conference, where they were treated like celebrities, they even appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine on June 15, 1959. Goals.

The rest of Miss Baker's life was spent being the first lady of space and a monkeynaut celebrity. Her love life was pretty spectacular too - while on display at the Pensacola Naval Aerospace Medical Center, (where she regularly received fan mail from all over the world), Miss Baker was given a companion - Big George. The two monkeys were married in a ceremony in 1962 after a keeper determined that they should not live together in sin while on public display.

When Big George died of kidney problems, Miss Baker was married to her second husband, Normal Norman, from the Yerkes Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Over 500 school children attended their wedding.

She lived to the grand old age of 27 and was buried alongside her first husband George at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Visitors to this day often leave bananas at her memorial.

None of the information on the back of this card is a wind up by the way, hard as that may be to believe!

'Monkey Baker with a Model Jupiter Vehicle.' by NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under Public Domain (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Obsidian

## Ability

### Ability

**Dragon Glass****(Draw)** Your Unruly Rulers and Mythical Creatures cards, wherever they are, cost -3 Energy for 2 turns.

## Did You Know?

When hot lava erupts from volcanoes and cools rapidly, it creates a naturally forming volcanic glass known as **Obsidian**.

Because it has no crystal structure, obsidian blade edges can be extremely thin, making it the perfect material for tool making. In ancient times, obsidian was used for arrowheads. Today, this igneous rock is still used for making surgical scalpel blades.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in Pompeii, the extreme heat from the volcanic explosion turned a man’s brain into obsidian glass. Scientists found intact neurons preserved as obsidian in the corpse of a poor victim, in probably the most gruesome example of what’s known as “vitrification”, which is when a liquid is cooled into a solid so quickly that crystals don't form.
Mnajdra

## Ability

### Ability

**Astronomical Alignment****(Play)** Your Watching the Skies cards in hand gain +16 Power this turn and next.

## Did You Know?

TripAdvisor isn’t always the best place to get information about a tourist attraction. Case in point: the **Mnajdra** Temples found on the southern coast of the Mediterranean island of Malta. This megalithic temple complex dates back to between 3600-3200 BC, yet shows intricate knowledge of building techniques and mind-blowing attention to detail.

The Lower Temple has an astronomical alignment, allowing the rays of the sun to pass through specific parts of the temple during the equinox. Thought to be amongst the oldest surviving free-standing structures in the world, the temples at Mnajdra are arranged in a figure of eight formation. But, according to one recent visitor’s review, that’s not even the most impressive part: “Enjoyed the informative pamphlet - everything that you need to know.”
Organic Replication

## Ability

### Ability

**Synthesized****(Return)** If your deck has exactly 9 Science cards, your remaining Life on Land cards in hand gain +25 Power this round, and vice versa.

## Did You Know?

Imagine if you had a machine that could magic you up any food or drink you desired: the perfect American cheeseburger, mouthwatering Belgian chocolates or the finest slice of Italian pizza. The possibilities would be endless with **Organic Replication** à la Star Trek.

By removing material scarcity, replicator technology allows for a moneyless economy in the Star Trek universe. In our universe, we aren’t quite there yet: but we are working on it. In 2014, Nestle announced they were working on Organic Replication tech as a way of creating food tailored to a person’s nutritional needs. Meanwhile, Imperial College physicists have recently discovered how to create matter from light - a feat once considered impossible. Physicists, if you’re listening: ours is a glass of Bordeaux with a side of olives.
Naginata

## Ability

### Ability

**Wide Impact****(Play)** If played in the middle slot, all other cards in both player's hands lose -35 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Arguably one of the most badass weapons around, the **Naginata** is a curved sword mounted on a pole used by warrior priests circa 750 A.D. Although it wasn’t designed with women in mind, this blade proved to be the perfect weapon for female self defence during the Sengoku Jidai period.

While men were away at war, women threatened with raiding and pillaging could quickly reach for the naginata, taking advantage of its sharp blade and long reach to defend themselves at close quarters.

Over time, this weapon came to symbolise female virtue in Japan and was even given to brides as wedding presents. Because nothing says “cheers to the happy couple” like a massive Japanese sword.
Nopperabo

## Ability

### Ability

**Face/Off****(Play)** If it's the first turn of a round, the card opposite this loses -20 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Imagine being tormented by a faceless ghost at night, running frantically for help, finding a stranger and telling them about the ghost… only to discover that the stranger is also a faceless ghost. This nightmarish situation is the number one favourite trick of a **Nopperabo**, a mischievous “no-face” ghost in Japanese folklore.

Although they are usually considered harmless, these shape-shifting creatures enjoy nothing more than frightening humans by appearing as one of them before erasing their facial features to scare them. At this point, we would normally reassure you that such creatures aren’t real, but one Honolulu advertiser reported a sighting of a Nopperabo (also known as a mujina) combing her hair in a restroom at a drive-in theatre in 1959. Hey, we get it - even ghosts have bad hair days.
Midnight Sun

## Did You Know?

Don’t you wish the days would last longer? Move to Lapland in Finland, where residents experience the nightless night, also known as the **Midnight Sun**. Considered one of Finland’s most entrancing natural phenomenon, the Midnight Sun occurs due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis, which places regions above the Arctic Circle in unending daylight for around 70 consecutive days.

On the summer solstice, the sun stays above the horizon for a full 24 hours. While it’s true that residents struggle with getting to sleep in the light, many think the summer months in Lapland aren’t meant for sleeping at all. The Midnight Sun increases energy levels – so why hit the hay when you could ride horseback in the dead of night?
Orc

## Did You Know?

In Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, one thing is made abundantly clear: there are restaurants and cafés in Mordor. How else would the **Orc** who says “Looks like meat’s back on the menu, boys!” know what a menu is?

As always, we’re asking the important questions. Whether eating out is prevalent in Orc culture, one thing is for sure: at some point, these hideous creatures were beautiful elves. In Tolkien’s stories, these elves were taken by Morgoth and tortured until they turned into Orcs.

Morgoth bred over 500 of these as killing machines, whose sole purpose was to fight and die for their master. That’s enough to make anyone hate-filled and blood-thirsty.
Okonomiyaki

## Ability

### Ability

**OK...Oh No! My Ackee (and Saltfish)****(Return)** If you have played Ackee and Saltfish this game, your Ackee and Saltfish card, wherever it is, costs +8 Energy and gains +80 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

After the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, food was scarce. So, the people pivoted to a recipe that required few ingredients but was still delicious. The result was **Okonomiyaki** - a name which combines the word “okonomi” meaning “whatever you like”, and yaki meaning “grilled”).

Although it’s often called the Japanese savoury pancake, Okonomiyaki is more like a cross between a pizza and a frittata, with ​​the ingredients layered like a cake. It’s usually filled with octopus, shrimp, pork, yam or kimchi, but as the name suggests, the toppings can be anything you want (yes, even pineapple.)

This dish typically comes in two different styles: Osaka style and Hiroshima style. The former is more like a pancake with toppings, while the Hiroshima recipe adds soba or udon noodles.
Oda Nobunaga

## Did You Know?

As a young boy, Oda Nobunaga was known as 'the fool of Owari' for all the mischief he got up to. The son of a military governor, he quickly shook off that title when his father died and he lead an army against his uncle, Nobutomo, for the leadership of Owari. He won, and uncle Nobutomo committed suicide - Nobunaga then murdered his younger brother, so there was absolutely no one left to challenge his power.

He embarked on a mission to unify Japan under one ruler. Starting with the rival Imagawa clan, Nobunaga raised armies to take down other warlords. He was known for being a callous strategist, never afraid to be utterly brutal when he needed to be. His planning and ruthlessness saw him control half of Japan within 20 years - not bad for a fool from Owari.

His death came in 1582, when one of his own generals set fire to a temple he was inside. Unable to escape, Nobunaga committed ritual suicide and died without completing his mission. His successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, continued his legacy and Japan finally became unified under Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Panamanian Golden Frog

## Ability

### Ability

**Poison Skin****(Return)** If you lost the turn, your opponent loses -4 Energy.

## Did You Know?

Despite its name, the Panamanian Golden Frog is actually a toad. Nice one, People-That-Name-Animals.

Its skin contains a powerful toxin that wards off predators. Though frogs are a delicacy in some parts of the world, eating one of these could kill you in 20 minutes!
Nurarihyon

## Ability

### Ability

**Slippery Catch****(Play)** If your deck has 6 or more Deep Ocean cards, your Japanese Folklore cards in hand gain +12 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Hosting a party? Keep a close eye on the door and keep the guestlist strict. The last thing you want is **Nurarihyon** slipping into your house unnoticed and helping himself to your buffet. Sure, he may look like a little old man with a funny-shaped head, but appearances can be deceiving. In fact, this Yokai is the most powerful and elite of them all.

Known to show up on evenings when your household is very busy, Nurahyon leads the “Hyakki Yako” - a night parade of one hundred demons on dark and stormy nights in Japan. Once Nurarihyon is in your house, it’s already too late: his powers are so great that you’ll be tricked into believing he is the rightful master of the house.
Oruç Reis

## Ability

### Ability

**Brotherly Love****(Play)** Your Hayreddin Barbarossa card in hand gains +30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, notorious pirate **Oruç Reis’**seafaring career made him famous in his own right. Initially, Oruç Reis worked as a privateer in the Mediterranean in an effort to thwart the Knights of St. John of the Island of Rhodes.

But his rise to pirate stardom came when he transported Muslim Mudejars from Christian Spain to the safety of North Africa between 1504 to 1510. These efforts earned him the name Baba Oruç (“Father Oruç”). By 1516, Oruç Reis had established a reputation and lost an arm in the process, which he replaced with a silver hook. With the help of his brothers, he took control of Algiers from the Spanish forces, forcing the previous ruler to flee.
Mictlantecuhtli

## Ability

### Ability

**Bone to Pick****(Return)** If you lost the turn, a random card in your hand gains +20 Power for 3 turns. **(Return)** If you lost the turn, a random card in your hand gains +30 Power for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

Mictlān, the Underworld of Aztec mythology, is ruled by **Mictlāntēcuhtli** and his wife, Mictecacihuatl. Considering his most common depiction is as a blood-splattered skeleton with a necklace of eyeballs, we think they found the right guy for the job.
"They" being Quetzalcoatl and Texcatlipoca. After they created the world, they placed the two of them in charge of the underworld. Later, they would return to steal the bones of the previous generation of gods from him, and there are conflicting myths about how this goes. In one version, Mictlāntēcuhtli puts up a fight but fails to stop them. He does trip Quetzalcoatl up on his way out, forcing him to drop them. Quetzalcoatl takes the shattered bones and turns them into people.
Another version has Mictlāntēcuhtli challenge Quetzalcoatl to travel the kingdom four times blowing on a shell - but, in his deviousness, he gives him a shell with NO HOLES so it doesn't make a sound. What a rapscallion!
Quetzalcoatl makes holes in it and Mictlāntēcuhtli is forced to honor his bargain, but he doesn't; instead, he has his minions build a deep pit and tricks Quetzalcoatl into falling into it by *checks notes* startling him with a quail.
Panettone

## Ability

### Ability

**Sweet Bread****(Play)** If played between Sliced Bread and Sugar Glider, your Curious Cuisine cards, wherever they are, gain +22 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

A true sign of Christmas is when the giant box/tin/parcel of Italian sweetbread, **Panettone** accidentally falls into your shopping basket when you swore you weren’t going to get one this year because you always wind up eating the whole thing by yourself. No? Just us? We don’t believe you.

This cake-like bread comes from Milan and traditionally comes with dried or candied fruits or raisins (although plain is always a good option too). The bread gets its impressive height from its long proving time (Paul Hollywood would be proud) and it’s possible that a kind of Panettone it’s been around since Roman times. However, it became increasingly popular after World War II, when it became a Christmas staple. Traditionally served with hot chocolate, it’s a must have for the festive season.
Oriental Shorthair

## Ability

### Ability

**Orient Express****(Draw)** If your deck has 6 or more Chinese Folklore cards, your cards in hand gain +15 Power until played. Repeat for Feudal Japan .

## Did You Know?

With its large batlike ears, you would be forgiven for never feeding the Oriental Shorthair after midnight for fear it might transform into destructive reptilian creatures and wreak havoc in your house. But fear not, for these kitties mean no harm. One of the most popular breeds, the Oriental Shorthair are extroverts and love nothing more than lots of attention from their favourite human.

This breed came to be when cat breeders crossed Siamese cats with other breeds to produce different colours. Today, it’s thought that there are up to 300 colour combinations – from white and black to fawn, chocolate, tabby and tortoiseshell. Oriental Shorthairs are also highly intelligent and can even be trained to walk on a lead.
Michael Collins

## Ability

### Ability

**Space Support****(Play)** Your Common and Rare Space cards, and your Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

One time this writer and his family drove halfway across the United Kingdom, a 5-or-so-hour journey in the car, to Alton Towers. We were so excited to have a go on the Nemesis rollercoaster and were *beyond dismayed* that it was down for repairs that day.

So what I'm saying is I know exactly how it feels to travel a very long distance and not get to do the cool thing. Yes, **Michael Collins** is the astronaut that flew to the Moon on the Apollo 11 mission but did not set foot on it. His job was to monitor Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from orbit.

This job - easily as important as that of either of the men who made the landing - involved making sure their descent was safe, relaying messages from Mission Control on Earth, and making sure the Columbia module he was in was kept in peak condition for when he picked up his colleagues.

Columbia orbited the moon for a whole day, circling it completely once every two hours. During each orbit, Collins was out of contact with Earth while Columbia passed the dark side of the Moon for a period of about 45 minutes, which he recalls as being incredibly relaxing (which is where the Alton Towers parallel falls apart - I had two younger siblings either side of me on that trip, and it wasn't a Sea of Tranquility in there at all let me tell you).
Mount Vesuvius

## Ability

### Ability

**Eruption!****(Play)** Your opponent's History cards in hand lose -20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

The Roman Army may have been prepared for any eventuality, but that didn't stop the city of Pompeii being completely blindsided by a very large hill. Nobody knew that Mount Vesuvius was a volcano until it erupted in 79AD, as it hadn't erupted for at least 600 years up to that point - so watch your back next time you're on a fairly ordinary-looking hill.

Since then, it's made up for lost time by erupting on more than 30 occasions and is, to this day, the only active volcano on mainland Europe. Its last eruption was on March 17th 1944, during the Allied invasion of Italy in World War II.
Moorish Idol

## Ability

### Ability

**Sick to the Gills****(Play)** Your Fabulous Fish, Sharks! and Deep Ocean cards, wherever they are, gain +12 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

And so CUE tackles another entry in the ‘Finding Nemo’ canon… this time the **Moorish Idol** (voiced in the movie by Willem Dafoe).

With their striking appearance, it’s not surprising that they are popular aquarium fish but they are notoriously hard to keep. Even though they are omnivorous fish in their coral reef habitat, in home aquaria they are prone to starving themselves to death.

In addition, they are ‘shy’ fish, easily stressed by other fish and human interference. (No wonder then that in the movie Gill is so determined to escape.) Better to leave the Moorish Idol where it belongs.
Paddle Doll

## Ability

### Ability

**Percussive Ceremony****(Play)** If played next to Hathor, your Instrumental cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

As far as toys go, the **Paddle Doll** doesn’t exactly scream “playtime”. If anything, it’s pretty creepy. Then again, this Egyptian doll was never intended as a plaything.

According to Egyptologists, Paddle Dolls were made to represent female members of the Theban khener-troupe of singers and dancers who served at religious ceremonies for the goddess Hathor. In fact, many of the figurines have been discovered in groups that mirrored the compositions of real troupes of musicians and dancers.

Early claims suggested that these dolls would have been shaken like menat necklaces, effectively making them ornate little percussion instruments. But given their delicate design, experts now think it’s unlikely that Paddle Dolls would have been able to withstand vigorous shaking.
Nickel

## Ability

### Ability

**Nickel and Dime****(Draw)** If you are winning the round, gain +5 Energy and if you are losing the round, gain +10 Energy.

## Did You Know?

It’s used to make everything from wires to coins to military equipment. But when **Nickel** was discovered, German miners searching for copper in the Ore Mountains thought they were being trolled by a demon that they called “kupfernickel” (meaning ‘copper demon’) who was stopping them from extracting copper from a brownish-red rock. In 1751, a Swedish alchemist would effectively exorcise the demon from the rock by heating it with charcoal and isolate Nickel as a whole new element.
Nocturnal

## Ability

### Ability

**Timely Trigonometry****(Play)** Your Mega Math cards in hand gain +20 Power for 2 turns.

## Did You Know?

A **Nocturnal** is like a medieval GPS for the stars, helping sailors of the Middle Ages to tell the time and check tide charts for important ports. It doesn’t look like much to our modern eyes, but for people of yore, the nocturnal was a gamechanger - and it was surprisingly simple to use. Just set the date with one ring, point it at the North Star using the hole in the centre and then swing the pointer to the Big Dipper to read off the time.

Although the device is thought to date back to the 12th century, it was around the late 16th century that they came into popular use. Reliably accurate to within 15 minutes, the nocturnal evolved from more complex astronomical instruments like the astrolabe.
Mosaics

## Did You Know?

The Romans would often have Mosaics in their homes as a sign of wealth and importance, and in public buildings and bathhouses. They were very detailed and complicated and made up of hundreds, sometimes THOUSANDS, of tiny beautiful coloured stones and gems called tesserae. The Roman version of keeping up with the Jones's was the better your mosaics, the better and wealthier you looked.

These mosaics would often show pictures of Roman history and everyday Roman life and provide us with an excellent insight into what Roman life was like and how they lived. It's basically a really beautiful hard-wearing visual diary of Roman times.

Mosaics in the city of Pompeii in Southern Italy have been extremely well preserved. Pompeii was burning under lava in 79 AD when the volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted. The layers of volcanic ash protected the mosaics and have preserved them mostly in their entirety. Many Roman mosaics found in Pompeii warned people of their dogs in Latin!
Nyau

## Ability

### Ability

**Beast Mask****(Draw)** If your deck contains a card with "Ghost" in the name, your Life on Land cards in hand gain +15 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The first rule of **Nyau** club is don’t talk about Nyau club - dance about it. A secret society of the Chewa, an ethnic group of the Bantu peoples from Central and Southern Africa, the Nyau was formed to embody the cosmos and bring together the human, animal and spirit worlds.

The Chichewa word “Nyau” means mask, referring to the masks they wear to represent ancestral spirits or animals during dances. Talking of these dances, they aren’t just throwing random shapes: these sacred dances are often used by the group to tackle difficult topics or issues within village life. The dancers even have the power to criticise the chief through dance. Anything expressed through dance is fair game because, while they are dancing, the Nyau are seen as spirits, not humans.

'A late 20th century wood, paint, feathers, metal and wool mask from the Chewa people in Malawi' by Hans Hillewaert (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Pando

## Ability

### Ability

**I Spread****(Return)** This card loses -85 Power permanently and your cards, wherever they are, gain +5 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Travel to the western edge of the Colorado Plateau in South-Central Utah and you’ll see what looks like a beautiful forest. Plot twist: it’s not a forest, it’s just one tree.

Also known as The Trembling Giant, **Pando** is the largest living thing in the world. What appears to us as individual trees are in fact the 47,000 stems of a single tree connected by one massive underground root system.

With an estimated weight of 13.2 million pounds, Pando is three times larger than the next largest single tree. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Pando’s expansive root system is estimated to be over 80,000 years old, making it one of the oldest known living organisms on the planet.
Okapi

## Did You Know?

A most elusive creature, the Okapi is native to the Democratic Republic of Congo. While its distinctive striped lower half may resemble a zebra, it's actually the only living relative of the Giraffe - they are the only two species remaining in the Giraffidae family!

They also have a somewhat uncouth means of marking their territory - they have scent glands on each foot, that leave a tar-like substance on the ground as they roam around. Grim.
Mount Olympus

## Ability

### Ability

**Realm of the Gods****(Return)** If you won the turn, your remaining Ancient Greece cards in hand gain +25 Power next turn.

## Did You Know?

Mount Olympus: highest mountain in Greece and mythological home of the Olympians - the twelve principal gods of the Greek pantheon. They were either siblings or children of Zeus, leader of the gods, who probably wished his kids would hurry up and move out already.
Mogwai

## Ability

### Ability

**Face Your Gremlins****(Play)** If you are losing the round, this card gains +20 Power. **(Return)** If you won the turn, gain +3 Energy.

## Did You Know?

This **Mogwai** is not to be confused with the adorable mogwai Gizmo from the 1984 Christmas classic Gremlins. The film is likely to have been inspired by the mythic Mogwai of Chinese tradition though.

The name 'mo gwai' is Cantonese and means 'monster', although it could be interpreted as 'evil spirit' or 'demon'.

According to Chinese tradition, these demon-like critters roam around performing evil deeds and causing harm to people, before indulging in frenzied reproduction at the start of the rainy season. Probably why you're not supposed to get them wet.
Mississippi River

## Ability

### Ability

**Southern Hospitality****(Play)** All cards in both player's hands gain +12 Power this turn. **(Return)** If you lost the turn, your remaining cards in hand gain +12 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The mighty **Mississippi River** has long been a natural border, and in parts still defines the borders of some of the 10 states it passes through. It is the second-longest river in North America, after the Missouri.

In part thanks to Mark Twain and *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*, the Mississippi is virtually synonymous with the paddle steamer. These boats were not only the primary engines of trade along during the 19th century, but they would also carry tourists, house casinos (yes, like in *Ozark*), and host theatre and musical shows. These ‘showboats’ gave rise to the musical *Showboat* in 1927, which featured the masterpiece ‘Ol’ Man River’ - simultaneously a celebration of the Mississippi and a sad reflection on racial prejudice.
Orion

## Ability

### Ability

**The Hunter****(Return)** Your opponent's Life on Land cards, wherever they are, cost +1 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

One of the most recognisable constellations in the sky, **Orion** is also known as "The Hunter". Being extremely prominent in the night sky and visible all across the world, it's definitely not as stealthy or subtle as its nickname would suggest.

The most striking stars in the constellation - Alnilam, Mintaka and Alnitak, from left to right - are found in the centre and form **Orion's** belt. The names of the outer two stars come from the Arabic word for "belt" and Mintaka from the Arabic for "string of pearls" - how's that for a pearl of wisdom?
Ocean Worlds

## Ability

### Ability

**Aquaplanet****(Draw)** A random Around the Reef card in your hand gains +30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Remember those tall, long-necked cloners with bug-eyes from Attack of the Clones? They might actually exist. Well, maybe not those exact aliens. But given the existence of Kepler-22b, an exoplanet about 600 lightyears from Earth that looks pretty similar to the Star Wars planet Kamino, you just never know.

This exoplanet is just one of many **Ocean Worlds** - planets, moons and rocky bodies in our solar system that are covered in large amounts of water. Earth itself is an ocean world - but there are others. In fact, many of Saturn and Jupiter’s moons have long been thought to have oceans concealed beneath their surfaces. The same goes for Neptune’s moon, Triton, which may hold a secret ocean of its own.
Mount Etna

## Ability

### Ability

**I Burn****(Draw)** This card **Burn**s (10) until played. **(Play)** All other cards in both player's hands lose -20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Towering above the city of Catania on the island of Sicily is the highest and most active volcano in Europe. Named **Mount Etna**, this absolute unit of a volcano was originally a submarine volcano, but has been growing for about 500,000 years.

Right now, Etna is in the midst of a series of eruptions that began in 2013 - and in 2021 alone, she erupted 50 times. Thankfully, an Etna eruption doesn’t always spell danger - which is just as well, because Earth’s got enough on its plate at the moment.

The amount of lava that Etna spewed since February 2021 added 30 metres to the height of the volcano’s southwest crater. One of Etna's four summit craters, the southeastern peak now stands at an impressive 3,357 metres.
Nain Rouge

## Ability

### Ability

**Marche du Nain Rouge****(Return)** This card loses -50 Power permanently and your remaining American Folklore cards in hand gain +50 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Reasons to move to Detroit: a great community atmosphere, low cost of living and a great outdoor scene! Reasons not to move to Detroit: a little red demon who keeps ruining things for everyone.

Known as le **Nain Rouge** (French for “Red Dwarf”), this pesky dwarf doesn’t quit. He was seen before The Battle of Bloody Run in 1763, where 58 soldiers were killed by Native Americans. Legend has it, the dwarf “danced among the corpses” on the banks of the Detroit River.

Later, he turned up at the 1805 fire, which nearly destroyed the whole city. In 1968, the Nain Rouge struck again during the riots, and he supposedly showed up for the 1976 ice storm. It’s no wonder that an annual banishment parade is held to keep him at bay.
Hilma af Klint

## Ability

### Ability

**Weird Séance****(Draw)** Your opponent's Science cards in hand lose -15 Power until played and your The Grim Reaper card, wherever it is, gains +30 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

**Hilma af Klint** was celebrated during her lifetime primarily as a landscape and portrait painter (and we’re not talking about which way round the canvas was). However, she is celebrated now for something quite different - she has a legitimate claim to being the first Abstract Artist.

The idea of Abstract Art was that it rejected all references to the outside world - and Wassily Kandinsky has been considered the pioneer of this movement.

Does it really matter who came first? Well, Kandinsky thought so - claiming a particular painting of his from 1911 was a ‘historic painting’ because it was ‘the world’s first-ever abstract picture’.

However, Klint’s abstract work - colourful arrangements of organic shapes, circles and swirls - predates his by several years. She claimed that a voice she heard during a seance said “You are to proclaim a new philosophy of life and you yourself are to be a part of the new kingdom. Your labours will bear fruit.” And so they did.
Norwegian Broom Hiding

## Ability

### Ability

**Clean Sweep****(Return)** If you won the turn, you gain +15 Power/Turn next turn

## Did You Know?

In Norway it is believed to Christmas Eve brings with it the arrival of spirits and witches - so Norwegians hide away their brooms so the witches don't steal them.

Why witches need to steal brooms is beyond me, they're pretty cheap to buy and why don't they keep them year to y- (enough - Spirit-of-the-Season Ed).
Pannenkoeken

## Ability

### Ability

**First attempt****(Play)** If you have played **Pannenkoeken** this game, this card gains +47 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Although the original recipe for Dutch pancakes or ‘**Pannenkoeken**’ originated in China and Nepal, the Netherlands adopted it as their signature pancake several hundred years ago.

In 18th century Friesland, Pannenkoeken was served as a traditional wedding breakfast with milk and honey. But you don’t have to tie the knot to indulge in this delicious dish. Simply add flour, salt, sugar and cinnamon to a bowl - by yourself. Next, blend the dry ingredients and make a well in the middle - individually. Add the eggs, and while whisking, add some milk - alone. Then, cook your mix in a griddle like you would with a crepe, and flip when ready. Once you’ve got it perfect on either side, add a topping of your choice and tuck in to your Pannenkoeken - independently.
Miyamoto Musashi

## Ability

### Ability

**Dual Wield****(Play)** Your Katana card, wherever it is, gains +62 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

As game developers, we have a soft spot for anyone named Miyamoto - but while **Miyamoto Musashi** had a soft side of sorts (he was a soldier-artist who practised *sumi-e*), his swordsmanship was decidedly hard-edged.

Today he is often referred to as ‘kensai’ - or ’sword saint’ - owing to his creation of *nito ichi-ryu* - a way of fencing with two swords, and his having won over 60 sword duels in his career as a *ronin*.

**Musashi** is famous for having written the *Gorin no sho*, or ‘Book of Five Rings’ - a treatise on military strategy and philosophy that still enjoys a wide audience today.
Norbert Wiener

## Ability

### Ability

**Cybernetics****(Play)** Your Science cards in hand gain +20 Power this turn. **(Return)** Your Artificial Intelligence card, wherever it is, gains +50 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Artificial Intelligence gone rogue? Sentient robots rising up? Blame **Norbert Wiener**.

Considered the Father of Cybernetics, American mathematician and philosopher Norbert Wiener paved the way for modern automation. A child prodigy, Wiener graduated high school at a mere 11 years old, and by 14, he had a BA in mathematics.

During World War II, Wiener’s anti-aircraft work led him to invent the Wiener filter and delve into information theory - a path that ultimately led to his formulation of cybernetics. Weiner was one of the first to propose that all intelligent behaviour was the result of feedback mechanisms - a breakthrough that laid the foundation for modern artificial intelligence. And then, in a most enigmatic twist, Norbert cut all ties with his MIT research team, leaving them in <link="https:>bewildered suspense.</link>

'Norbert Wiener, American mathematician' by Konrad Jacobs (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Orgones

## Ability

### Ability

**Creative Substratum****(Draw)** For every Arts & Culture card in your hand, this card gains +8 Power for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

Not been feeling great recently? It could be a number of things: exhaustion, illness, depression - or maybe you’re just lacking in **Orgone** energy. What are Orgones? Why, they’re the <link="https:>invisible molecules of universal life energy</link> - apparently.

First proposed by Austrian scientist Wilhelm Reich in the 1930s, Orgones were conceived as the “anti-entropic” principle of the universe. According to Reich, traumatic experiences block the natural flow of Orgones, leading to mental and physical disease. To this end, he set out to harness “Orgone energy” through the development of the Orgone Accumulator.

Results were mixed, and the FDA quickly banned the use of orgone-related materials on the grounds that Reich was making false claims. Still, that didn’t discourage a swathe of his students / cult followers to continue seeking ways to prove Reich’s hypothesis.
Morgana

## Ability

### Ability

**Powerful Healer****(Return)** Your Arthurian Legends cards, wherever they are, cost -1 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

**Morgana** - aka Morgan le Fay, Morganna, Morgain, Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, Morgaine, Morgne, Morgen an Spyrrys, Morgante, Morgie Morgie Moo Moo (Ok I made that one up), Morgeina, or Morguein - was an enchantress, healer, and prolific name-changer.

It was Morgana who rescued Arthur after the Battle of Camlann and brought him to Avalon (where she ruled with her sisters). She nursed him back to life… but to what ends? Was it half-sisterly love? Or was she a seductive, megalomaniacal sorceress intent on overthrowing King Arthur and destroying Camelot?

This being Arthurian legend, variations on the story abound. More recent narratives tend to portray her as a seductress-with-nefarious-intentions, undermining the ‘King Arthur’s Saviour’ storyline.

Regardless, her star has only risen over the centuries and now her character is a staple in comics, TV shows, board games, video games, mobile trading card games covering unmanageably broad subject areas, movies, books, and so on.
Moules-frites

## Ability

### Ability

**Mussel In****(Play)** If you are winning the round, this card gains +21 Power.

## Did You Know?

Do you know what’s better than a pile of mussels? A pile of mussels with some freshly cooked French fries. Together, they make the National Dish of Belgium: **Moules-Frites**.

But wait: aren’t French fries… French?

In short, no. A Flemish manuscript from 1781 has the first reference to fries, and Belgian farmers were some of the first in Europe to embrace the potato after it arrived in Europe. Cheap and plentiful, Mussels are another Belgian staple and were once considered food for the poor.

But what about the combination of the two? Well, when fish was scarce in the winter, Belgians brought the two foods together to make for a hearty meal. Today, you would be hard-pressed to find a Belgian restaurant that doesn’t serve Moules-Frites.
Misty Montes

## Ability

### Ability

**To Dungeons Deep and Caverns Old****(Play)** If your deck has 7 or more Wonders of Construction cards, your Natural Monuments cards, wherever they are, gain +23 Power until played, and vice versa.

## Did You Know?

If you’re hearing the low hum of <link="https:>dwarves singing</link>, I’m afraid you’re not in the Misty Mountains from Tolkien’s The Hobbit, but rather the **Misty Montes**. While it’s not quite Middle Earth, this mountain range can be found on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

If you’re not a fan of Tolkien’s work (what’s wrong with you?), the Misty Mountains are the mountain range where the largest dwarven city could be found and the Mines of Moria. If you’re not a massive nerd like us, it’s still worth noting that after 2012, all mountains on Titan were given Lord of the Rings-inspired names so maybe you should start doing some reading. Or at least watch the movies, there have been at least 6 of them!
Ophiuchus Galaxy Explosion

## Did You Know?

"Oh, brilliant, CUE, another card with an amorphous space blob on it, how original." I hear you groan sarcastically.

Well STOP THE PRESSES - this particular amorphous space blob is evidence of an explosion in deep space that's the biggest we've seen since the Big Bang. Think about that - in the trillions of billions of years since the thing that started the universe, this is the most powerful expulsion of energy and elements we've ever seen.

NASA'S Chandra Space X-Ray discovered it in February 2020, and a study revealing it was published on Thursday 27th of that month (which, if you've got this card on the day it came out, was yesterday!)

It occurred in the Ophiuchus galaxy, 390 million light-years from Earth, and rent a massive hole in it. "In some ways, this blast is similar to how the eruption of Mount St Helens in 1980 ripped off the top of the mountain," said Simona Giacintucci, leader of the study, somewhat doing a disservice to the almighty scale of it.
Norepinephrine

## Ability

### Ability

**Sweaty Palms****(Play)** If you are losing the round, this card gains +20 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Whether you’re squaring up to a lion, jumping out of a plane or asking your crush on a date, nature’s hype man aka **Norepinephrine** has got you uncovered. When this chemical messenger / stress hormone is released, it causes an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and sugar levels, like an energy drink of the brain. Its name literally means “near the kidneys,” referring to its synthesis in the adrenal glands atop the kidneys.

As well as playing an important role in your body’s “fight or flight” response, Norepinephrine helps regulate mood, attention and the ability to focus. It was first identified by Swedish physiologist Ulf von Euler in 1945 - and 25 years later, he shared the 1970 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work.
Olympus Mons

## Did You Know?

**Olympus Mons** is the largest volcano in the solar system. The massive Martian mountain towers high above the surrounding plains of the red planet and is biding its time until the next eruption. Tick tock, tick tock...

Found in the Tharsis Montes region near the Martian equator (have you ever visited in spring? It's just divine...) **Olympus Mons** is one of a dozen large volcanoes on the planet, many of which are ten to a hundred times taller than their terrestrial counterparts. **Olympus Mons** towers above them all. It stands 16 miles (25 kilometres) high above the surrounding plains and stretches across 374 miles (624 km) — roughly the size of the state of Arizona!

## Trivia

* This card is obtained from the Space Level Up Pack in Master Seeker level.
Morning Mood

## Ability

### Ability

**Rise and Shine****(Draw)** If it's the first turn of a round, your cards in hand cost -2 Energy this turn. **(Play)** If it's Round 1, this card gains +40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

**Morning Mood** isn't just the song that plays in my head every time I wake up with sunlight beaming through the window; it is in fact part of Edvard Grieg's *Peer Gynt*, the soundtrack to Henrik Ibsen's homonymous play.

Featuring luscious orchestration reflective of a Moroccan desert sunrise, it has since permeated through to a plethora of multimedia, from the 1973 dystopian thriller *Soylent Green* to a feature in pop culture behemoth *The Simpsons* in early 1998.

It has been so pervasive throughout film and television that the piece is lesser-known from its original context within the play, now evocative of a half-eaten cartoon cheeseburger unwrapping in the morning sun. Or maybe that's just me?
Opisthoteuthis Depressa

## Ability

### Ability

**From the Midnight Zone****(Play)** If played between two Oceans and Seas cards, your Moon In Motion cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Let’s be honest: if you were living in the ocean's bathyal zone, where sunlight doesn't reach, you might be a bit depressa, too. But we can only assume **Opisthoteuthis Depressa** is actually happy in its home on the seafloor, between 130-1,100m below the surface.

Still, if you do want to check in on it, you’ll find this pink squishy in the waters near Japan. If it looks familiar, it might be because this kawaii octopus is a close cousin of the aptly named <link="https:>Adorabilis</link>, but its body is slightly flatter - hence the name ‘Opisthoteuthis Depressa’, or ‘Japanese Pancake Devilfish’.

By the way, if you  *are feeling a little *depressa*, looking at pictures of this cutie is sure to cheer you up.*

 *'Opisthoteuthis Depressa' by Totti (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)*
Numbat

## Did You Know?

Behold, the emblem of Western Australia...

Numbats are a teeny tiny marsupial termite eaters that can devour up to 20,000 termites a day. They can smell the termites on the ground and lick them up with their incredibly long sticky tongues- and no they aren't super villains like Spider-man's Venom- they're much cuter and less psychotic.

Numbats are listed as vulnerable (nearly endangered) due to accelerated habitat loss and introduction of new species, such as foxes and cats into their natural habitat. Less than 1500 Numbats are left in the wild.

The Numbat first became known to Europeans in 1831. It was discovered by an exploration party in The Avon Valley under the leadership of Robert Dale George Fletcher Moore. Recounting the discovery he said: "Saw a beautiful animal; but, as it escaped into the hollow of a tree, could not ascertain whether it was a species of squirrel, weasel, or wild cat..."
Monsoon

## Did You Know?

"Oh yeah, I know what a **Monsoon** is, CUE; it's really heavy rain for months on end, isn't it?"

Well, no. **Monsoons** are large, cold sea breezes that blow into much warmer land masses on a seasonal basis. That's it. They just happen to cause really heavy rain for months on end, in some parts of the world.

Some of those parts of the world depend on the rains brought in by the **Monsoon**. South-east Asia has a prolonged **Monsoon** season, typically between June and September, and the whole farming calendar in those regions revolves around that period being wet - and with, to give an example, 60% of India's population relying on agriculture for their livelihoods, it's a real problem when **Monsoons** don't bring rain.

In 2019, Thailand endured a severe drought during **Monsoon** season which caused havoc for the country's agriculture - it was estimated there was around 10 billion baht (roughly US$320 million) worth of damage to the industry.