Fantasy Flight Games has been retooling its website, and many of its “Living Card Games” pages, or LCGs, that made the company famous are getting removed or trimmed down, and a long-time writer for Legend of the Five Rings is not happy about it.
In the 2010s, “Living Card Games” became a staple of the board and card game industry, following up on the Collectible Card Game craze of the 1990s that spawned hits like Magic: The Gathering. Fantasy Flight Games made its name off of it, with incredible games like Android: Netrunner, A Game of Thrones LCG, and Lord of the Rings LCG. As they had so many licensed properties, they knew they needed a staple that they owned if they wanted the company to grow and survive, and so they purchased the Legend of the Five Rings property from Alderac Entertainment Group.
L5R thrived for years as both a popular RPG and collectible card game, unique in that it had a living story environment that continued as it went along, with input from the players and fans making it feel like one could make a difference in the story direction, something almost no other game offered. It featured a magical samurai world that appealed to a lot of Japan enthusiasts.
