
Vanguard Exiles is a competitive auto-battler card game developed and published by The Tea Division and designed by Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: The Gathering. It entered Early Access on PC through Steam on March 10, 2025.
You play as a General leading Squads of units across a dieselpunk world that has already fallen. Each round you pick and deploy cards, then the battle plays out automatically based on the choices you made. Between rounds you re-evaluate your tactics, read what your opponent is building, and adjust your Squad before the next clash.
The game puts more weight on decisions than many auto-battlers. You look for synergies inside each Squad, decide which cards to draft and where to place them, and unlock your Vanguard's potential through those choices.
Zones are the key twist. New zones appear during a match and add modifiers and obstacles that reshape the battlefield, so a plan that works early may need to change later. This keeps every game different, and faction and unit variety add further replay value over many matches.
Matches are head-to-head PvP, playable online against other players or locally on a shared screen, and there is also single-player content for practice and solo play. Vanguard Exiles suits card game and auto-battler fans who enjoy thinking several moves ahead.
PC: Vanguard Exiles keys activate on Steam. The game runs on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 and needs about 6 GB of storage.
Early Access: The game is in Early Access, so cards, factions, modes, and balance may change with future updates.
Before you buy, check the activation platform and region on each offer, then follow our guide on how to activate your CD key. For design notes and updates, visit the official Vanguard Exiles website.
Competitive auto-battler card game for PC.
Designed by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield.
Lead Squads as a General on a dieselpunk battlefield.
Draft and deploy cards each round before battles resolve.
Shifting zones add new modifiers during every match.
Head-to-head PvP online or on a shared screen.
Single-player content alongside competitive play.
Early Access release that activates on Steam.
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