The gameplay of Kartia takes the form of a grid-based strategy RPG, with you and the enemy party taking turns moving your characters around the battlefield and giving them commands. Unlike most other RPGs, Kartia focuses exclusively on its battles; there is NO exploring towns or overworlds in-between fights. You can, however, explore around the current battlefield for treasure chests, boxes, and barrels that may contain hidden goodies, and you can earn new weapons and armor either by winning them from defeated foes, or by using the game's item-creation feature. Kartia uses an interesting rock-paper-scissors system for the phantom monsters that you and the enemy create during the battles. Monsters of doll type are weak against common type, common type are weak against shadow type, and shadow type are weak against doll type. Monsters, weapons, and armor are created by using the power of Kartia, special cards combined with text, and it is also used for casting spells. Since you must keep all of your human characters alive during the battle, mastering the use of phantoms, spells, or just pure strategy is necessary for survival, especially against some of the game's toughest bosses. Kartia's battle system is not really as complicated as I may have made it sound, but in fact, it's quite simple to learn and get the hang of.
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