This holiday season, I’m not excited about Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo–although I *will* say the Windwaker HD Wii U bundle is on my wishlist.

My holiday cheer is fueled by a little-Kickstarter-turned-major-success that was funded in May *2012.* That’s right– 2012! It’s been a long wait, but the wait was well worth it. The Kickstarter in question is Serpent’s Tongue, a very successful Kickstarted project that raked in over $195,000 (the goal was $18,000).

And my Adept level set of the game arrived just in time for Christmas. It’s a Christmas miracle!!

Now, you may be asking yourself– what exactly *is* Serpent’s Tongue? The short answer is that it is a spell casting card game that you can play solo, competitively or cooperatively with friends AND it can also be a board game AND it can be a Role Playing Game AND an Augmented Reality Game AND an Adaptive Trading Card Game. This game can be anything you want it to be.

My favorite part about this game is that it is built off of the game’s language, Sehimu Thinara. In order to cast spells, you speak the words inscribed on the cards by following a spell glyph which you can translate with the Serpent’s Key in the Spell Codex. (The Spell Codex is effing GORGEOUS BY THE WAY) You don’t necessarily *need* to study the language, but you can go as far as you want with it. I am personally a sucker for languages– Japanese, German, French, Spanish– so this aspect of the game greatly appeals to me. At the Serpent’s Tongue website, they have over 1,500 translated words… and they have developed grammar for speaking Sehimu Thinara.

It’s pretty badass.

I’m still reviewing the rules right now, but I am really excited about trying out a duel or two and maybe even getting a cooperative roleplaying campaign started amongst interested friends. The possibilities appear practically limitless, and it just looks like a solidly well-made game all around.

Who’s interested in playing this? Who else among our readers have Serpent’s Tongue and have played it? What are your experiences like?

Also, what other games are we excited about this holiday season? 🙂