Honestly, if you missed the launch of Uncharted: Fight for Fortune back in 2012, nobody would blame you. It was a weird time for the PlayStation Vita. Sony was trying everything to make their handheld stick, and somehow, that led to Nathan Drake starring in a digital card game. It wasn't the globetrotting, ledge-climbing, explosion-heavy spectacle we expected. It was something else entirely.
People usually think of Uncharted and picture crumbling ruins or plane crashes. They don't think of "Faction Cards" or "Fortune Power." But that’s exactly what this game was. It was a turn-based, competitive card battler that tried to condense the cinematic energy of Naughty Dog’s universe into a series of strategic taps on a small OLED screen. Looking back at it now, it feels like a fever dream from a bygone era of mobile gaming.
What Actually Happened with Uncharted: Fight for Fortune?
Development wasn't even handled by Naughty Dog. That’s the first thing people get wrong. While Naughty Dog was busy with The Last of Us, a studio called One Loop Games took the reins, overseen by Bend Studio. You might know Bend as the team behind Uncharted: Golden Abyss or Days Gone. They wanted to create a "companion" experience.
The game launched as a digital-only title on the PlayStation Store. It was cheap—around five bucks—and it functioned as a standalone game that also had some "cross-game" connectivity with Golden Abyss. If you found treasures in the main Vita Uncharted game, they would level up cards in Fight for Fortune. It was a clever ecosystem, even if it felt a bit forced at the time.
The gameplay loop was actually pretty tight, though. You had three main factions: Heroes, Villains, and Mercenaries. You’d place these cards on a board, and they’d square off against your opponent’s cards. Each card had attack and defense stats. Pretty standard stuff for a CCG (Collectible Card Game), right? But the twist was the "Fortune" mechanic. You had to use "Fortune" cards to buff your characters, adding things like silver bowls or gold idols you’d recognize from the console games to increase your stats. It was sort of a math game disguised as an adventure.
Why Fans Were So Confused
When the ESRB rating first leaked, everyone lost their minds. "Uncharted: Fight for Fortune" sounded like it could be a massive spin-off. Maybe a racing game? A fighting game? When it turned out to be a card game, the backlash was real. People wanted more set-pieces, not more deck-building.
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But here’s the thing: it wasn't a bad game. It just wasn't what people wanted from the brand. If you look at the reviews from that era, like the ones from IGN or Destructoid, they mostly hovered around the "okay" to "good" range. It wasn't a disaster. It was just... small. It was a niche title for a niche handheld.
One of the biggest hurdles was the lack of personality in the cards themselves. They weren't animated. They were static images taken from the games. When Nathan Drake "attacked," you just saw a flash on a card. For a series known for being the pinnacle of animation, this felt like a massive step back. It lacked the "juice" we associate with modern card games like Marvel Snap or Hearthstone.
The Connectivity Hook
Sony really pushed the "Better Together" narrative with the Vita. They wanted you to play Golden Abyss to unlock stuff in Uncharted: Fight for Fortune.
- You would boot up Golden Abyss.
- You’d grind for hours to find every hidden treasure in the jungle.
- You’d sync your save data.
- Suddenly, your cards in the card game were stronger.
It was an early attempt at what we now call "live service" or "ecosystem" gaming, but it was hampered by the Vita’s clunky UI and the fact that not everyone wanted to play a card game to feel like they’d "finished" a third-person shooter.
The Strategy Nobody Talks About
If you actually sit down and play it today—assuming you have a Vita with it still installed—the strategy is surprisingly deep. You aren't just throwing cards down. You have to manage your "Resource" points carefully.
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Most players would just stack their deck with high-attack Hero cards. Big mistake. The real pros focused on the Mercenary faction because of their high defense and lower cost. You had to think three turns ahead. If you played a Sully card, you needed to make sure you had enough Fortune to protect him, or he’d be wiped off the board before he could even trigger his special ability.
There were also these "Fortune" cards that represented the actual artifacts Nathan finds. They weren't just for points; they were your currency. You had to sacrifice the "value" of an artifact to activate a card's power. It was a constant balancing act. Do I take the 500 points now, or do I use this gold mask to give Drake +3 attack? It’s a mechanic that feels very "Uncharted" once you get into the rhythm of it.
The Legacy of a Forgotten Spin-off
Is Uncharted: Fight for Fortune still relevant? Technically, no. Sony shut down the servers for the game's multiplayer years ago. You can still play the single-player campaign against the AI, but the competitive heart of the game is dead.
However, it represents an important moment in Sony's history. It was the moment they realized that big-budget IP could be shrunk down into different genres. Without the experimentation of Fight for Fortune, we might not have seen the weird and wonderful mobile experiments that followed later in the decade. It was a learning experience.
It’s also a time capsule of the early 2010s "card game craze." Everyone wanted their own Magic: The Gathering clone. Even the grittiest action heroes weren't safe from being turned into a 2D card with a mana cost.
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How to Experience it Today
If you’re a completionist, you’re in a bit of a tough spot.
- The Store Situation: The PS Vita store is famously difficult to navigate these days. While it isn't fully closed, Sony has made it harder to add funds and buy games.
- Physical Copies: They don't exist. This was a digital-only release.
- The Experience: If you manage to get it running, don't expect a masterpiece. Expect a solid, functional card game that smells like 2012 and looks like a high-res scrapbook.
The game also had two pieces of DLC: the Among Thieves pack and the Drake's Deception pack. These added cards from the second and third games. Without them, the base game feels a little thin. If you can find a way to get the "Complete Edition" or whatever they called the bundle back then, that's the only way to play.
Actionable Insights for the Curious
If you're looking to dive into the history of this game or similar spin-offs, here’s what you should actually do:
- Check your Download List: If you ever bought this on a whim a decade ago, you can still redownload it to a Vita. It’s worth a 20-minute look for the nostalgia alone.
- Don't overpay for a Vita: If you're buying a handheld just for this, stop. It's not worth it. But if you already own one, it's a fascinating piece of Sony trivia.
- Look for the "Golden Abyss" connection: If you're playing Golden Abyss for the first time, keep those treasures. They still interact with the card game's local save data.
- Study the Card Art: For artists and designers, the game is actually a great resource. It uses a lot of pre-production concept art that isn't easily found elsewhere. It’s a gallery as much as it is a game.
Ultimately, Uncharted: Fight for Fortune isn't going to win any "Best Game of All Time" awards. It’s a weird, slightly clunky, strangely addictive card game that tried to do something different with a massive franchise. It reminds us that even Nathan Drake had to start somewhere—even if that "somewhere" was a digital tabletop in a failed handheld's library.