Building a continent one card at a time…

Cold war Stephen Winterflood’s latest project is a deck-building card game set in a dystopian Europe

With years of industry experience, having worked as a game designer and artist, Stephen Winterflood has already made mobile puzzle games by himself. His latest online deck building card game, Siberian Dawn, channels his skills as a novelist to create a futuristic Europe on the brink of war.

Work on what would become Siberian Dawn started back in 2012, with Stephen originally aiming to make a Victorian horror game. After deciding that the theme was too dark, the project was shelved but he kept the engine and used it for Siberian Dawn, which he thought would have more appeal.

From soldiers to cultists, the characters in the game were all created in Photoshop. “The design echoes a grim industrial civilisation combined with a harsh environment, so the costumes are heavy and protective,” Stephen says. “I’ve used medieval themes and looked at European comic art to achieve a look of strange opulence.”

Studying the likes of Magic: The Gathering and a diverse range of other games showed Stephen that the artwork had to incorporate the mechanics of gameplay. “Each group of characters needed to share a distinct look, but also show an individuality that would make them easy to distinguish,” he says.

Siberian Dawn will be available on PC and Android later in the year. Follow its progress at

Stephen used strong shapes to make his cards stand out on the online deck builder… …before unifying his artwork by applying gritty, textured layers to the background.

Photoshop lighting effects help to enhance the 3D appearance of Stephen’s characters.