History VideoGame / Calculords

* TankGoodness: Most of the heavy vehicles are tanks, including the heavily-armored, high-HP Defensor [=Mk2=] and the speedy, hard-hitting Skirmish Tank.
** HATE BIT often declares his love for tanks, and has a

* AntiArmor: The Can Opener, the only unit with the Vehicle Slayer ability, does bonus damage to vehicles

* {{BFG}}: Shadow Krak is a two-space unit; her gun takes up one of the spaces

* BloodKnight: Cpl. Krak

* CrypticBackgroundReference: Tyson Zan is said to be humanity's greatest hero, but it's not explained what he did or how HATE BIT got hold of him

* EvilCounterpart: The Shadow Nerd is this to the player character. He also has cards based on evil (or eviler) versions of other enemy commanders, like Bizarro Blok and Evil Stardog

* PokemonSpeak: Stardog says nothing but her name over and over.

** The Bizarro Blok card used by and winnable from the Shadow Nerd. Bizarro Blok is tied for the second highest starting HP of any card in the game, has 2 Armor and a bonus to his Pushing, but claims only 2 AP.

* TankGoodness: Most of the heavy vehicles are tanks, including the heavily-armored, high-HP Defensor [=Mk2=] and the speedy, hard-hitting Skirmish Tank. Stardog's vehicles are tiny, so she fields Microtanks, which are cheap and have no special abilities.

A sequel, ''Calculords 2'', was announced on the game's Facebook page on January 2, 2016, [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/611279740/calculords-2-rise-of-the-shadow-nerd/ with a Kickstarter going to secure funding.]]

* DoWellButNotPerfect: Many of the medals are hard to get, but look at Under Siege. You have to draw a battle out to ''30'' turns, which is not likely to happen unless you're deliberately stalling. There's also the Purple Heart medal for winning with 1 Base HP left; generally you have to carefully engineer this yourself. And the Surgeon medal for healing or repairing 40 HP in a battle, which obviously involves ''taking'' at least 40 HP of damage in the first place. To get these (and many other) medals on Fancybot and Stardog you have to ''really'' hold back.

* AchillesHeel: Commander Shazzu is one of the scariest cards the Star Nerd can throw at you, but takes dramatically increased damage from non-direct sources, especially HerdHittingAttack tactic cards.

* TheTurretMaster: Turrets are introduced in the Shadow Nerd update as immobile "Structure" units. The Shadow Nerd uses them to block lanes, as they can't be pushed back unless their abilities are wiped.

* DeathSeeker: Cpl. Krak. She might ''thank you'' for killing her. Fancybot can be, too, if you take too long to finish him...which he [[WhatTheHellPlayer comments on]].
* DoWellButNotPerfect: Many of the medals are hard to get, but look at Under Siege. You have to draw a battle out to ''30'' turns, which is not likely to happen unless you're deliberately holding back. There's also the Purple Heart medal for winning with 1 Base HP left. And the Surgeon medal for healing or repairing 40 HP in a battle, which obviously involves ''taking'' at least 40 HP of damage in the first place. To get these (and many other) medals on Fancybot and Stardog you have to ''really'' hold back.

* JetPack: There are a few Soldier units with the Flying ability, and this is how. Johnny Starborn seems to have more of a JumpJetPack.

** Captain Defensor of the "Unkillable Legion" DLC pack is named after Defensor, an obscure Marvel Comics superhero Seanbaby had previously expressed distaste for in one of his Cracked articles. The Defensor MK2 tank, as well.

* TakingYouWithMe: The Self-destruct ability. It's easy to get HoistByHisOwnPetard with these, because when they blow up they do big damage to units within two spaces of them, forward ''and'' back. These explosions can also damage your own base if they're close enough. HATE BIT invites you to come close as he dies so he can "try explode on you."

* TheEngineer: Cards with the Fortify ability heal your base once per turn.

* CrypticBackgroundReference: Tyson Zan is said to be humanity's greatest hero, but it's not explained what he did or how Hate.Bit got hold of him

** HATE.BIT is a real pain because of this. His units come ''barreling'' at your base, and do big damage. It's a huge challenge gaining ground against him while defending all three lanes equally.

* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: Almost every enemy has "quirks" to their deck -- usually in the form of certain cards they always have handy, and cards with special abilities that they ''don't'' have if played by you. For instance, Uracillon can use Transport Seal ''every'' turn, and Hate.Bit's Cosmo Wreckers have the Phalanx ability.

* TheQuisling: According to their profiles on the official website, Cosblast and Uracillon betrayed the galaxy to join Hate.Bit

* SuperSpeed: The Double-time ability, which makes a unit moves twice as many spaces. Hate.Bit's Cosmo Wreckers [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules seem to be faster than other units with the ability]], moving more than halfway across the battlefield in one turn. The Stardog and Shadow Nerd updates both added some cheap Push units with Double Time, for when you want to gain ground fast.
* TakingYouWithMe: The Self-destruct ability. It's easy to get HoistByHisOwnPetard with these, because when they blow up they do big damage to units within two spaces of them, forward ''and'' back. These explosions can also damage your own base if they're close enough. HATE.BIT invites you to come close as he dies so he can "try explode on you."

* WakeUpCallBoss: Prior to the Stardog update, players were thrown at Sgt. Blok ''immediately'' after beating Fancybot ''once''. Let's just say you probably went back to Fancybot a few more times to level and get more/better cards. After Stardog was added and placed just after Fancybot, Blok was switched with Cpl. Krak. Her relentless, fast-paced offense is a huge hurdle for new players to get over, and she's leagues more challenging than Stardog or Fancybot.

** Stardog, after the update that introduced her. She puts up more of a fight than Fancybot, but that's not saying much -- her cards are really cheap and weak for the most part. Apparently it was felt that throwing you right into the actually-challenging commanders after Happybot was unfair.

** This is essentially Hate.Bit's strategy, flooding the lanes with units, especially the weak-but-speedy Cosmo Wreckers who do bonus damage to your base. The Shadow Nerd uses a more focused version, deploying en masse in one lane until you start to push him back, at which point he simply starts deploying in some other lane.

* TheJuggernaut: The Torga Bestoid. It has ''12'' HP, the most of any standard card, and thanks to the unique Rage ability its attack is boosted by taking damage -- shooting it just makes it ''mad''. Bizarro Blok qualifies as well, being the hardest unit to kill with direct damage thanks to high health and armor.

** The Bizarro Blok card used by and winnable from the Shadow Nerd. Bizarro Blok is tied for the highest starting HP of any card in the game, has 2 Armor and a bonus to his Pushing, but claims only 2 AP.

* WhiteMaskOfDoom: Cpl. Krak, whose mask is reminiscent of [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Casey Jones]].

* AchillesHeel: Commander Shazzu is one of the scariest cards the Star Nerd can throw at you, but dies instantly (or takes dramatically increased damage from) HerdHittingAttack tactic cards.
* ActionBomb: Cards with Self-Destruct. They all have low health (one has 3 HP, the others have just 1) so they're designed to die as soon as they're damaged and devastate a large area when destroyed.

* HerdHittingAttack: The Guerrilla Strike, Strafing Run, and Artillery Barrage tactics damage all enemy units in a lane[[note]]unless they have the Flying or Stealth abilities[[/note]] for (respectively) 1, 2, and 3 HP. Neural Leech saps 1HP from every enemy in a lane, ignoring armor, and adds the total to your base's health.

* ZergRush: This is essentially Hate.Bit's strategy, flooding the lanes with units, especially the weak-but-speedy Cosmo Wreckers who do bonus damage to your base. The Shadow Nerd uses a more focused version, deploying en masse in one lane until you start to push him back, at which point he simply starts deploying in some other lane.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: One way to beat Cytosinor is to use a Mutate-intensive deck much as he does; Cytosinor uses the Spore Burst card every turn to buff his mutates, but it affects ''all'' mutates on the field, his ''and'' yours.

* SuperSpeed: The Double-time ability, which makes a unit moves twice as many spaces. Hate.Bit's Cosmo Wreckers [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules seem to be faster than other units with the ability]], moving more than halfway across the battlefield in one turn. The Shadow Nerd update features a few Push units with Double Time, for when you want to gain ground fast.

* AchillesHeel: Commander Shazzu is one of the scariest cards the Star Nerd can throw at you, but dies instantly to any HerdHittingAttack tactic card.

* AmbidextrousSprite: Some units have asymmetrical sprites that are flipped depending on which side deploys them. Used almost literally in the case of most human solider cards -- when not firing, they hold a gun in one hand and leave the other free for running. The gun-hand is the left if you deployed them, and the right if your enemy did.

** TanksButNoTanks: The Tiamat Tank is a hovering saucer vehicle with a mortar gun. The Hydra Tank has treads, but no turret (instead: mortar guns). The Omega Tank and Longbow Panzer seem to have fixed guns. The Scorch Track ''does'' have a turret, but it gun is an anti-armor flamethrower.

* TheMedic: Cards with the "Bandage" ability, meaning they heal your soldier units that take damage during the opponent's turn. Most of them have some kind of medic or field hospital-related name to them. Cards with "Repairs" are the equivalent for vehicles, and "Mutate Feeder" cards for Mutates (though there aren't very many Mutate Feeder cards in the game). As it happens, healing cards tend to have low AP even if they're red Attack cards.

* AchillesHeel: Commander Shazzu is one of the scariest cards the Star Nerd can throw at you, but takes dramatically increased damage from any HerdHittingAttack tactic card.

* AntiArmor: Vehicle Slayer is among the rarest abilities, granting extra damage against vehicles.

* AchillesHeel: Commander Shazzu is one of the scariest cards the Star Nerd can throw at you, but dies instantly to any HerdHittingAttack tactic card.

* CrypticBackgroundReference: Tyson Zan is said to be humanity's greatest hero but it's not explained what he did or how Hate.Bit got hold of him

* FlyingSaucer: They make up a good portion of the vehicles. Believe it or not, they'e piloted by aliens! Some of the heavier ones only ''hover'', though, and don't even avoid damage from landmines. There's even a UFO Aductor card, which removes the weakest enemy unit from the lane[[note]]as long as it has under 5 HP[[/note]] upon being deployed.

* HerdHittingAttack: The Guerrilla Strike, Strafing Run, and Artillery Barage tactics damage all enemy units in a lane[[note]]unless they have the Flying or Stealth abilities[[/note]] for (respectively) 1, 2, and 3 HP

* HerdHittingAttack: The Guerrilla Strike, Strafing Run, and Artillery Barage tactics damage all enemy units in a lane[note]unless they have the Flying ability[/note] for (respectively) 1, 2, and 3 HP

Battles are conducted in the Calculords system. The playing field consists of three lanes where you can deploy your cards, each with 19 spaces in them--nine for you, nine for the opponent, and a single neutral square in the middle. Due to "space treachery", the AI always goes first. There are three card types: Offense units (red), which are typically the heavier hitters; Push units (green), which can push enemies back and away from your base (and into their own, destroying them), and Tactics (purple), which are one-offs that have numerous effects that disappear after use. All units have AP and HP--attack points and hit points. Various buffs, nerfs, and direct damage can alter any one of these traits, and when a unit loses all its HP, it disintegrates...into a slab of meat. To deploy a card, you have to match is numerical value. To do that, you punch in numbers generated at random in your Star Calculator. (though through whatever numbers you choose when building your deck). When you use all your numbers, you generate a Calculords Bonus, which gives you a fresh set of numbers to use the rest of the cards in your hand. And should you use all of them in a turn, you get a Star Nerd bonus, and get your hand refilled. Once you are satisfied with your turn, or can't deploy anything else, you tap "Fight!" and they charge forward four[[note]](Ten if they have Double-Time)[[/note]] steps. Upon contact with enemy units, the attackers shoot at the defenders, or at the base, if they're close enough. When a player's base HP reaches 0, they lose.

* SplashDamage: Units with the Splash ability deal a little damage to units (or the enemy base) within three spaces behind their target. Many Push cards with Splash have 0 starting AP, so this is their only means of attack without buffs. Splash damage is largely neutralized by either armor or flying units

** The Bizarro Blok card used by and winnable from the Shadow Nerd. Bizarro Blok has the highest starting HP of any card in the game, 2 Armor, and a bonus to his Pushing, but just 2 AP.

* TakingYouWithMe: The Self-destruct ability. It's easy to get HoistByHisOwnPetard with these, because when they blow up they do big damage to units within two spaces of them, forward ''and'' back. These explosions can also damage your own base if they're close enough.

Battles are conducted in the Calculords system. The playing field consists of three lanes where you can deploy your cards, each with 19 spaces in them--nine for you, nine for the opponent, and a single neutral square in the middle. Due to "space treachery", the AI always goes first. There are three card types: Offense units (red), which are typically the heavier hitters; Push units (green), which can push enemies back and away from your base (and into their own, destroying them), and Tactics (purple), which are one-offs that have numerous effects that disappear after use. All units have AP and HP--attack points and hit points. Various buffs, nerfs, and direct damage can alter any one of these traits, and when a unit loses all its HP, it disintegrates...into a slab of meat. To deploy a card, you have to match is numerical value. To do that, you punch in numbers generated at random in your Star Calculator. (though through whatever numbers you choose when building your deck). When you use all your numbers, you generate a Calculords Bonus, which gives you a fresh set of numbers to use the rest of the cards in your hand. And should you use all of them in a turn, you get a Star Nerd bonus, and get your hand refilled. Once you are satisfied with your turn, or can't deploy anything else, you tap "Fight!" and they charge forward four[[note]](Eight if they have Double-Time)[[/note]] steps. Upon contact with enemy units, the attackers shoot at the defenders, or at the base, if they're close enough. When a player's base HP reaches 0, they lose.

* ZergRush: This is essentially Hate.Bit's strategy, flooding the lanes with units, especially the weak-but-speedy Cosmo Wreckers who do bonus damage to your base.

* AntiArmor: The Vehicle Slayer is among the rarest abilities, granting extra damage against vehicles.

** The Shadow Nerd update introduced warped versions of the enemy commanders as playable units; Shadow Krak has a staggering 10 AP but just ''1'' HP, plus Self Destruct and Double Time.

* MadBomber: Card-wise, any creature who has the Self-destruct ability, which makes them explode and deal AOE damage when destroyed. Character-wise, it's Cpl. Krak -- in her middle lane she almost exclusively plays Section Eighters, low-HP squad units with Self-Destruct.

* StoneWall: Sgt. Blok. He hates Attack units, so his deck is mostly Push cards. Though they largely have poor Attack Power, they tend to be armored and Blok has a lot of support and Tactics cards that buff them. He's very much vulnerable to being outmuscled by the same tactics - assembling a line of push units and putting armored ones out front keeps his low-attack units from gaining ground.

* SuperSpeed: The Double-time ability, which makes a unit moves twice as many spaces. Hate.Bit's Cosmo Wreckers [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules seem to be faster than other units with the ability]], moving more than halfway across the battlefield in one turn.

* ThemeNaming: Almost every Mutate card has a name that either starts with "Mutate" (ex.: Mutate Prince, Mutate Shrieker, Mutate Swarm) or ends in "-oid" (ex.: Energoid, Rockoid, Serpoid). The exceptions are the grubs with the Implant ability, Hungry Blob, and the zombies and tarbeasts used by Stardog. And if you want to be technical, Mutatro.

* TheTurretMaster: Turrets are introduced in the Shadow Nerd update as immobile "Structure" units.

* WarmUpBoss: Fancybot is... ''not'' hard to beat. He doesn't have the worst cards, but never deploys many at once and skips a turn every now and then. Your first battle with him is essentially a field test of what you learned in the tutorial, and defeating him again afterwards (for his cards, one would hope) only gets easier and easier. He gets ''concerned'' if you don't beat him quickly enough, and even indirectly insults you over it.
** Stardog, after the update that introduced her. She puts up more of a fight than Fancybot, but that's really not saying much -- her cards are really cheap and weak for the most part. Apparently it was felt that throwing you right into the actually-challenging commanders after Happybot was unfair.

* GlassCannon: Cpl. Krak and Cytosinor's decks and strategies are all about this. Their units typically have high Attack Power, low HP, and no armor, and in both cases they'll try to just walk right over you. Cytosinor ''does'' buff his units every turn, though. As with Sgt. Blok below, they're both vulnerable to being beaten at their own game.