Encounters (card game)

Encounters is a fantasy themed card game created by Mayfair Games and released in 1982. Players take on the role of a hero character and use the cards in hand to battle monsters drawn into the game, building a simple combat system around card play rather than a board or miniature figures. Its compact, hero versus monster structure made it a quick fantasy card game rather than a sprawling campaign style product, aimed at players who wanted a fast contest with a fantasy theme instead of a long roleplaying session. Coming from Mayfair Games in the early 1980s, it belongs to a wave of card based fantasy combat games that publishers released as lighter, faster alternatives to the roleplaying games that were becoming popular at the same time.