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After becoming on of the most successful indie comics of 2025, Tiny Onion's Exquisite Corpses brand is taking on the gaming scene. Already, the Kickstarter campaign for the card game based on the series is smashing expectations, inviting a legion of backers into the serial killer x Battle Royal saga. But according to co-creator Michael Walsh, part of the reason for creating the game wasn't just to get comics readers playing card games.

It was to make the kind of card games Walsh loved more accessible to everyone.

I got the change to speak with Walsh at C2E2 2026, and Exquisite Corpses (which he co-created with comics staple James Tynion IV) was obviously a hot topic of our discussion. But what you might not know if you only are familiar with Walsh via his comics works is that the Silver Coin creator is also a giant Magic: The Gathering fan, as he was very happy to share.

"I've been a Magic: the Gathering player since the '90s," Walsh told me, "Since the game almost began, and it's been a big part of my life. I absolutely adore the game. I love working with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast and I love drawing Magic cards."

(Yes, reader, Michael Walsh draws Magic cards. Look it up.)

"The biggest problem with me for Magic," he continued, "Has always been the really high barrier of entry for people who are my friends, that I'd love to teach the game to, that I'd love to play the game [with], but they can't run out and buy a deck. They don't really have the time and energy to learn the game from scratch right now in their lives."

Fast forward to Walsh developing his own card game...

"So," he said, "The idea was like take some of the things that I love about the game; where you're role playing as these really cool creatures and wizards and sorcerers in Magic, and you're fighting each other and there's health points and there's a lot of elements from an RPG or something like a Final Fantasy game. I wanted to strip that down to the bare bones, add more people that are able to play at one time, and riff off of some of the uh the basics of what that game is."

Even still, Walsh wanted to be very clear that there was more going into his horror-tinged card game than Wizard of the Coast's bestseller.

"There's a lot of DNA from a lot of different games in it as well," he concluded, "There's even a little bit of werewolf, something where it's about a social strategy and deduction and building alliances and then breaking your alliance. There's a lot of aspects of all different kinds of games. I kind of wear my influences on my sleeve, also, because I'm such a lover of art and comics and gaming. It's good to embrace all those things that that made you what you are, right?"

We couldn't agree more, Michael. Now here's a question - will Exquisite Corpses also have a rule against pointy hats?

Exquisite Corpses: The Game is crowdfunding on Kickstarter right now. After backing, you can watch Popverse's full interview Michael Walsh at C2E2 2026 here:

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The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

• All upcoming games in 2025 and beyond
• Gamify My Life, our weekly gaming column designed
• Popverse Picks: The best Assassin's Creed protagonists
• How to play every GTA game in order
• Why the GTA 6 budget isn't as crazy as you think
• The Magic: The Gathering x Spider-Man crossover set wouldn't exist without the Spider-Verse

And be sure to check Popverse regularly for the latest gaming news.