Transformers Trading Card Game rolling out from the makers of Magic: The Gathering

A Transformers collectible card game is on the way from Magic: The Gathering creator Wizards of the Coast.

The Transformers Trading Card Game is a two-player battle game that stars the robots in disguise, based on the original Hasbro toys and cartoons rather than their gritty Michael Bay-ified movie incarnations. In-car-nations, get it? Moving on…

It wouldn’t be much of a Transformers game without giving you the chance to transform the Autobots and Decepticons back and forth from their vehicular forms to the mechs. The TCG’s oversized (twice the size of a regular playing card) character cards let you do exactly that, with the double-sided cards able to be flipped over during gameplay to change from bot mode to alt mode. You’ll have to provide your own sound effects, mind.

Decks are made up of these character cards alongside battle cards that include actions and upgrades used to enhance the bots, with plenty of customisability to be had.

Wizards of the Coast promised that it’s digging deep into the Transformers lore when it comes to future expansions and sets for the card game, with iconic bots such as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee joined by more obscure additions to the roster, like Sunstorm.

The Transformers TCG will launch in the US on September 28th with an Autobots two-player starter set including Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide and Red Alert, accompanied by the first wave of booster packs, each of which packs in a character cards and seven battle cards. The first full wave will be made up of 40 characters and 81 battle cards in total.

The game is then said to be due for release in “certain other markets” before the end of the year, which hopefully means we’ll see a UK launch before 2018 is out.