Graduate in Necromancy 2024

You just finished your Bachelor’s studies in Necromancy, and you kind of like this type of magic. You are thinking Yes, I can raise dead, but they only last a couple of hours or so…that is not enough to make a dent in the World. And so, you venture forth to become an even more knowledgeable and skilled necromancer. In this solo print-and-play 10–15 minute card game, you have to complete a Master’s degree in Necromancy in two semesters by completing courses and raising dead study buddies. However, completing courses drains your sanity. Will you succeed? Or will you become an insane fiend haunting the university’s corridors?

To graduate in necromancy, you have to a) collect at least 45 credits from the completed courses, b) finish your thesis, and c) avoid insanity in the process of the academic year consisting of two semesters. Each turn you draw a card from the current semester deck. If it is a course card (which is mostly the case) you decide whether you:

sign into a new necromancy course but you lose some sanity, discard the card to raise dead to get a bonus from an already completed course, discard the card to push forward your thesis a bit, put the card on the "Maybe later" pile that gets shuffled later into the second-semester deck.

In terms of categorizing this card game: It is a light-weight engine-building game since your completed courses allow you to sign in to courses with higher requirements but bigger rewards; it is a push-your-luck game since you can strategize but you also don't know what is coming next in the deck; there are deck-building elements involved in the creation of the "Maybe later" pile that gets shuffled into the second-semester deck; finally, Graduate in Necromancy is highly replayable - the two semester decks are different every playthrough.

—description from the designer