Screenshots
Black Bristol
Fathom · Published by Fathom
Last updated 4 Oct 2026
Black Bristol is a team deckbuilding card-battler that rewards skill, cunning and coordination. Each casting is a mind game - coaxing spells, weaving combos, and seizing momentum alongside your ally. Build your spell book. Synergise with your partner. Outsmart the other team.
Indie, Free To Play, Strategy, Early Access · More free games
Discover the depths of strategy as you and a partner build spell books and weave intricate combos in Black Bristol. This indie free-to-play title from Fathom pushes your skills and coordination to the limit, where every move counts in battle.
About this game
--- Playtest now available! Join the Discord and find a group! ---
Build your spell book. Synergise with your partner. Outsmart the other team.
Black Bristol is a team deckbuilding card-battler that rewards skill, cunning and coordination. It has a few twists that make it unique and compulsive playing.
2v2 Team-based Combat: Coordinate with your partner to chain powerful effects and manage your shared resources.
Dynamic Casting System: Spells resolve by priority, not order played—meaning timing, bluffing, and anticipating your opponents is key.
Satisfying Duels: Build your strategy around delayed spells that only trigger at the right moment—or disrupt your opponent’s before they can.
Strategy Required Only: Minimal randomness — your foresight, coordination, and timing determine the outcome.
No unlocks, no pay to win and no microtransactions
Replayable, Deeply Strategic and Addictive
Features
30+ spell cards (with more being added!)
P2P multiplayer lobby system
A basic singleplayer practice mode
Free! and no microtransactions
Roadmap*
Oct 2025: Steam Playtest Available
Gameplay optimisation
Analytics
Dimensions
Bidding
More Spell cards
Matchmaking
Quality of life features
Art, animation and sound update
* planned features and indicative dates will change as they are better developed and on player feedback
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 11
- Processor: Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: Dedicated graphics
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 500 MB available space
Supported Languages
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Update 0.34 - UI Refresh
This update saw some big changes to the UI and experience, and made many improvements in the backend code to enable this and future updates. Improvements- Battle UI overhaul: new Animus and Vis bars, layout overhaul, casting "zones" - New Animus icon - Hands hide after card play to enjoy the magic - Replaced end of round screen with an in-game sequence - Removed the end of round screen and replaced with a Ritual Toll animation Fixes- Updated the tooltip to have less erratic behaviour and show resource amounts - Animation transmission logic decoupling - Graphical object management backend logic - Created synchronisation logic for the resolution log - Card draft time out bugRead full article on Community Announcements (fathom)Patch NotesOfficial
0.32 Update
Continuing from the last significant update, this one modifies the first round draft to allow players to build into specific deck types. Let me know what you think of the changes on the Discord or Steam forum!Gameplay Changes - Drafting Round 1: each player now drafts two cards and discards one from their hand - Drafting Round 2+: basic cards are always available for draft and 3 random advanced cards available - Created Simple Draft mode: each player receives 3 cards to pick from - Added Simple Drafting to the lobby optionsImprovements - Added an in game log of card effects as they are played arranged in order of resolution to assist players understand how effects will resolve. - Playing face down and charged cards is more intuitive - Increased visibility of the active player with a large circle - Refactored the card drafting logic - Moved the First Player icon to the effect bar - Overhauled the spell deck system - Minor tweak to the card Library - Refactored the effect queue system to be more performant and versatileFixes - Clients can see the turn timer again - Clients can see the updated Toll - Singleplayer practice games reinstatedRead full article on Community Announcements (fathom)
