Reverse: 1999

The game takes place in an alternate history where humans exist alongside Arcanists, a race of individuals with magical abilities.^[1][2] On the last day of the year 1999, a mysterious phenomenon known as the "Storm" began to rewind time to eras across the 20th Century.^[1][3] The story depicts the conflict between two factions: the St. Pavlov Foundation, an organization of (mostly) Humans and Arcanists dedicated to serving humanity and attempting to end the Storm, and Manus Vindictae, an Arcanist-supremacist group that acts as the story's antagonist faction.^[1][4]

The protagonist is Vertin, an arcanist called the Timekeeper.^[1] She is a member of the St. Pavlov Foundation and the only person known to be naturally immune to the Storm's effects. Vertin is tasked with investigating the Storm to discover ways of stopping it.^[1]

Reverse: 1999 is a strategy role-playing video game with turn-based battles and combat designed around card-shuffling mechanics.^[1][5] Players select up to four Arcanists that they own to take into battle with them. The Arcanists each have unique passive skills, two Incantation cards, and one Ultimate card that they can use in battle. In addition, players can equip and build each Arcanist with a "Psychube" for additional benefits or upgrade their "Resonance" to improve certain statistics.^{[citation needed]}

Once in battle, the player will start with a hand of 7–8 Incantation cards to choose from, and can play as many cards in a turn as there are active friendly Arcanists on the field. Once their turn is done and both sides have played their cards, the player gains extra cards at random from their Arcanists' combined deck. Each card ranges from one to three star-level, and players can upgrade incantations by merging the same cards together, increasing the damage they do, the amount of "Moxie" the respective Arcanist gains from their use, and sometimes unlocking extra effects.^{[6][7][unreliable source?]} When a character gains enough Moxie, they will automatically be granted an opportunity to unleash their Ultimate skill. This applies to enemy units as well.

Outside of combat, players have a chance to build their own "Wilderness," an island within Vertin's suitcase made up of hexagonal pieces taken from various sets. Here, players can gain a small amount of free base level-up resources, as well as customize the Wilderness to their liking, limited only by the sets that they have unlocked for placement and a certain maximum number of tiles.^{[citation needed]}

The game's first beta test began on January 7, 2022, and the second began on June 10, 2022.^[8] The game started a third beta test on April 14.^[9] The game was released in Mainland China on May 31, 2023.^[10]

The Official Global Reveal Trailer was released on July 21, 2023.^[11] The global version beta test ran from August 4 to 13, 2023,^{[citation needed]} and was released globally on October 26, 2023.^[10]

Reverse: 1999 has received generally favorable reviews and has been praised for its voice acting, character design, and artstyle.^{[1][5][6][12]} The game's story has been criticized for being awkward and complicated;^[5] reviewing the game's beta, Pocket Tactics said "the way it presents its story is absolutely baffling".^[6]

On October 17, 2023, Reverse: 1999 surpassed 1 million pre-registrations prior to its global release.^[13] After release, it reached a global player count of 19.99 million players in 2026.^[14]

In the first month after its global launch, Reverse: 1999 earned approximately $4.5 million USD in net revenue.^[15] One year after its global launch, Reverse: 1999 had earned $98.7 million USD in gross mobile revenue.^[16]