Sanctum (1998 video game)

Sanctum is a two-player digital collectible card game, played online against human opponents. Players log into a "Game Lobby" (known as "The Gate") to find other players to challenge to a match. It runs on the Windows operating system. It was developed by Digital Addiction in 1997, and was launched to public participation on July 9, 1998. At its peak, the game had over 1200 active participants (who logged in at least twice weekly over a period of three months). Registered users reached 82,000 by 1999, and by May, 2000 had over 100 thousand registered users. It was one of the first online trading card games, and received many favorable reviews.

The virtual "collectible cards" include common, uncommon, and rare, with different powers, in-game functions and artwork. They do not exist as actual physical cards (with the exception of a few that were distributed by Digital Addiction for promotional purposes) but they are owned and traded in an online account, and are played solely within the virtual environment of Sanctum. A registered player is given a certain number of free cards to play, and additional cards can be purchased through the online card store.

Sanctum has had a devoted user following, with player clubs and cabals, tournaments and prizes, secondary card markets, fan fiction, trivia contests, and dozens of fan web sites.

Sanctum is currently run by members of its community. The most recent update to the game was released February 17, 2014.