The tactical deckbuilder formerly known as “Il Gelo Nero” (and briefly “Verdict”) is now Czernozem — meaning “black earth,” the dark fertile soil of the Ukrainian steppe where the game is set.
Why the Name Change
“Il Gelo Nero” was always a working title. It’s Italian for “The Black Frost” and it sounds cool, but it doesn’t land in English. “Verdict” was too generic — could be a courtroom drama, a quiz show, anything. Czernozem is specific, unusual, and ties directly to the setting: the Eastern Front, 1943, the black earth that swallowed armies.
Where the Prototype Stands
The core systems are functional: card combat with military orders organized by squad archetype (Captain, Alpini, Arditi), Slay the Spire-style procedural maps with branching paths, phase-based combat resolution, and a recruitment system for building your squad.
The game uses a declarative effects system — cards define what they do through data, not hard-coded logic. This makes it straightforward to add new orders without touching the combat engine.
Next up: tightening the first chapter’s mission flow and making the map progression feel like an actual campaign rather than a sequence of random encounters.