Battle for Empyrean was created by Kevin McGinley. The idea for the game came from wanting to blend aspects of games he liked, but center the player's focus on their own board, rather than their opponent's. 

While there are still limited ways to affect your opponent's side, Battle for Empyrean is more about how you strategize with your own deck and react to both the random battlefields as well as your opponent's deployment choices, rather than simply trying to ruin every fun card your opponent plays.

The game is also designed around a reasonable duration of 30-45 minutes per game to broaden the appeal to more casual gamers. While the first game or two, or the first time you play a specific deck may take longer, most people should be able to settle into a 30-45 minute game pretty quickly.