After School, the Corner Shop Becomes the Battlefield
After School: Days Gone By is a collectible progression game built around childhood toy battles.
Step back into the days when going home after school could wait. Outside the corner shop, beside the schoolyard, or down by the apartment blocks, kids crouch on the ground and settle the day’s bragging rights with glass marbles, round cards, and spinning tops.
At its core, the game is not just a collection of simple minigames. It is a progression loop built around three childhood battle systems:
Marble Battles, Round Card Battles, and Spinning Top Battles.
You will collect toys of different rarities, learn their stats and traits, build your own battle setups, and win new collectibles through match after match.
Three Childhood Battle Systems
Marbles: Aim, Angles, and Feel
Marble battles focus on launch angles, collision paths, and reading the field.
Different marbles come with different rarities and properties. Basic two-color marbles, advanced patterned marbles, refined solid-color marbles, rare golden-glow marbles, and more may all differ in feel, weight, bounce, or special traits.
You will need to choose the right marble based on the arena, your opponent’s marble positions, and the current state of the match.
Round Cards: Slaps, Flips, and Deckbuilding
Round cards are not only childhood collectibles, but also a major battle system in the game.
Players can build their own deck of round cards. Common cards offer stable performance, while higher-rarity cards may come with unique traits that make every slap more strategic.
Round card battles are not just about execution. They are also about deckbuilding.
Which cards do you bring?
Which one do you play first?
Do you aim for consistent flips, or gamble on a high-reward combo?
Every choice can change the outcome of a match.
Spinning Tops: Assembly, Customization, and Counters
The spinning top system emphasizes part combinations and matchup counters.
Each top is made up of multiple components, such as an upper attack ring, blade structure, core shaft, or bottom tip. Different parts affect attack power, defense, stability, stamina, and movement patterns.
Players can buy, collect, dismantle, and customize spinning top parts, even experimenting with unusual combinations to create different styles:
Attack types, stamina types, defense types, rebound types, disruption types, and more.
There is no single strongest top. The key is whether you can read your opponent’s setup and bring the right counter.
Collect Rare Toys and Build Your Own Treasure Box
Marbles, round cards, spinning top parts, and hero collectible cards all come with different rarities and collection value.
Some items are common resources you can obtain every day from the corner shop, regular matches, or basic rewards. Others are extremely rare and may only appear through special events, tough rival challenges, hidden shops, or low-probability refreshes.
Your collection is more than numerical progression. It is part of the childhood memory.
The marble you cannot bear to use, the worn-out round card you still keep, the spinning top build that perfectly counters a rival — over time, they will become the prized treasures of your own toy box.
Light Roguelite Progression and Battle Choices
The game features light roguelite-style build progression.
In each run, you may encounter different friends, arenas, rewards, and shop refreshes. You will need to adjust your battle strategy based on the collectibles currently in your hands.
Maybe this run gives you a round card combo built for chain flips.
Maybe you buy a rare spinning top tip that enables a high-stamina build.
Maybe you just picked up a special marble that happens to be perfect for challenging a tough rival.
As you keep playing, you will gradually develop your own collection route and battle style.
Hero Collectible Cards: Extra Boosts from Childhood Legends
In addition to marbles, round cards, and spinning tops used directly in battles, the game also features special hero collectible cards.
These cards lean more toward collection and support effects. Players can choose a small number to bring along and gain bonuses for different battle systems.
Some cards support marble battles, some enhance round card gameplay, and others affect spinning top builds. They will not replace skill or strategy, but they give you more room to prepare before heading out for another challenge.
Features
Childhood-themed collectible battles
Battle and collect around marbles, round cards, and spinning tops, recreating the lively feeling of after-school matches outside the corner shop.
Three core gameplay systems
Marbles focus on angles and collisions. Round cards focus on slaps and deckbuilding. Spinning tops focus on assembly and counters.
Rarity and trait system
Different toys come with different qualities, stats, and special effects.
Round card deckbuilding
Winning is not only about how well you slap the cards, but also how you build your deck and plan your play order.
Spinning top customization
Combine different parts to create attack, defense, stamina, disruption, and other build styles.
Light roguelite progression
Rewards, opponents, shops, and build directions may change from run to run.
Nostalgic, but not stuck in the past
This is not a simple recreation of childhood minigames. It turns childhood toys into a strategic battle system filled with progression, collecting, and the thrill of building your own playstyle.
