Invocation Cards

Invocation Cards are a feature in Cookie Run: OvenBreak introduced during the Yogurt Dunes Escapade update on June 28th, 2021. They feature various characters from the game, are separated into three rarities, and can be found in their own gacha as well.

Gameplay
Invocation Cards are equipped to a specific Cookie, only if they're level 12 or above, and play the role of an additional ability for the Cookie when used. When running with them, they appear as a button over the Slide or Jump button (similar to the skills of Werewolf Cookie and Fire Spirit Cookie) which activates the corresponding skill when pressed. The skill becomes unavailable for a short period of time depending on the Invocation Card used, and each card also has a set amount of uses per run. Although they can be seen in Bonus Time, they cannot be activated.

Invocation Cards are split between Common, Rare and Epic rarities, and can be leveled up to Level 15 using Coins and Invocation Shards. A card can also be promoted 4 times, from 1 to 5 stars, using other cards of the same rarity, raising their maximum level cap (Level 18 at 2 stars, Level 22 at 3 stars, Level 26 at 4 stars and Level 30 at 5 stars). Invocation Cards can also be broken down into Invocation Shards.

The player can pull Invocation Cards using Invocation Tokens in their unique gacha, found under the Gacha menu. Pulling one card costs 200 tokens, while a 10-pull costs 1900 tokens and guarantees at least one Rare-tier card.

Controversy
The Invocation Cards, upon release, were extremely poorly received by the playerbase themselves. Most of the critique was directed at how difficult they were to promote, how scarce the Invocation Tokens used in their gacha were, the low rates in the Invocation Card gacha, and how big of a score boost the best cards added in competitive game modes, increasing the gap between free players and players who could put money into the game. This went as far as players changing their usernames to protest against the promotion of Invocation Cards. Even after the update video was released, the top 3 users in the Champions League changed their nicknames to nicknames that criticized the Invocation Cards and Devsisters. The game's and Devsisters' social media channels such as Twitter and Discord would have a constant influx of feedback regarding the cards and asking for them to be fixed, along with other notorious and equally badly received changes. The situation escalated to the point where Korean players took trucks with screens and banners outside Devsisters' headquarters, protesting for them to stop making more Invocation Cards and remove them from the game.

Due to the massive outcry, the function of Invocation Cards has severely been diminished by the following updates: while they can still be used if obtained, this was limited exclusively to the Main Story and Custom Runs, and absolutely no new units have been added since their release. The currency used to pull them in the gacha is not possible to buy in any package or promotion, being only available through the Breakout Shop. Originally, cards could only be equipped to Level 15 Cookies, and they could only be promoted using duplicates of the exact card. Backslash led to both of these being changed, with the minimum level for equipping being changed to Level 12, and the promotion of cards now only requiring cards of the same rarity. The latter change caused an issue where the Arcane Mirror card, sold exclusively in packages with the sole purpose of replacing duplicates in promotions, essentially became obsolete. Other card-related packages were also removed from the game store and refunds were given to players who bought them.

A possible result was the full cancellation of the Tiger Lily Season's Grand Champions League and the omission of her costume from the costume gacha. While no official reason was ever given for this, the timing has been used by players to claim it was a direct consequence to the Invocation Cards backslash, and that they were probably going to play a huge role in the event's stages.

The cards were the subject of an April Fools event in 2022 focusing on game producer Bae Hyong-gook burning the Invocation Cards. The prize for completing this event was GingerBrave's Invo-Brave-tion Card costume, where he is put inside one of the cards to mock the feature.

On March 30th, 2023 the official Cookie Run YouTube channels posted the Yogurt Cream Cookie's Puppetry - The Story of Yogurca video, a recapitulation of the stories in the Sands of Yogurca and Yogurt Dunes Escapade updates. However, the final act of the Yogurt Dunes Escapade story, in which Jelly Serpent Cookie gives the main group Invocation Cards as a gift, has been altered. The video skips the group's individual gift and instead depicts them getting the Naga's Heart treasure along with Yogurt Cream Cookie, with no mentions of the cards at all. Additionally, an illustration used for this scene is an almost perfect recreation of one used in the original story, with the only difference being that the Invocation Token from the latter has been replaced with the Naga's Heart.

Trivia

 * Some cards are direct copies from other abilities in the game.
 * Invincible Courage is from GingerBrave's Magic Candy.
 * Handy Cheese Drop is from Cheese Drop's ability.
 * Strawberry Power is from Strawberry Cookie's ability.
 * Protection Screen is from Shield Bubble Gum.
 * Flip a Coin! is from Coin Silver Crown.
 * Spiky Power! is from Spiky's ability.
 * Color Explosion! is from Mini Jackson No. 2's ability.
 * Wave Away is from Bubble Wave Shell.
 * Pirates Ahoy! is from Pirate Cookie's ability.
 * On release day, there was a bug where a player could get up to ten millions of points in a single run with Invocation Cards being utilized. The bug has since been fixed.
 * There's unused content in the game's files that hints to future Invocation Card additions:
 * Assets for the pull of Legendary tier Invocation Cards, such as a background and special effects. The graphic for the card was notably featured in the Season 6 preview video, possibly by accident.
 * Unused graphics for cards featuring Purple Yam Cookie, Lemon Cookie and Ninja Cookie. The card featuring Lemon Cookie also appeared in a short advertisement for Cookie Run: OvenBreak, probably hinting to a soon addition.