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[Digital Card Games] – Finally, a Morrowind sequel

I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boomRegistered User regular
edited March 2018 in Social Entropy++
CARD GAMES! They're popular. They're hip. Some of them are on your computer, some of them are on your tablet or phone. Some of them promise that one day they're totally going to be on console, but we'll believe that when we see it. This is a thread for discussing the many card games on the market, so as to make it easier to shit on the ones we're bad at we don't like.

Most digital card games have a pretty simple economy: By playing games and completing quests, you earn a F2P currency, which you can spend on booster packs or a secondary mode in which you make a deck out of random cards and compete with other people. Then you can destroy extra copies of cards in order to make a crafting currency, which you use to get cards you don't have, since this isn't a physical game and you can't just buy it from a store.

Hearthstone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnFO5buJF5I

This thread wouldn't exist without Hearthstone. Like it or not, Blizzard's achieved success beyond their expectations and brought the genre to the forefront of public attention. Every game in this list learns something from Hearthstone, whether it's presentation, economy, marketing, or mechanics.

It's unlikely you're reading this thread and don't know what Hearthstone is, but just in case: In Hearthstone you play as one of 9 Classes, each of whom has access to neutral cards and their exclusive class cards. Creatures attack the target you tell them to attack, there are no actions (other than secrets) on your opponent's turn.

There's an expansion coming out for Hearthstone this week, on December 1st. It has several expansions out already, and a rotating Standard format. The next rotation will be sometime next year.
Available on: PC, Tablet, Phone

Duelyst
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGYWGcd_6uM

Full disclosure: Duelyst is probably my favourite digital card game at the moment. Unlike most other card games, Duelyst takes place on a game board more akin to a tactics or miniatures game than a card game. Creatures becomes units that you can move around the board, and your own character is represented as well – if your opponent can't reach you, they can't hurt you. In Duelyst you can play as one of 6 factions, each of which has two playable characters within it who have access to a unique spell only they can cast. It makes good use of its board, featuring cards that attack in an area of effect, cards that attack from a range, and cards that have bonus movement.

Duelyst has, for the most part, the most competitive starter decks for the new player experience. Not all of them, the Songhai deck has some cards that are fucking trash without the proper synergy. But for the most part you should be able to take a starter deck with all the cards unlocked and take it reasonably far in ranked as long as you understand card and tactics game concepts like positioning, card advantage, and so on. Duelyst also has the unique mechanic where each turn you can mulligan a card from your hand and draw a new one, shoring up shaky hands.

I want to stress again that I personally really like Duelyst, and a huge part of that is I can see how I'm fucking up. I'm constantly able to look at a turn once I'm done and say “oh I should have moved to that square instead, oh I should have attacked with this instead of that” and that ability to feel conscious of what's to be improved on is really satisfying. Plus the tactics gameplay is just fun and unique on the market.

Duelyst has one expansion so far, and they said they wanted to get one more out this year, but it's almost December and we haven't heard any details about it so I wouldn't hold your breath.
Available on: PC

Elder Scrolls Legends
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI9Uq_CAZ8c

Elder Scrolls Legends is the sequel to the hit physics playground Elder Scrolls 5: Bad Rats. I haven't played it much because to be honest the elder scrolls aesthetic is wildly boring to me. In ESL you have two separate lanes that you can play your creatures in, and you can only attack or block creatures in the same lane. In addition, one of the lanes gives creatures stealth for what I can presume are gameplay reasons, but feel kind of arbitrary when you're just looking at this random generic board. In addition, when you go down to 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 health for the first time you get to draw a card, and some cards allow you to play them on the opponent's turn when drawn in this way.

It seems fine? I don't like enough to include it in my stable of games being played, but it's probably worth a try if you're interested in these games. Though I'll probably give it another try now that I'm making this thread just to feel confident about that decision, and to flesh out this entry a bit later. I mean I haven't even told you how many classes/colours/whatever card separation there are. Seems unfair.
Available on: PC

Shadowverse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56i_5jl5qug

Let me get something out of the way immediately here: Shadowverse is anime. And I don't mean anime in the haha so wacky FLCL or the cool guy Cowboy Bebop ways, I mean anime in the “images that will get you jailed on the Penny-Arcade forums” way. Many, myself included, will find that aesthetic pretty hard to get over, and it's pretty understandable if you never do.

But to its credit, the people designing the actual gameplay of Shadowverse are competent and qualified. The six factions available all have very different strategies and mechanics available to them. One gets a discount on cards at the cost of them coming into play on later turns, while another generates cheap tokens to use with cards that care about how many cards you've played that turn. Both players get a limited number of “evolutions” each game – stat boosts that also enable a creature to attack another creature the turn they're played. This creates these tense tempo turns where you're constantly figuring out when the best time to use them is, and keeps low-level starter deck play relatively interesting.

Shadowverse has one expansion.
Available on: PC, Tablet, Phone

Eternal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgeUrKPS6-o

Eternal is the newest digital card game to go into open beta, and it seems alright! Unlike most of the other games on this list Eternal has aggressively tried to get much closer to Magic the Gathering, including a combat phase where you declare attackers and the opponent decides how they're blocked, and land. Right now it seems like an ideal mix of Hearthstone's readability and Magic's complexity, but time will tell if that turns out to be true.

One credit I give Eternal is that it seems to have a strong set of single player options available, and seems to give you a new two colour starter deck every week? Which on one hand is a bit slow, but on the other hand, is more than you get from most games. I like the mechanic where a creature attacks and then it buffs the next creature that you draw, except you're attacking with like 4 of them, so then you slam down a 2 drop except it has +4/+4 and you're like WHAT UP MOTHERFUCKER.

Oh if you want to make decks, go into the options and turn on Advanced Deckbuilding. The game won't let you put in non-generic land if you don't click that, which is a PRETTY IMPORTANT PART of building a deck.
Available on: PC

Gwent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjkKiyaBr2g

Gwent's in closed beta! I'm not in closed beta. I'm not gonna talk about it.

Hex
This is apparently still going strong! I haven't played it. I probably shouldn't have kickstarted it.

Faeria
I know this exists. I am pretty sure it is a commercial failure.




i wanted to make this thread prettier but i can't be bothered putting in the time to make sure the images come in under 500kb

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I needed anime to post. on
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Posts

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    card games on computers? that's fine, I guess, if you can't get card games on motorcycles.

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • PiptheFairPiptheFair Frequently not in boats. Registered User regular
    inagtp I did not take you for a ryab watcher

  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    PiptheFair wrote: »
    inagtp I did not take you for a ryab watcher

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    mostly i just did a search for gwent and picked what i felt would be the most recent/least offensive video

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  • PiptheFairPiptheFair Frequently not in boats. Registered User regular
    eggman is good
    also kate is adorable

  • PiptheFairPiptheFair Frequently not in boats. Registered User regular
    the important thing here though, is that duelyst has shiro

  • WeedLordVegetaWeedLordVegeta Registered User regular
    There's also Shadowverse, which is Cygames blatantly copying hearthstone but then making a much better game out of it

  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    There's also Shadowverse, which is Cygames blatantly copying hearthstone but then making a much better game out of it

    Wow fuck you too

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  • WeedLordVegetaWeedLordVegeta Registered User regular
    Oh I missed it because I was looking at the eternal stuff!

  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    It is absolutely fascinating to me that Shadowverse basically straight up uses Storm and Suspend from MTG in ways that are easy to understand.

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  • GarthorGarthor Registered User regular
    There's also Shadowverse, which is Cygames blatantly copying hearthstone but then making a much better game out of it

    I, too, found Hearthstone too difficult to masturbate to.

  • PMAversPMAvers Registered User regular
    I miss Star Chamber.

    Fuck Sony.

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    COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
  • WeedLordVegetaWeedLordVegeta Registered User regular
    Garthor wrote: »
    There's also Shadowverse, which is Cygames blatantly copying hearthstone but then making a much better game out of it

    I, too, found Hearthstone too difficult to masturbate to.

    Matches take way too long, yeah

  • Bluedude152Bluedude152 Registered User regular
    Yugioh is good/bad

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  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    That doesn't sound like a new moba.

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  • WeedLordVegetaWeedLordVegeta Registered User regular
    There are several yu-gi-oh mobile games available in Japan

    Some of them are even official and not knockoffs!

  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited November 2016
    Yo, your info on Hex is incorrect. Hex is alive and kicking. Magic did not win the lawsuit. Magic/wizards sued and it was settled out of court. The only main impact that anyone is aware of is some card names were changed and life totals were changed.

    Hex has released six sets now, as well as three major PvE content packs (the arena, Adventure Zone 1 and Adventure Zone 2 drops really soon.)

    You should probably just read the reddit for info.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/hextcg/

    Probably the biggest difference for Hex is it doesn't have a HUGE "play pve to feed into pvp" economy like the others. You technically could, but PvP is a cash money game, and PvE is a free to play game. They feed into each other a bit, but Hex is definitely into draft and sealed much like the Magic formats, and you gotta pay to play that stuff with any regularity.

    Edit: Which isn't to say I'm not salty on how slow their shit has been. It's been hella slow. It's come together into probably the best CCG on the market, the question is just whether it can attract/retain enough players now that it's slow rolled so goddamn much.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
  • Lindsay LohanLindsay Lohan Registered User regular
    edited November 2016
    Duelyst looks pretty great. What's the pricing like and does it have any form of single player either in a campaign or bots?

    Lindsay Lohan on
  • MachwingMachwing It looks like a harmless old computer, doesn't it? Left in this cave to rot ... or to flower!Registered User regular
    Concrete Jungle is a p sick deckbuilding city builder on steam

    does this count

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  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    Oh, and Hex is available on Steam now too.

    http://store.steampowered.com/app/410380/

    What is this I don't even.
  • Theodore FlooseveltTheodore Floosevelt proud parent of eight beautiful girls and shalmelo dorne (which is currently being ruled by a woman (awesome role model for my daughters)) #dornedadRegistered User regular
    keep meaning to check out duelyst

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  • BurtletoyBurtletoy Registered User regular
    edited November 2016
    Solforge is pretty great, in my opinion. And it is made by StoneBlade Entertainment, which you might know from other tabletop card games such as Ascension, and... Ascension?

    It had been mentioned multiple times on newsposts on PA
    I was tantalized by SolForge at PAX, and it appears to have tantl’d Quarter To Three’s Tom Chick also. I honestly don’t know why this hasn’t hit its goal yet on Kickstarter, other than the fact that they’re trying to pitch something sorta high concept. That’s the only reason I can see for them not having met it, because this was one of the best demos on our showfloor.
    Sol Forge: It’s not Duel of Champions but DOC requires internet and I won’t have that on the flight. If I need a card game fix this will be my jam.
    My iPad is essentially a digital card game playing device. Between SolForge, Hearthstone and Order and Chaos Duels I don’t really use it for much else.... O&C Duels is a great game, closer to SolForge than Hearthstone in terms of gameplay. It’s lane based but adds its own twist to some of the mechanics you expect.

    And it even has an alternative art card with PA art.

    http://deadonboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/AlloyinStrategist.png

    The game recently came out of open beta (which it had been in for....a while) and released the new official client (which might be kinda....broken in a few different ways)

    But, if you can get past all the bugs in the client, it is quite the rewarding game, in my opinion. I've tried duelyst, hearthstone, and Eternal and none of them seem to have the depth of solforge. There is supposed to be a big bug fix Coming Soon (tm) for the new client, but it still works good enough. There is a small but very nice and active community to this game over at the unofficial ladder www.solforgeladder.com and the new client came with it's own internal ladder, as well, as a 'card sharing' system where any card purchased for real money can come with a free copy to give (read: trade) with another player.

    The F2P is very generous in this game, but there are also 7 sets of cards, so it might take a while to build a competitive deck, with no set rotation formats anyone from SBE has talked about, yet. The game gives you up to 3 even tickets a day and drafting only required 4 tickets. Also, every thursday-sunday there are special format tournaments that differ from the main game and only cost 2 tickets to play! Going 3-1 in these weekend warrior tournaments gives you enough tickets to play again. These special format WW events have things, like, 4 faction singleton, or no copy limit constructed, or odd numbered set cards only, or guaranteed legendary draft.

    If you were interested when PA first started talking about solforge, but haven't checked it out it a while, the new client, many many new sets, and significant re balances to the game might be enough to get you excited again! http://solforgegame.com/

    Burtletoy on
  • Kevin CristKevin Crist I make the devil hit his knees and say the 'our father'Registered User regular


    Hearthstone: I still like it. I don't care for arena so I just ladder up. Enjoyed a resurrection Priest and Reno Mage this past month. I'll give Reno Lock and a Jade Druid a try on friday.

    Duelyst: I tried a it a little. Had a nice Abyssal Burn deck going but I always had problem getting cornered and getting beat on. I may give it another try in the future.

    Elder Scrolls Legends: It's was alright, but I didn't get very deep into it. I had an Undead tribal going but it wasn't very good.

    Shadowverse: I like it. I can ignore the ANIME and enjoy the gameplay, though I did spend a little money so I could play a Shadowcraft deck with an awesome Skeleton dude instead of an Orphaned Loli.

    Eternal: This one I really like. Just enough MTG to have it stand out. I played a lot of the single player to build a nice Red/Black aggro deck that I like. Now I'm working on building a Blue/Black control deck.

    Gwent; I haven't played. Avoided it during Witcher 3.

    I haven't played either Hex or Faeria though I've watched Kripp play the latter. It didn't look that interesting to me.

    Another that i've played is Runescape Legends. which is less Card Battle than it is setting up events for you and your opponent to deal with, buffing yourself and debuffing your opponent, then the two characters fist fight and whoever is stronger wins.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c0ultvHEWE

    And of course MTGOnline.. which I'd like more if the client didn't need restarting every half hour.

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    Steam: YOU FACE JARAXXUS| Twitch.tv: CainLoveless
  • BurtletoyBurtletoy Registered User regular
    I started playing Eternal yesterday. I hope I get more drawn into the game once I finish the last two campaign missions and start messing around in the deck builder.

    It seems okay, but it's mostly just play a mana and the biggest card you can cast every turn, at least, in the campaign

  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    edited November 2016
    Early starter deck experience in Eternal is midrange as fuuuuuuck

    The dudes in the G&T thread seem pretty satisfied with the complexity of control tho

    I needed anime to post. on
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  • Albino BunnyAlbino Bunny Jackie Registered User regular
    Always worth noting that if you wanna play card games online Jinteki.net let's you play netrunner online 100% free.

  • Butler For Life #1Butler For Life #1 Twinning is WinningRegistered User regular
    do any of these have formats like MTG draft?

    I love me some draftin'

    and I have a mac that MTGO won't run on

    and I'm too lazy to install bootcamp or whatever

  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    do any of these have formats like MTG draft?

    I love me some draftin'

    and I have a mac that MTGO won't run on

    and I'm too lazy to install bootcamp or whatever

    Eternal has a mode that is a magic draft with 4 booster packs, but you're being passed to by AI instead of actual players. Then you play your deck against other players.

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  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    do any of these have formats like MTG draft?

    I love me some draftin'

    and I have a mac that MTGO won't run on

    and I'm too lazy to install bootcamp or whatever

    Eternal has a mode that is a magic draft with 4 booster packs, but you're being passed to by AI instead of actual players. Then you play your deck against other players.

    You're not getting passed to by AI (not really anyway). I think it uses the same process as Solforge, in which the information of one player's draft is used to generate the boosters and non-active player card selections. There's no table and no "wheeling", but packs 1 and 3 come from one player's draft, and 2 and 4 come from another player's draft, thus enabling signals to be read but not sent.

  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    do any of these have formats like MTG draft?

    I love me some draftin'

    and I have a mac that MTGO won't run on

    and I'm too lazy to install bootcamp or whatever

    Hex is magic draft exactly. Three boosters, crack, draft one, pass left. Crack, darft, pass right. Crack, draft one, pass left. Pools of eight players.

    What is this I don't even.
  • Tommy2HandsTommy2Hands what is this where am i Registered User regular
    This is a good thread.

    I am hype for the new hearthstone expansion

    selective neutral cards are the sort of thing that the game needs

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  • Tommy2HandsTommy2Hands what is this where am i Registered User regular
    edited November 2016
    do any of these have formats like MTG draft?

    I love me some draftin'

    and I have a mac that MTGO won't run on

    and I'm too lazy to install bootcamp or whatever

    I can't speak for eternal or faeria but hearthstone and duelyst have some interesting pseudodraft type things

    Like, you're not drafting with other people but you draft three cards at a time to build a deck that you play against other people who have also drafted three cards at a time to build a deck

    there's finesse to it but it's a totally different finesse from bustin packs.

    also you don't get to keep the cards but you totally get packs just for playing

    Tommy2Hands on
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  • CoinageCoinage Heaviside LayerRegistered User regular
    I really wish Hearthstone would rip off Shadowverse instead of giving up halfway through an expansion and printing crap like Pompous Thespian.

    I played Faeria for a while and it was cool, but I was really frustrated by the balance. They recently removed the ability to buy the whole set at once so yeah I think they aren't doing too great.

  • BurtletoyBurtletoy Registered User regular
    Solforge does have a draft, but it is based on an algorithm for picking cards, not against other players. The game determines which cards are picked in higher frequency, and gives you packs with what it expects might still be available after which number of picks. With the exception of the first pick in the first pack, where you receive a look at 6 different heroic cards (Rarity: Common, Rare, Heroic, Legendary) which guarantees you get to add at least 1 heroic to your collection. 6 packs, make a 30 card deck, no limits on cards picked, except for max of two factions, but after you select a second faction, every card shown after that will be from those two factions.

    Costs 4 event tickets to draft and you play up to 7 wins or 2 losses with the deck, which determines your rewards, other than the cards you pick which are added to your collection.

  • -SPI--SPI- Osaka, JapanRegistered User regular
    The anime doesn't bother me but Shadowverse kind of gave me a headache, there was just so much visual information and effects and flash. Also it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out how and where to open the free packs they give you.

    I'm excited for the HS expansion, looking forward to enhancing my stupid decks and trying out some new stuff. The jade golem mechanic could be a lot of fun.

  • 21stCentury21stCentury Call me Pixel, or Pix for short! [They/Them]Registered User regular
    What about digital MOBA card games?

    i'm making one. ish.

  • Tommy2HandsTommy2Hands what is this where am i Registered User regular
    Jade golems could honestly be broken as fuck


    The thing that annoys me the most is the fact that jade idol compelely hardcounters mill

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  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    Jade golems could honestly be broken as fuck


    The thing that annoys me the most is the fact that jade idol compelely hardcounters mill

    listen

    i don't want to be the one who has to tell you




    but every deck hard counters mill

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  • Tommy2HandsTommy2Hands what is this where am i Registered User regular
    edited December 2016
    Most of the time, yes

    Kripp actually has a deck that I've had some real successes with lately

    The fact that the idol straight up demolishes your win condition is real real saddening to me

    Tommy2Hands on
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  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    Hey, I needed a gnome. What'd you do with your $120 Hex account if you don't still play, and how can I trade you some other game you play for it? :P

    What is this I don't even.
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