The Digital TCG Thread

Games
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I know there are some digital TCGs that already have their own individual threads, but those often get hijacked by folks talking about other games.

So here’s a new catch-all thread where we can bring recommendations, discussions, etc.

To kick things off, here are some things on my radar:

Duel of Champions: This is an Ubisoft CCG branded with the Might and Magic franchise. While it has some shortcomings (no drafting or sealed formats, no trading, very thin single-player play), it seems to be considered one of the best digital TCGs around right now. Mike (Gabe) from Penny Arcade raves about it. Available on PC and iPad.

Scrolls: From Mojang, the Minecraft folk. Has its own thread here on Qt3. Caught a lot of early attention and has its merits, but consensus seems to be that there’s a lot lacking for it to be a truly top-tier game. Available on PC and Mac (I think).

Kings & Legends: I haven’t heard others talking about this one, but I’ve been playing for months and liking it a lot. Very playable without monetizing. Good PvP and PvE options, including very long single-player campaign and 4-player boss raids. Browser-based. There’s also a “Kings & Legends Global” which seems to be the same game, presented slightly differently, run by a different publisher. (Let’s consolidate on Server 1/Elyria)

Hex: Cryptozoic’s upcoming TCG/MMO hybrid. Has its own Qt3 thread. Pulls very heavily from MTGO’s model in terms of base game rules and tournament structures. Cost for cards is 1/2 of MTGO’s. Has a very modern UI. Has enormous amounts of PvE content that addresses its ‘MMO’ side. Held an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign. Will support PC and Mac at launch, with iPad and Android tablets coming later.

MTGO (Magic Online): I assume everyone’s familiar with this. Has 2 different clunky clients, and can be quite expensive. But it’s also probably the most solid in terms of gameplay, community, and tournament options. If you don’t mind the cost and can handle clunky UI, this is the go-to game.

Infinity Wars

Card Hunter: Highly regarded. Currently in closed beta.

Hearthstone: Blizzard’s upcoming entry into the Digital TCG market. Taking sign-ups for future beta.

PoxNora: Very old game, but that’s more of a testament to its enduring appeal than anything else. Has very heavy tactical/board game elements compared to most TCGs.

SolForge: Currently in various stages of Beta depending on the platform. Will eventually offer free-form deckbuilding on all platforms, but isn’t there yet.

Kingdoms

Legacy of Heroes (Facebook): The best CCG on Facebook I’ve played. Not as heavy-weight as most of the other games on this list, but the upside is that it’s very playable for free.

Any others worth mentioning?

EDIT: Over time, I’ll update this top post with better formatting, more items, and links where appropriate.

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MTGO has 2 clients now? Been awhile since I’ve played.

3

This looks gorgeous http://www.infinitywarsgame.com/ but I’ve no idea how it plays, etc. Anyone tried it?

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Yes. I’ve played some of the beta. It is indeed gorgeous, though I’m not totally convinced that the animation is the best use of a limited indie development budget, since it seems to substantially restrict the pace of card production.

As far as the game goes, I have mixed feelings.
-I like the simultaneous turns, with some clever choices as to which zones your troops will be in to play around what you think the opponent will do.
-The faction system gives a nice balance of flexibility and identity. You pick three units as “commanders”, who start in a special zone off to the side, always able to be played or to have any activated abilities used. Cards can have anywhere from 0-3 faction symbols, and to use them in your deck you have to have that many commanders of that faction, so you can mix and match or focus to get some of the most specialized cards.
-The downside of the commander system is that since they are always in play with every game with that deck, games seem to have much less variance than in other TCGs, so it can be easy to have games play out very similarly. This is exacerbated by the fact that every faction has a staple unlimited card that can often represent 1/4-1/3 of your deck.
-The card pool is pretty small right now, and it takes a long time to accumulate cards if you’re not buying packs.

Overall, I think it’s fairly promising.

Kingdoms CCG is another one that’s worth putting on the list. The game feels a bit on the lightweight side, but it’s still fun, and it’s pretty generous in the amount of content available without paying.

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How about Card Hunter?

Really into what I’ve played so far, but I think the beta is still closed?

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Hearthstone and Pox Nora, depending on how strict you are being with “TCG” and “worth mentioning”.

Very happy to see this thread. I have an interest in online card games, but I don’t really actively hunt them down. Hadn’t even heard of Kings and Legends!

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I miss Chronx

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Preach it brother. There was a small team trying to make Chron X 2, but I don’t think there’s been activity for at least a couple of years. http://chronx.com/

Chron X was actually very, very good. I can’t help but believe that if it were released again now with some updated production values and business models, it would do well.

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Yeah, there’s the old crusty client that’s around a decade old I think, and there’s a new client in “wide beta” they’re trying to push all players to.

Unfortunately, even the new client is clunky by most peoples’ modern standards, and old players have a wide variety of gripes against the old client. Wizards is having a really hard time moving old players over, so now they’re stuck updating 2 clients instead of putting all their dev effort into improving the new one.

As a somewhat new-ish player of MTGO, I found the unclient unusable and the new client just fine. But looking at Hex’s client in the preview videos, there’s a world of difference.

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There is SolForge to some extent. It’s still in development. The deck building just went live on steam, but booster packs still aren’t available IIRC.

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It would have been cool if Shadowrun Returns used a card game for hacking along the lines of Chronx. :)

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Forgot to mention Spectromancer as well.

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Faëria is another one that looks exciting to me. It blends a CCG with a strategy map. I haven’t personally tried it yet because I believe it is still in beta, but it sure is on my radar. The production values look top-notch and the game systems promising.

http://www.faeria.net

  • Dirk
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This is what I thought whenever I played it. sigh

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It would have been cool if Shadowrun Returns used a card game for hacking along the lines of Chronx. :)

This is what I thought whenever I played it. sigh