Game News 6 card games at least as fun as Hearthstone
Published on 03/07/2022 at 08:15
Hearthstone is one of the most popular online card games out there. However, there are a large number of other similar games, if you ever want to open up to other horizons. The JV.com editorial team has also made a selection for you, lucky ones that you are!
Summary
- Gwent
- Legends of Runeterra==
- Magic The Gathering
- Pokémon
- Shadowverse
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
Gwent
Le Gwent is originally a side game of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt released in 2015, and developed by CD Project Red. He had the heavy task of succeeding dice poker, acclaimed by players in previous games. The game was so popular that CD Project decided to release a title entirely dedicated to these cards: Gwent. It takes the basic mechanics offered in The Witcher 3, but adds a whole bunch of new features. One takes place over a maximum of three rounds. The game ends as soon as one of the two players wins two rounds. At the start of the game, the competitors draw ten cards. Thereafter, they can only play one card per turn and activate its effect if the player wishes. The game board is divided into two distinct parts: close combat and ranged combat. Be aware that the effect of your cards will not be the same depending on its placement. Your cards have a certain number of points. A total is calculated at the end of a round and the player with the most wins the round. A round ends when both players have no more cards in hand, or when they decide to skip their turn. It is in this mechanic that lies all the subtlety of Gwent. Unlike at the beginning of the game where you draw ten cards, you will only have three between each round. This is why you will have to know how to manage your resources so as not to be overwhelmed by your opponent. The title is available on Android, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iOS, Microsoft Windows, and macOS.
Legends of Runeterra==
Legends of Runeterra is Riot Games’ card game, inspired by the League of Legends universe. The playing field is made up of an area that can accommodate up to six cards, and one Nexus per player. The latter represents the life points of the players, amounting to 20. The first who has none loses the game. As in Hearthstone, each player accumulates mana points per turn, up to 10. The particularity of this system is the mana bank, which allows you to store up to three unused mana points for later. There are three types of cards: Heroes, Spells and Creatures which all cost a certain number of mana points. Creatures have attack and life points. Then there are three types of spells: Slow spells, Quick spells and Instant spells. Finally, we have the hero cards with a particular power, which can be leveled up by fulfilling certain conditions. Each player draws 4 cards at the start of the game, which you can exchange, but only during this phase. Competitors alternate between attack and defense phases. Only the attacking player can deal damage to the opposing Nexus. The attacker places his units and plays his spells, knowing that the defender can respond with his own cards. Once the actions and reactions are completed, the damage calculation is done, then the roles alternate. The title is available on PC, iOS and Android.
Magic The Gathering
How to talk about TCG without mentioning the immense Magic The Gathering. This is THE game that launched and popularized the genre. The game was created by Richard Garfield in 1993. Despite the years, the game is still very popular today and manages to renew itself with each new expansion, whether in its mechanics, but also in its media. The game has managed to transpose on PC and mobile to allow players from all over the world to compete from home, with Magic : The Gathering Arena. The game looks like Hearthstone: easy to play, hard to master. Each player starts the game with 20 life points and the first to drop to zero loses. 7 cards are drawn at the start of the game. The two most important categories of cards are spells and lands. These are essential in order to play since they will provide you with mana, resources allowing you to cast your spells and play your creatures. You can only play one per turn. Your creatures allow you to attack those of your opponents, but also to bring down your opponent’s life points. Over time, the rules have expanded, with new mechanics with each expansion.
Pokémon
Pokémon cards are obviously no longer to be presented as the craze around them has returned in recent years. Collectible cards are a veritable institution all over the world, sometimes reaching record sums. To tell you, a copy of the Pikachu Illustrator card sold for $900,000. But before being such a prolific market, it is above all a card game with rules, and that… a lot of people seem to have forgotten that. This is an opportunity to make a little reminder. At first, the rules may seem complex, as in any card game, but after only a few minutes, everything becomes clear. You have a deck made up of pokemon, energy cards and support cards. At the start, you draw 7 cards, before setting up your strategy. On the playmat, you have two important areas: that of the active pokemon, then that of your benched pokemon. The active pokémon can fight with that of your opponent while those on the bench serve as your substitute in case your active pokémon fights with the other.
If you have no more pokemon on the bench and in your active zone, you lose. You are free to add the pokemon you want in this area depending on what you have in hand. Pokémon, on the other hand, have abilities that you can activate provided you respect the number of energy cards required to activate it. There are a total of 11 different types. However, to prevent the match from dragging on, there is the system of reward cards which are six in number for each player, and which are next to the battlefield. As soon as a player KOs an opposing pokemon, he can draw one of his reward cards. The first to draw all six wins. This is the second way to win in the game. In addition to the physical card game, there is an official game: JCC Pokémon Online, which gives you a great tutorial to get started. It is available on PC, macOS, iOS and Android.
Shadowverse
Shadowverse is a TCG developed by Cygames, known for its GranBlue Fantasy and Rage of Bahamut franchises. It’s a free-to-play with an artistic direction of Japanese animes, some illustrations of Rage of Bahamut are reused. Like some of the previous games discussed in this article, the game revolves around mana points that each player earns over the turns. What makes this game special is its evolution system. This mechanism grants statistics and bonus effects to the cards played in exchange for an evolution point. Whoever plays first starts with two evolution points, while the second player has three. Each player has 20 life points and starts with 3 cards in hand. These require a certain mana cost. The game has done so well that it has the right to an animated adaptation on Crunchyroll. The title is available on PC, macOS, iOS and Android.
Yu-Gi-Oh!
It’s DU-DU-DU-DU-DU-Duel time! This phrase rocked our childhood, whether watching TV or in the playground. The card game Yu-Gi-Oh! is directly taken from the eponymous manga by Kazuki Takahashi. Originally, the manga didn’t just focus on cards, but lots of little games, but after the introduction of the Magic and Wizard game, investors realized very quickly that the game was going to be a real hit. Readers really liked the game, and it was the perfect opportunity to ride the wave of Magic. The principle of the game is simple. Each player starts with 8000 life points. There are 3 types of cards: monster, magic and trap cards. Monsters have attack and defense points which you can use to attack your opponent. The first to drop to 0 hit points loses.
Magic and traps will help you accomplish this goal. These are just the basic rules. The game is much more complex when you look at it more closely: monsters can have effects, synergies between cards, etc. In addition, the game has evolved over time, adding new mechanics as it goes. Back then, the game was much more about your monsters’ battlefield and their point of attack, but today it’s the effects and how you counter your opponent’s combos that matters most. . Yu Gi Oh! exists in physics, but also in dematerialized form recently with the official game: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Master available on PC, PS4, ONE and Nintendo Switch, which will teach you the basics with simplicity and efficiency. A light version of the game has also been available since 2016 on mobile and PC: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links.