Posted November 22, 2008
I like CCGs. That's "collectible card games", or "trading card games", if you prefer. Magic: the Gathering would be the most known of its kind. It was a hobby of mine, actually. Not exactly an inexpensive hobby, though. Not unlike MMOs, they are designed so that you're able to spend an infinite amount of money on it over time.
So, what can one do to avoid that? Turn to digital CCGs! (The variety that doesn't involve subscription fees or microtransactions, at least) This doesn't just include "physical" CCGs turned into computer games, but original games sharing the same basic concepts as well. Here's an incomplete list of such games on Wikipedia.
My recommendations would be the following:
Magic: the Gathering: Microprose made this back in '97, a fairly straightforward conversion to the PC. Not much else to say about it, I think. I've only really played the demo of it, though, would be interesting to see the game here on GOG.
Culdcept: This is what you get if you cross Magic: the Gathering with Monopoly. You still draw cards used to summon monsters and cast spells, spending mana to do so; but you're also moving around on a board, occupying squares with your creatures, and gaining mana from taxing opponents. Battles between creatures usually take place when an enemy refuses to pay the toll when stepping on a square owned by someone else. You can also choose to use one item to use in combat, as can the enemy, but these are only revealed once both of you have decided on one. You win the game by gathering a large enough amount of mana. There are a bunch of other features as well that I didn't mention here, but these are the basics of it.
The matches can get a bit lenghty and unpredictable, since a lot depends on which tiles you land on, but I found it an entertaining game, if only in one-match bursts. There are versions of it for a number of consoles, the PS2 and X360 are the ones that saw an English release.
Monster Rancher Battle Card: A fairly simplistic game for the GBC, a spinoff of the Monster Rancher series. The game plays out as a dungeon crawler crossed with a trading card game: you run around in a maze, and when you bump into another guy, the card gaming starts. Both you and the enemy has three monsters, you need to defeat all three to win. Most of your cards are attacks, belonging to a specific monster. Cards cost "guts" to play, which is accumulated by discarding cards from your hand. There are physical and magical attacks, attacks can be dodged, reflected, defended, combined, etc. Overall, it offers a nice amount of variety, monsters are pretty distinct, and allow for different styles of play.
The dungeoneering aspect of the game does take a bit of the fun away, with "random encounters" being little more than an annoyance occasionally. Still, it's a nice game.
The Necronomicon: A Lovecraft-themed card game, with fairly standard mechanics. You've got your life and sanity points to watch out for, while you spend sanity points to summon monsters or cast spells and try to kill the enemy. There are three types of lasting enchantments, one to raise the damage of your spells, one to resist damage, and one that saps away your life every turn. Summoned monsters don't attack, just reduce damage taken, but they do counterattack when you're hit. When your sanity drops below zero, you go insane, and suffer from various disadvantages.
The game, unfortunately, lacks deck construction: you're given a random assortment of cards instead, being able to unlock new cards as you win battles. The game is a free Flash application, so you can try it out right here.
Magic Workstation: Not really a game, but rather a CCG "engine", which you can use to play card games against one another. Primarily set up to be played with MtG, but is essentially just a virtual table you and another player can use to play whatever game. It only enforces the basic rules, the rest is up to the players. Website here.
That's about it for me. Add your own recommendations, I'd be interested in other (vaguely) similar titles.
So, what can one do to avoid that? Turn to digital CCGs! (The variety that doesn't involve subscription fees or microtransactions, at least) This doesn't just include "physical" CCGs turned into computer games, but original games sharing the same basic concepts as well. Here's an incomplete list of such games on Wikipedia.
My recommendations would be the following:
Magic: the Gathering: Microprose made this back in '97, a fairly straightforward conversion to the PC. Not much else to say about it, I think. I've only really played the demo of it, though, would be interesting to see the game here on GOG.
Culdcept: This is what you get if you cross Magic: the Gathering with Monopoly. You still draw cards used to summon monsters and cast spells, spending mana to do so; but you're also moving around on a board, occupying squares with your creatures, and gaining mana from taxing opponents. Battles between creatures usually take place when an enemy refuses to pay the toll when stepping on a square owned by someone else. You can also choose to use one item to use in combat, as can the enemy, but these are only revealed once both of you have decided on one. You win the game by gathering a large enough amount of mana. There are a bunch of other features as well that I didn't mention here, but these are the basics of it.
The matches can get a bit lenghty and unpredictable, since a lot depends on which tiles you land on, but I found it an entertaining game, if only in one-match bursts. There are versions of it for a number of consoles, the PS2 and X360 are the ones that saw an English release.
Monster Rancher Battle Card: A fairly simplistic game for the GBC, a spinoff of the Monster Rancher series. The game plays out as a dungeon crawler crossed with a trading card game: you run around in a maze, and when you bump into another guy, the card gaming starts. Both you and the enemy has three monsters, you need to defeat all three to win. Most of your cards are attacks, belonging to a specific monster. Cards cost "guts" to play, which is accumulated by discarding cards from your hand. There are physical and magical attacks, attacks can be dodged, reflected, defended, combined, etc. Overall, it offers a nice amount of variety, monsters are pretty distinct, and allow for different styles of play.
The dungeoneering aspect of the game does take a bit of the fun away, with "random encounters" being little more than an annoyance occasionally. Still, it's a nice game.
The Necronomicon: A Lovecraft-themed card game, with fairly standard mechanics. You've got your life and sanity points to watch out for, while you spend sanity points to summon monsters or cast spells and try to kill the enemy. There are three types of lasting enchantments, one to raise the damage of your spells, one to resist damage, and one that saps away your life every turn. Summoned monsters don't attack, just reduce damage taken, but they do counterattack when you're hit. When your sanity drops below zero, you go insane, and suffer from various disadvantages.
The game, unfortunately, lacks deck construction: you're given a random assortment of cards instead, being able to unlock new cards as you win battles. The game is a free Flash application, so you can try it out right here.
Magic Workstation: Not really a game, but rather a CCG "engine", which you can use to play card games against one another. Primarily set up to be played with MtG, but is essentially just a virtual table you and another player can use to play whatever game. It only enforces the basic rules, the rest is up to the players. Website here.
That's about it for me. Add your own recommendations, I'd be interested in other (vaguely) similar titles.
