Quick Look: SolForge

How so? I don't typically play TCGs, but I'm curious why MTG is THE one and only. Any thoughts on that Blizz TCG or Scrolls?

I got the PC version on steam half the stuff doesn't work yet, really bad lag at times, and no real sense of improvement or stats nothing it just it ends up boring after awhile, Duel of champions from Ubisoft is a much better game in my opinion.

You should try the new Star Wars: the Card Game! it's a great customizable card game that is using the Star Wars license very well! check it out!

I wasn't going to kickstart it when it was just iOS but when they added in PC it was enough to hold me over till the 'eventual' Android client. I wouldn't hold my breath though since the Ascension release for Android has been in the works for years now with no release hard release date in site.

@unreal_ed: Yeah, I think I have it, I just never tried it out! It's in my closet. I'll dig it up at some point.

God damn, I want to play rorie in magic the gathering. MTG livestream would be amazing!

Smart move having Rorie in on this QL. He definitely knows his card games.

Looks fun, but I can't see myself playing this without a tablet... which I don't have. When I'm at home there's always other ways I'd rather spend my time.

Looks pretty cool. I will give it a play. Thanks guys!

I'm loving Rorie getting in on a bunch of stuff lately. Always good to see him on the vidz dawg.

I love how much they hate free-to-play money hooks.

True, but my point at the end still stands - 6 mana doesn't mean the same thing to every deck in MTG like the sentence I quoted makes it seem. Maybe the metagame for Solforge will get to the point where that is generally true as well, because I haven't given it much of a try yet tbh, and the whole argument is moot. I'd like that to be the case actually but this, so far, just isn't spitting my kind of game.

Also, I love UG ramp and sliver ramp. Yeah there's a green component but you definitely get to play around with the 4 others.

I will try this. Seems cool.

I would love to see that series come back. Would work pretty well on a 3DS, too, though I'm fine with it showing up anywhere, as long as it shows up.

I keep seeing this on Steam. Let's see if this QL can sway me into buying it.

I bet that Konami doesn't want to muddle up their MGS brand with off-shoots anymore. It's too bad, the gameplay in those games was super rad.

@threeronec: Well right now it's early access so it's free. Not too bad but I do agree with Drew that there should be a setting to slow down the opponent's cards to let you see what they are.

It's great to see this game covered but I have one current concern in the current incarnation, and that is there is no way to trade or sell extra cards. I have 14 of some cards and can't do anything with them. I'm sure that something will be added later, but it seems a little sketch to release the game before this functionality is added.

Since it was asked, as a backer, I backed at $25 and got 45 booster packs, early access, a promo (which I believe hasn't been released yet) and a couple of starters that were in beta which have since been destroyed for new starters, but I got the cards in them.

Most of the other questions were answered, but Stone Blade is made up of Magic the Gathering professional players (current or ex, I'm not certain), but Richard Garfield did collaborate on SolForge.

@rorie: If you want to see how it works before you dig it out, check out this really well done tutorial video from FFG. The main event at Gencon had 120 players IIRC, so it's got some good legs. Also, I'd recommend looking into Hex if you haven't seen anything about it yet.

@skanker said:

Then check out Netrunner! It plays very differently and has very deep strategy along with bluffing.

Great QL Drew, thanks for sharing.

Just get Braid Muir in and have a TNT with MTG.

OMG MATT RORIE SAID METAL GEAR AC!D WAS AWESOME AND HE IS CORRECT because metal gear ac!d was fucking the besttttt

How does this compare to Scrolls?

Did anyone ever play Lost Kingdoms for the Gamecube? It wasn't a very DEEP card based system but I recall loving that game.

I love card games, but I don't think this is going to dethrone MtG anytime soon. The mechanics look really simple without a whole lot of room for improvement. (Though I suppose you could have said that about MtG 15-20 years ago.) The art looks really good, and I like the idea of the cards leveling up through play, and actually having different art for different levels.

Anyone who loves TCGs needs to check out Sentinels of the Multiverse. Even though you don't trade anything, you just straight-up buy all the cards in a box (I think I prefer that to the money sink-hole Magic can be.) It's completely taken over my and my friend's weekly table-top gaming sessions.

So, is CCG's an even deeper hole to fall into than Dota? Seems to take a lifetime to fully understand the nuances in the strategies.

Going to enjoy this, great to hear Rorie on a Quick Look again.

I have never ever had any interest in card games, but I want to give this a try. Looks interesting. Love the designs on the cards.

I'm not really into trading card games in terms of actually playing them, but I do have a lot of appreciation for the artwork and like seeing the different styles of the different games. This seems to be no exception. The artwork on these cards looks pretty damn good. The corpse crawler in particular caught my eye. Not only that, but it looks like all the cards have three different versions of the same card depending on their level, which shows the time and effort put into the artwork.

That having been said, I'll probably never play this, but if I ever decided to, it would probably be just to see all the different artwork on the cards.

Ick. The artists for this game sure love giant centipede-worm things.

@christoffer said:

That really depends on the game and the context you play it in. MtG for example will have a decent learning curve to even get used to the flow of a game if you're completely new. When can you play which cards? More importantly, when should you play them? What are your opponents opportunities to interfer with your strategy? And so forth. But all of that is not more complex than games like Dota, I'd say.

Then you need to decide on the focus of your deck in the context of the playing field. How do you deal with threats and keep yourself in the game? How do you actually win the game? And that really varies with the format you're playing. Could be just low budget beginner decks with a couple of friends. Could be really finely tuned modern tournament decks (with a limited card pool) that'll crush you in 2-5 turns more often than not. Could be decadent, disgustingly expensive legacy decks that practically draw from all the cards that were printed in 14 editions and counting. Those can include builds that'll reliably end games in the first two turns because they get so insane. In short, MtG can be a very deep hole to fall into but there's easy ways to limit the madness.

I personally prefer 'Drafts' that limit your deck to picks from three fresh booster packs, often from a single edition. 10€ for an evening of deck-building and tournament play. If you do you well you may even recoup the fee by winning expensive cards in the end. That or finely tuned but low budget 30-50€ decks. Those formats are not too complex once you understand the basics of the game.

Since i didn't get a hearthstone beta invite, im downloading this for PC now

it's interesting how, even though this isn't technically a deck-building game like ascension, it has a lot of similar mechanics. I like it.

And then @drewbert opens with an Indiana Jones/Last Crusade reference. Much rejoicing ensued.

@rorie You can play the Star Wars CCG online using a program called Holotabe. It's not much to look at but gets the job done. The community can be....snobby at times but it's still good way to play. The hardest part is keeping up with all of the rule changes and edits they've made to cards that are considered official by the players council.

@archer88: Yeah, I think I checked that out a while back, but I'm not sure I'd have all that much fun with it. I love the fact that the community's kept that game kicking for a decade after it got discontinued, though.

@branthog: I think I saw that when it was in kickstarter. Looks neat. Hope it's fun.

I really enjoy Rorie's input on games. Wish I saw/heard more of him.

It doesn't quite work like that, you level up whatever character you're playing as, but not any cards. The equipment does change how cards work, but it's for PvE only. Any PvP is unaffected by your progress through the MMO/PvE section unless it's a format that specifically allows it. I got a chance to play it at GenCon and it was shaping up nicely, though it's definitely still in Alpha.

Digital ccg, my kryptonite.

Looks kind of simple. Is there no way to react to anything while it's not your turn?

Hell yea I would watch the shit out of that.

@rorie: Have you seen Hex? It looks like it will be a lot of fun. Alpha starts up in September for kickstarter backers.

Drew is pretty damn good at explaining stuff. Also, I kinda like the art on those cards.

Drew seems to be fastidious in his preparation any time he appears in a video to do something, and it shows. The other guys just seem to wing it.

looks like the gamepage had it right. This is made by the designers of Ascension and with the help of Richard Garfield the guy who made Magic the gathering, hence why there is a bit of the Magic components in this game.

I backed this kickstarter primary on the merit of the desingers and Richard Garfield track record. If it was random people showing me this game i would have been iffy to back it.

I think this game could be improved by playing on a motorcycle.

When will the card on card violence end!?

I prefer Solforge's card art over Hearthstone but Hearthstone has way better UI.