Spellweaver - Or how to successfuly make a CCG

Now that I have started talking about digital CCGs, let us continue? How about that? Today I will tell you about the Bulgarian CCG Spellweaver. The game is made by Dream Reactor and at its very start (closed beta) it quickly gathered quite a bunch of followers. Process that continues even now when the game is live.

I plan to miss the general talk about CCG as a genre and tell you more about what puts Spellweaver apart from the others. In other reviews you will read that it is a mix between MTG and Hearthstone and while it is not incorrect there is more precise description and that will be Hearthstone ( because of its lightness and quick games) and Might&Magic: Duel of Champions ( because of it two lane board ). From Duels is also taken the idea about the characters abilities, but here you can even upgrade them during play. Spellweaver is...how to say it...the Warcraft of CCGs. It is a mix of a lot of good things which complement each other and sum up to a good game. 

Another interesting mechanic which makes the matches short and quick is the ability to see the top 5 cards and if there is a Shrine ( the ones which give you mana ) take it and put it in your hand. That really helps with the mana problem a lot.  Mentioning mana is important to say that there are two requirements for playing cards - magic levels and mana. Both are given by the Shrines and you choose what to get when you play one. Special Shrines will also give new skills to your heroes.

Oh, oh! I almost forgot and it is important and different from other CCGs. The creatures in Spellweaver have one more stat - speed. You can even build your deck around it. Speed is important when you try to block because slow creatures cannot block faster ones. Forgetting it made me lose more games than I want to confess. I want to also mention something about I am not sure how I feel. That is the art style of the game. Spellweaver has this baroque theme going for it and while it is rather unique and fitting for the game it somehow annoys me it looks good but at the same time...enough of this you got it! Or not...anyway!

Now that we are done with what sets the game apart from the others let’s see what else it has to offer. First of all there are six factions each with its own playstyle and story. Dream Reactor has done a lot to flesh out a whole world with its own story and lore. Each faction has its own kingdom on the map and your faction will decide your starting deck. With time you will be able to buy other starting decks and with that unlock other kingdoms and more quests to do. There is competent vs AI mode and unraked against people. There are bossfights which will reward you with rare, powerful cards. Despite all those ways to play singleplayer Spellweaver is more PvP oriented and it is obvious from the fact that you get better rewards for winning PvP matches instead of PvE. There are also Tournaments organized regularly.

Spellweaver is well done, beautiful, infused with a lot of hard work and love CCG which is obviously done by people who know their games and their CCGs even more. The team is ambitious and motivated, they have clear idea what they want to do with the game and what they want to implement. If you have not found your CCG (everyone needs one) try Spellweaver, it might be what you are looking for!

Where to find: 

Official site

Steam

HEX: Shards of Fate - What Duels of Planeswalkers should have been

I have mentioned it so many times that I don't think there is need to say it again. What I have said so many times, you ask? I am huge CCG fan! Aah, you remember now, good! Let us continue then. Today as you can guess from the title I will talk about HEX: Shards of Fate which recently got it's main feature going at last. And this is the PvE campaign. Does it rings a bell? Probably not, I do not think that many of you are old enough to remember the 1997 video game based on Magic: The Gathering where you were able to roam around, fight monsters, improve your deck and in the end test your skills and cards against the final bosses. But there was such game and it was awesome. After I played it time passed and kind of forgot about MTG until few years ago when Duels of the Planeswalkers rekindled my interest in the game. Sadly DoP was nothing like what I was craving...

For this reason when I heard about HEX I was all over the idea. I had no patience to get my hands on this game and at last relive this moments of joy. Roaming a world, defeating opponents in card duels while at the same time improving my skills and decks. But HEX does not rely only on classical, established as working mechanics taken from Magic. It also includes things of its own - for example equipment for your heroes or upgradable cards which get new abilities. Not to mention the gorgeous battlefields, changing depending on the area in which you fight never breaking your immersion.

HEX is PvE centered CCG and as such it offers few ways of play. The first is the standard PvE versus AI. Your enemy might from any faction and will use various decks and strategies. Decent game mode if you want to just try the game or the new deck you have built up.

The second mode of PvE is the Arena. This is your standard arena, gauntlet or whatever you call it. The more victories you achieve better the reward at the end. Here you have 20 wins maximum, 3 loses and all your enemies are AI. These AI though are a lot harder and with better decks than the ones from the previous mode. Other difference in HEX's arena is the way it is structured - the 20 matches are divided in 4 categories and at the end of which there is a boss. The rewards from the Arena are mainly currencies and unique items for your heroes.

The third way to play is the main reason why so many people were so impatient to try Shards of Fate - the PvE campaign which can be played even solo. In it you choose a race and a class. The combination between these two will give you different bonuses. Your race choice also decided the story and your starting deck until you collect enough cards to build your own. The PvE campaign is the only way to play the dungeons, being alone or with your party of friends. In the game you will find also other RPG "social" functions as Guilds and neutral factions which will act towards depending on your action through the campaign.

The may be only big negatives of the campaign are the boring looking map and the dialogues in which your decisions does not seem to be of great importance. But if you can look beyond those you will find one very interesting mash-up of RPG and CCG.

Now that we mentioned all things which set HEX: Shards of Fate apart from the other CCGs let me tell you about some other things you will find this already pretty great game. There is Action House where you sell and buy cards. There are of course boosters, sadly sold only for real money. Talking about boosters and cards I almost forgot - cards are separated in PvP and PvE categories which honestly I find for little strange and hinders the game more than anything else... Oh, oh! I forgot the most important thing! HEX: Shards of Fate is absolutely free to play and you will hardly find yourself pushed to buy boosters unless may be you want to get super competitive and win tournaments. 

If you are like me and RPG and CCG/TCG are two of your favorite genres then this is without doubt the game for you! Try it, it is nothing like the others.

Where to find it:

Official site and Download