The best deck building game | Digital Trends

2021-11-25 06:29:32 By : Mr. Pancheng Li

Constructing a deck of cards, sitting down, and competing your collection against others in tactical and planning tests is fun in itself, but it takes a bit of luck to make things interesting. Once computer and video games appeared, the first type of game was to simulate real games. Some are sports, but there are also a large number of translations of board and card games being digitized. Deck games are naturally suitable for digital format-you don't have to worry about losing your cards or having to find someone nearby to fight against. In addition, through the computer processing all the mathematics and rules behind the scenes, the game becomes smoother and easier to learn.

After so many years, not only have all major physical deck games been translated into video game formats, but also brand new games that cannot be played physically or are too complicated to play realistically. This genre covers all types of games, from competitive PvP, PvE, roguelike games, and even horror games. Even some of the largest IPs have created their own deck-building derivative games, which are very fun to play. Whether you want to build the perfect deck to improve your online ranking or prefer the instant thinking of rougelite, here are the best deck building games you can play right now.

Apart from the most popular and well-known deck building game of all time, where else can we start? The card game Magic has been around for decades, with hundreds of cards in dozens of expansions, but the basic formula is still as easy to use as ever. The concept of placing land cards for mana, used to summon monsters and cast spells, has such an impact that it has basically become the standard for most subsequent card games. Each player has his own deck and health pool, and only needs to reduce the opponent's health to 0. Although simple on the surface, the depth comes from the cards themselves and how they interact.

Magic: The Gathering Arena is the second online card game released in 2018 after Magic: The Gathering Online came out in 2002 in 2002. These two versions are still playing today, but for different reasons. Arena is obviously a more modern version of the game, with an updated user interface, satisfactory animations, a streamlined system, and even cheaper cards. On the other hand, you can only trade cards online, and there are fewer rule sets you can use, including standards, restrictions, and historical rules. Even so, the improved quality of life in Arena makes it easy for us to choose it. Unless you want to be super competitive, this of course can be done, otherwise this version has everything you want in a physical card game, as well as all the benefits of online.

Taking the main clues from "Magic: The Gathering", "Heartstone" is Blizzard's expansion in the field of deck construction. Due to some fresh game concepts, recognizable characters and the nature of free games, this game became one of the most popular card games on the market almost immediately after its launch. Just like Magic, Hearthstone ensures that the core game is easy to understand. Here, you don’t need a card dedicated to summoning monsters or mana required to cast spells. You will get an extra point every round, which can be used to buy any card you can afford at the time. This means that, of course, with some exceptions, higher cost cards will not be available until later in the game, resulting in a smoother power curve as the game progresses. Similarly, the goal is to first reduce the opponent's health to zero.

As a Blizzard game, they used its popular Warcraft IP and built the theme of the entire game around it. You will identify the monsters and spells in the game, as well as the heroes you will choose in addition to the cards in the deck. These heroes add a small but commendable deep wrinkle because they add another point of strategy you need to consider when playing the game. Although it is not the real reason you want to play, Hearthstone does have a considerable amount of single player content that you can play in addition to the normal matching. In addition, although it is still free to play, the progress system has changed a lot since its release and now follows the 2020 battle pass format. Many players think this is a bad move because the rewards are rebalanced to push you to spend the money on the real card, so keep this in mind.

Outside of Magic, Pokémon cards may be the world's largest collector card craze. The only difference is that, at least according to rumors, almost no one has actually played card games. Most people just collect and trade cards, and never even learn the rules of the game itself. However, some people did decide to learn this game and create an enthusiastic community of Pokémon card game players. It would be very expensive to start collecting cards now, but this is where Pokémon Trading Card Game Online can save the day. If you have always been a fan of RPG, but have never really been exposed to the original card games, then this is the perfect way to enter a whole new way to capture them.

This is another game with a long history, but it just makes the current version more refined and streamlined. This is the first online Pokémon trading card game launched from Japan in 2011, but it is still being updated and expanded to this day. Similarly, like most deck games, the game itself can be entered and started freely, but all content in the game can be obtained through in-game currency. Every card released after Heart Gold and Soul Silver is in the game, which means that if you are a completer or looking for that special Pokémon, there is a lot of work to do. With a large number of modes, such as tutorials, trainer challenges, battles, events and friend battles, as well as challenges and login rewards, there are many ways to expand your deck. You can even trade with other players, but not all cards can be traded. This is really the entire Pokémon deck building experience.

Of all the genres mixed together, no one thinks that single-player games and carmine will go hand in hand with deck builders. It is even more unlikely that combining these different elements together will produce any good game. Somehow, the developer Megacrit proved that this formula not only works, but can also make one of the most addictive and fun deck games ever. Slay the Spire took a long time to solve these problems in Early Access, but it was immediately recognized by players and critics after its release in 2019 because of how unique and perfect its spin on card games and roguelite is. It runs counter to the trend of most other games on this list, but it works better. The art may be a little lacking, but everything else is as beautiful as this game.

After selecting a starting class, only one is available, and until you unlock the remaining classes, you will get the standard starting deck of the character. Except for the card you started using, there will be no further steps every time​​. You will choose the path you want to walk along different routes for battles, shops, treasures and rest areas, leading to the ultimate boss of each behavior. Each enemy will accurately communicate what it intends to do, giving you all the information you need to decide how to best use your current hand. Winning the battle will provide you with a set of three random cards that you can add to your deck, as well as gold coins that can be used to buy more cards or remove cards. It may sound simple, but learning how to build a well-coordinated deck, how to deal with all the different enemies, plus getting the correct random environment to make it along the way is a real test of wisdom. It is indeed the epitome of the "Run Again" type of game.

Another roguelite deck builder on our list is similar to Slay the Spire, but very different. In Monster Train, you are in charge of the nominal train against the power of heaven. When enemy angels invade the train, you need to protect this trail and climb all the way to Pire, which is your overall health. The train is four stories high. Don’t ask what to do. You can put your units on the bottom three stories and try to stop the enemies before they reach the top and cause damage. However, unlike most traditional card games, if the enemy survives, they will still move up one level after the battle. Damage is still there (in most cases), so planning your floor is crucial.

You can choose from 6 clans, but you will choose a major and minor clan instead of one. Each clan has its own champions, special units, spells, and unique mechanics. Mixing and matching clans is part of the fun and gives you plenty of reasons to try it over and over again. The game itself is divided into different areas, and you will see two paths between each battle. Each path will give you a chance to get certain upgrades, such as shops, free coins, health, extra units, or random events. But you have to choose between what you want and what you need after each battle. In addition to trying to beat the run with all the different possible clan pairings, you will also unlock new cards, new running challenge modifiers, unique challenges, and even a very interesting speed running style asymmetric multiplayer game mode . Again, this is another way you will find yourself very addictive.

Well, maybe there is another genre combination besides Carmine, and it is even more surprising to write with the deck builder, and that is horror. It seems that card games cannot be scary, but the style and narrative of Inscryption is absolutely scary. This was made by the same person who provided us with Pony Island and The Hex, if this can give you an idea of ​​the type of game you are engaged in. Yes, this does mean that things will become a little bit meta, but we will not destroy any of them. You play a real role, play a card game in a dark and dull hut, and assemble an animal as the unit of this game version. You need to manage these units while trying to find a way to escape. When not playing cards, you are free to explore this disturbing cabin environment, trying to solve many mysteries and mysteries to escape. However, you do not intend to do all the work at once, what you learn and unlock by winning card games and exploring is the way you progress in Inscryption.

But let's talk about the card game aspect. This is another single player game where you will fight a character that is almost unrecognizable in the dark. It is a bit like the DM of a game. It takes place on the board. There are different spaces on the board and different effects. It is a bit similar to the path in Slay the Spire. When the battle really breaks out, you will play cards on a 4×3 grid. Your winning condition is to cause enough damage to your opponent, which is indicated by the scale on the table. Likewise, the simplicity of the mechanics will only lead you into the true depth of the game. If you are looking for something slightly different or possibly many different from a typical deck builder, Inscryption is the kind of experience that will catch you and threaten to never let go.

Just like Blizzard used their Warcraft IP to make Hearthstone, Riot also used their popular MOBA IP in League of Legends to make "Legend of Runeterra." After another long testing period, this deck will be fully released in 2020. However, unlike "Heartstone" or "Runeland", "Legend" or "Runeland" is intended to be more faithful to the original IP, rather than more setting and nodding there. The MOBA heroes you can play here are to make them feel like they did in that game, and it's almost comprehensive. Just like League of Legends, this is a free-to-play style game designed for one-on-one matches. From a mechanical point of view, if you have played Magic or any other PvP-focused card game, you will immediately master the rules of the game.

The cards in "Legend of Runeterra" are divided into three types: champion, spell and follower. As you would expect, cards have mana consumption, but there is a nice little problem, that is, up to 3 mana can be stored from one round to the next, although they can only be used for spell cards. In order to make the game run faster, there is no form of summoning diseases like Magic, which means that you can summon and attack immediately with impunity in the same round. However, to balance this, every player has a chance to counterattack when the opponent plays the card, so even in the opponent's turn, you will always participate. There are already hundreds of cards, and new cards change metadata and balance as fast as League of Legends. What's really great is that there are no loot boxes or other shady microtransactions. If you want a specific card, you can earn it by playing games, or you can buy it directly at a reasonable price.

Build the deck, set it in a fantasy world full of charming but appearance characters, and then add the RPG mechanism, and you will begin to understand what Griftlands is. This card game is not roguelike like Slay the Spire or Monster Train, but it does have some elements of this type. Instead, there is a more powerful narrative instead of focusing on a highly random "running" game. You will indeed choose a character and conduct a limited-time battle, which means you can only do a lot of things, such as side missions and exploration, which will inspire you to go back and watch different events again. If you like the character building and skill feel in CRPG, then Griftlands can add some extra flavor to it.

The real meat of the game naturally lies in the cards. But in Griftlands you don't only have one ordinary deck, but two. A deck of cards you build is made for combat, and you can fill it with the typical attacks, defenses, healings, and cards you usually expect. At least in our opinion, another deck of cards is more interesting. This deck is for conversation. Griftlands has an almost completely different card game that revolves around arguing and speaking through various situations. This type of "battle" has its own system of setting cards, for example, your core arguments behave more like servants' arguments. You need to break through the enemy's rhetorical defenses, while strengthening your own defenses, ultimately consuming the "health" of their core arguments and winning arguments. Being able to choose between killing everyone you meet or persuading them to help you will only make this already diverse game even more exciting, to be played in a completely different way.

Some games are great in their own right, but they are almost overshadowed by some just for distraction or mini-games in a larger experience. I thought of the Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VII, and this very popular game, which brought the standalone version to life, Gwent. When people started playing the card game in "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt", it became an obsession for deck lovers. For some people, collecting all the Gwent cards and defeating every character you can fight against becomes the main task of the game. CD Projekt Red wanted to capitalize on the success of the game, but it made sense to expand it in its own independent release. Gwent: The Witcher Card Game was launched in 2018 and has many new features.

The original Gwent was not balanced. The rules are reliable, but these cards are obviously not used against other human players. Therefore, when Gwent: The Witcher Card Game appears, it must basically start with card design. The game is divided into three rounds, the first to win two rounds is the winner. The decks are based on different factions in the Wizarding World, such as Monsters, Novigrad, and Squirrels. There is no mana system, but the game is more about knowing when to use strong cards and when to keep them for the next round, because you start with a hand that you can play in all three rounds (with some exceptions) certainly). This deck game feels like a perfect combination of fast-playing Magic, but it also incorporates some chess and poker psychological strategies. It can play almost all games for free, so it is easy to try, fans of wizard games or not.

The last on our list, but by no means the least important, is the game that is the original deck building game Dominion. As the basic inspiration for all card games to move forward, Dominion is an excellent game for anyone who is interested in the genre but is worried about being overwhelmed by the rules, hundreds of cards and such exquisite metadata and has no room for experimentation. choose. In the game, you play as the ruler of a kingdom, who is trying to expand his influence on this land. You can do this by occupying land before your opponents, stealing land through battle, and upgrading your own land and buildings. When there is no more land to take over, the game is over. The player with the most victory points is the winner and can play with two to four people.

Each round is divided into four parts. First, you can play an action card, second, buy a card if you have any treasure cards in your hand, then you discard all the cards you played, and finally you draw cards at the end of your turn instead of at the beginning. The turn is fast and you can easily figure out what you should do at any time in the game. The cards you start with are simple, but as the game progresses you buy better cards, the complexity starts to increase, and there are opportunities to start to hinder your opponent. You can start the game with a basic deck of cards, allowing you and anyone playing with you to easily enter the system, but when you master this very easy-to-read deck, you can add a lot of expansion packs to increase the fun-builder . You don't need to remember many things, and because it is very suitable for beginners, there are always many people willing to play for fun.

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