CCG Special: By The Numbers

[admin]

Welcome to By the Numbers, a (hopefully) ongoing series where I highlight mobile games and some of the interesting numbers behind them. This edition is all about collectable-card and deck-building games.

http://www.pockettactics.com/news/ccg-s ... e-numbers/

[EICJoe]

Hey guys - this is another experiment of mine. Nick originally approached me to work on PT with this article style as his pitch, which is something that I think could be interesting if worked on properly. Might be a way to still deliver news to you guys without having to get into the grind, and act as a counter-weight to Tof's releases post on Fridays.

Let us know your thoughts - I asked him to do a CCG one given our recent themed week (and my belief that it will be a good additional area to write things about), but this could take on any theme, provided the numbers are interesting.

You'll also see Nick doing reviews (he's already done Oz and Callasia).

[marcnelsonjr]

Would you say the problem with Magic Duels is the implementation or is it MTG itself?

Also, thanks for the heads-up on Cards and Castles!

[biffpow]

I really like this--nice approach, Nick, and really good choice of games too. Between these and Callasia, you're single-handedly building my Want-to-Play list for apps right now!

Apart from the survey of varied takes on mobile CCG happening right now, it was quite interesting to see the numbers/dollars comparison. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if there had been a little deeper comparison about how much $ vs. time a player would generally need to spend in order to get to a high level. Just estimates, obviously, but that might have been enlightening.

I'm already looking forward to the next one in the series, Joe.

[NICKVIGDAHL]

Would you say the problem with Magic Duels is the implementation or is it MTG itself?

Also, thanks for the heads-up on Cards and Castles!

I could do a whole series of articles on this topic alone (I wrote about Magic for five years and frequently rant about their digital offerings). Short answer: both. Magic is tough to transition to a digital game. The stack and priority passing alone is a nightmare. That said, I think Duels is a bland implementation of the game. Wizards new CEO was supposedly brought in with digital and egames in mind, so we'll see what comes of that.

RE: Cards and Castles, you're welcome! I had to stop playing that game...I felt the pull too strongly and can't get 100% sucked into a CCG right now!

[MrGohl]

I enjoyed the article as well. It is interesting to compare the revenue generated by the different CCGS. I'm going to check out Cards and Castles now, too, thanks!

Don't forget about Faeria, also coming to mobile soon.

Regarding Ascension, I've got a question for the veterans out there. I played a lot of Dominion and was excited when Ascension first appeared. I was initially a little disconcerted by how the common card offerings were replaced by new random cards. In Dominion, you had a set "kingdom" of 10 cards per game, which varied from game to game. I felt like it was harder to create a game plan or strategy when the cards offered were constantly shifting. It seemed I was just buying the "best" card available at the time, rather than trying to build around synergies. It seemed you could grab a card that could interact with another set of cards, but had no guarantee you would ever be offered that "tribe" again. Was anyone else put off by this, initially?

I think its probably a great game, and I've bought all the expansions, but just never really played it enough because of that hang-up. Is there more deep strategy than it first appears to me? Or is it more like drafting the best card available at every turn in the game? Is there enough "synergy" offered during each game?

Thanks!

[NICKVIGDAHL]

I really like this--nice approach, Nick, and really good choice of games too. Between these and Callasia, you're single-handedly building my Want-to-Play list for apps right now!

Apart from the survey of varied takes on mobile CCG happening right now, it was quite interesting to see the numbers/dollars comparison. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if there had been a little deeper comparison about how much $ vs. time a player would generally need to spend in order to get to a high level. Just estimates, obviously, but that might have been enlightening.

I'm already looking forward to the next one in the series, Joe.

Thanks much! I've got my first 5-star review coming up, so look for that soon.

As for $ vs. time, that'd certainly be interesting. Not sure if I have the $s or time to do the comparison though!

[Mirefox]

I've been a big player/collector of Magic for close to two decades now. I played many games nearly every day while in college with my roommates, and we still make a point of getting together a few times a year to play some Magic, though these days we aren't making decks, just buying a theme deck and duking it out. I love the idea of CCGs, I love even more the idea of LCGs, and my biggest barrier to entry is the money involved, which, thankfully, digital has helped with. Without giving any reviews or insights (because I've done it enough in other threads) I'd like to throw Pokemon TCG, Earthcore, Card City Nights, and Lost Portal into the mix of games to look at.

[dhgwilliam]

I also really appreciate this post, I'm addicted to digital CCGs at the moment (although I'm trying to focus on just a few, it's hard because people keep releasing new ones!).

I'm curious about C&C... Just a quick survey of it leads me to wonder what it offers (in your opinion) over other tactical CCGs like Faeria or Duelyst (besides being available on mobile)? The reviews on Steam are ... fairly scathing :-/

Thanks again for the post and the comments!

[Mirefox]

@MrGohl

There are essentially two styles of deckbuilders out there, and the two you listed are kind of the paragons of each. You either have the Dominion model with set piles in the middle or the Ascension style with a row of random cards that are bought then replaced. I think your view of either design depends on which you became familiar with at first. I, like you, played plenty of Dominion before discovering Ascension and, like you, I was a bit unsure about the randomness of the available cards and how that changed my strategies. I quickly grew out of my trepidation, though, and fully embrace both models as there are quite a few great deckbuilders in both.