PHAGEBORN: Online Card Game Reviews

Alright, I thought a CCG using a Buy once, unlock cards by playing would be fun. Plus, I was interested in the 2v2 option... Unfortunately, the game fails miserably in its current state. First the opening cinematic had messed up sound, fine whatever, its beta, but still doesn't leave a good first impression when your fancy opening cinematic blows out my speakers with static. Second, the Tutorial just black screened, and then crashed the game on me without so much as an error message. Third, realized the only way to play is queue PvP in casual mode. There's no AI to play against to learn the game, a big downer since the tutorial didn't work. Fourth, the queue went for a minute before I gave up, no way I'm going to wait that long each time I want to play a casual game. Finally, noticed that to play 2v2, I HAVE to invite a friend... no solo queing for 2v2... So game still lacks pretty much everything that peaked my interest, so refunding. Maybe I'll come try it again when they get out of beta... don't get your hopes up though... terrible first impression for me.

The game is ok, still has things to add. The only negative thing I have to say is that at day somehow, the game for me gets stuck at the second loading screen after you press "Continue". It stays there and the only thing I can do is exit (last time waited an hour and nothing to Alt+f4). Can only manage to get to the other screen at night. Fix that and you'll have a loyal costumer.

this is a really polished early access game. i'd say it's better than most non-early-access card games i've played in the past year (looking at you lotr!). anyway, i've just played a few non-ranked battles (and a few during beta) and i like the game, i'm gonna stay and i hope others will too. here's why: 1) the strategy/tactics elements are not simplistic, it's not easy to forge a clear path to victory even with good cards 2) not just cards but also positioning and many other things need to be considered (what to choose when leveling up, when to use the avatars power etc), its not just draw cards and in 99% of cases just use them if you can, which is what i dislike in some games where that really is the best strategy (and then they become all about the meta and deckbuilding and the entire tactics becomes draw and play). 3) because of 1 and 2 when you lose it's because you didn't think hard enough and not some rng thing. 4) it seems very balanced. i'm gonna continue playing. for the devs, the things i personally would like in the future: 1) emoting to the opponent (an 'oops' and a 'wow' would be nice, they happen most often in these games) 2) little ui things like: i (obviously) always want to read the card i drew before i choose how to level up, and i keep clicking "hide" on the level up bar, checking the cards and then clicking "show", it would be easier if i didnt have to, and if i can somehow see my cards even while the level up screen is on.

Guys this is such a smart and complex game I cannot believe it, I was blown away, since I purchased it I only play a couple of games of Legends of Runterra and Hearthstone and then I get back to it to unlock some more cards. At first for a couple of games you will not understand everything that is going on (maybe a better tutorial would have been appropriated), but then it clicks and the game becomes so interesting. I hope more people will join soon and the ranked ladder starts. It's the first game that makes me want to stream it just to explain it and attract people in order to have a larger player base :-)

A promising new entry to the digital card game scene. The core mechanics of a deep and interesting card game are in there, but a lot of polish is still missing. Since the game has just entered EA, hopefully the shortcomings will be addressed before full release. [b]Pros[/b] * Good strategic depth and a compelling combination of new and familiar CCG mechanics. * No packs or other paid unlocks - for any serious CCG player the once time purchase cost is going to be way less than the cost of cards/packs in other CCGs. * Great card art. [b]Cons[/b] * Music and sound effects need a lot of work - a lot of things don't have sound effects at all yet. * Overall pace of most actions feels a little slow - attack/death/spawn animations should definitely be sped up. * Deck builder is a bit cumbersome - currently you can't filter out unowned cards or show only legendaries, for example. * Menus and in-game UI feel a bit cluttered and confusing at times.

Great game, awesome graphics and gameplay. Just love the world created and back story! Also really dig the audio! Highly recommend!

I want to recommend this. This game is a superior hearthstone, adding interesting twists to the system that make it far more interesting. And it's suppose to be a LCG model, which is the best model. It's definitely an interesting, even if not truly innovative, card game. I also haven't had real technical difficulties, though I seem to be one of the few that hasn't. I have been kicked off the server a few times during games, which was annoying, but it was around 3 times over 9 hours and mostly around the same time period. However, the game balance is terribly broken. One faction has such a massive design advantage, I dread playing them. As the mindflayer/cthulhu faction, it feels like a massive uphill fight EVERY time. And every one of the nature type faction plays the same way... because that one style is so over-powered. This faction has poison (called caustic), regen (which is only broken in two ways), and the ability to stop you from moving lanes. Regen itself is fine... except one of the characters they get gives their core (your ''life points'') regen 1... which means they can literally sit back the first 3 turns or so and take minimal to zero damage... while stockpiling their cards. Which would be fine IF it weren't for how their poison combos work. They also have a 8/8 8 drop... with regen 8. So it fully heals every turn. Which is made broken if they can get one additional card on it.. a card that makes it a 0/8.. with poison 8. AKA if it hits your core ONCE, you lose. Poison (called caustic) is what breaks the game. But really, all of the above would be mostly fine.. except that poison activates on THEIR turn, so they can drop poison on you during their turn and wipe your entire field before you can even draw. It gives them a tremendous amount of board control, especially if you have 1 or 2 health cards. They're completely worthless... and are in fact draw-fodder. Because if that board control wasn't enough, they are also the only faction with a reliable, and very powerful, draw engine. For every unit that dies to poison, they draw a card. And they can have up to two of these in a deck. And they're 3/3's, so they're not easy to kill if you can't kill them immediately. But, really, they won't be playing these unless they can guarantee at least one draw (which isn't hard). If they manage to pull two draws off of this, which also means two of your creatures died, coming back from that card disadvantage is just too much. Basically, you have to have FULL board control from the start and NEVER lose it. And considering their regen 1 + stock pile their hand and how powerful some of their cards are, it's a little ridiculous. They need to be looked at again or the other factions given options to deal with the card disadvantage.

While I was playing the meta was still evolving. The community as a whole was discovering new combinations every day. It was truly a joy to play : ). The developers were also balancing cards and decks out every week in response to the meta. The community and devs were all true lovers of the CCG genre and many in the community were hardened vets/experts with more than a decade of experience : ). The other thing I truly TRULY loved about this game was its B2P model. Anyone could craft any deck while only spending $14.99. No need to spend $500+ every single expansion. Rather than having a few people spending insane amounts of money carrying everyone else and a lopsided model in which only the big whales could craft the big decks, this company opted to have everyone carry the game equally so that nobody would have to spend a large amount of money and everyone could have equal access to the most expensive of decks ^)^. Thank you for the amazing game and fair monetization : D. I hope other CCGs make a move to this model as while I love CCGs, I don't play many of them because they are one of the most expensive games to play competitively :'(.

I liked it, I bought it, I played it, I won my first battle, I queued again, waited 10 minutes, checked steam charts, only 14 people playing this month, refunded.

I haven't played that much yet, but I really like what they have going with the two lanes. Also, I really appreciate the transparency around the pricing and unlocking of content. It's great that there are developers who think about how to combat pay-2-win and include that in their work. The Public Beta was also a really great move by the developers, so that you get to try out if you like the design and ideas before you need to decide if you'll be spending money on it - I surely did. The 2v2 is a great addition to the genre as well. Yes, it's not super polished and there are still queues for PvP, but this is a first game by the studio, so you gotta cut them some slack for an online title even to be working. The Early Access roadmap looks great and I have my hopes up for this team and game to be great.