HEART of CROWN Online Steam Charts & Stats

Must play for any deckbuilder enjoyer, and well suited for anyone who can appreciate highly replayable and tactical 20 minute card games with a deceptively cute theme of imperial politics. Heart of Crown Online is one of the best digital implementations I've played of a board game. The interface is snappy with the right amount of animation and aural flair keeping it neither too dry nor too overbearing. Further commendable is how accessible game state information is, from going over every player's decks, discards and domains to complete public market data and turn log at either a glance on hover or in one click. However, there is a mild learning curve since there's no undo button, like Dire Wolf games have, even if no new information is revealed. It's unclear if it's intended to be this way forever, but most every click is a commitment. Expect some ruined games as you fumble both through esoteric interactions that aren't explicit even in the native Japanese card text (e.g., cost changing mechanics) and some punishing UI elements such as not being able to change Ethereal Deals before you finalize your nomination. There have been notable updates to make the UI friendlier, but there's still considerable room for improvement. This adaptation of Heart of Crown was apparently in rough shape when it came out in Early Access a year ago and it took the following summer to make big strides. I only got this in the autumn sale, but I was impressed by both the thoughtful changes and consistent dev communication on an almost weekly basis. I've spoken with IRL gamers who dropped this digital version when it was half-baked, though I think most should be satisfied where it's at now aside from the single player Noble Mode I can't comment on since it just released — I'm actually surprised it's still in Early Access. I got 200 hours into this before I slowed down as supplies started to feel too similar and I could comfortably predict how games would unfold based on the first three turns. It's welcome news, then, that FLIPFLOPs intend to iterate new expansions like Northern Enchantress 2E on here while illuCalab. add fun features like single player. So long live the queen. The real queen.