f13.net

The folks over at Worlds Apart (http://www.worlds-apart.com/) have recently placed their new Online CCG Anachronism Online (http://www.anachronismonline.com/) into beta.

I decided to check it out as I know the folks over at Worlds Apart, but I'm not a CCG guy by any means. After fiddling around with it for maybe 5 minutes, reading the Tips dialog boxes and creating a simple deck (1 hero and 4 support cards), I engaged in a match with another player.

The gameplay involves placing your hero on a 5x5 grid and moving him around/against your opponents hero. Your support cards are unlocked each round (you can place them in a specific order), so you only have access to 1 support card the first round, and then 2 the second round, etc. Just like Magic or what have you, your cards can grant you special abilities or certain types of attacks or heals or what have you. With each round you have a certain number of moves which can be an attack, an actual movement, or activation of one of your support cards (the number of moves you can have seems to increase as the rounds go on).

It was actually pretty fun. I like the idea that it's a) simple, only 5 cards - not some massive deck (I'm very daunted by the idea of creating a deck in a game like Magic), b) the grid plays a role in where your hero's best attacks are and where 'allied' cards can come into play, and c) the games aren't long. The 2 games that I played were only maybe 8 minutes long, but enjoyable.

If anyone is looking for a slower paced game they can do on a not-so-hot computer (ie: at work with no good 3D card) this might be worth checking out.

Edit: for accuracy

Seems slightly tactical. Must check out when I get home. I enjoy the AA ccg for a bit, unfortunately I've no interest in cars or broken cars. And Magic I need to stay away from until I get more cash flow. Betas are nice. Thanks for the heads up.

I had to quit Magic because of how much money one can spend. When I got my year-end report for the CC I used for MTG:O, the amount of cash I essentially wasted was staggering.