[PAX Prime 2012] Card Hunter

[Lekon]

We're no strangers to Blue Manchu games here at Colony of Gamers. I was lucky enough to have an interview with them a few months back, seen here, in which they told us all about their upcoming awesome idea for a game, named Card Hunter. A mix of all the best of board games, computer games, and collectible card games. Now, finally at PAX, we had a chance to play Card Hunter and see everything in motion.

Little touches like the left over dice really help set the atmosphere.

At the Card Hunter booth, the team let me go in completely blind, on a set of missions to first take out a few monsters (and get a few tutorial tips) followed by a quest to take down a large dragon named Greenfang. Right at the first screen though, you could see just how many little touches were added to make it feel like you were sitting down at a table with friends. Cheese snacks in a bowl by the login screen, module packets for adventure descriptions, dice and pencils outside of the play area. All small touches, and all were helped along by your Dungeonmaster, Gary. Through the Tutorial fight, Gary would pop in wearing his cape and describing what was going in with quite a bit of enthusiasm, talking about the dragon crunching bones as it walked, or the glittering pile of treasure in the huge chest. After the first fight, I was already starting to snicker at how often Gary would get excited at the battles, Blue Machu has really nailed the style of an excitable DM.

Greenfang Approaches!

In combat, Card Hunter really shows off what a good UI can do. Not once was I fighting the UI, or trying to figure out what I could do. Each turn has you play one card, followed by the DM playing one card (Or in some cases moving two smaller enemies). Each of your three characters start with five cards, that allow them to move, attack, or do various special moves. A big chunk of the strategy comes in when you realize that neither you or Gary re-draw cards until you both have passed a turn together. moreover, field effects (Such as the acid puddles seen in the picture above) don't deal their effects until a draw phase. This gives you plenty of time to get out of trouble... unless you're out of move cards anyways.

Turns went quickly, and playing cards was as simple as a mouse click, then clicking where you wanted it to happen. Movement cards brought up arrows to show where you could step, while any card that attacked (or healed) showed little cross hairs on every valid target. Defense cards were used automatically whenever damage was taken, with a six sided die appearing and rolling, showing you your result before putting the card back in your hand (or discard if it became broken). When I took Greenfang down, it was through some luck, and some hoarding of attack cards until he ran low one turn, allowing me to pile on the magic missiles and piercing attacks, breaking through that nasty armor. As a comical note, Green Fang's Treasure for PAX was a chest containing... a T-shirt. Ghostbear's chest had a small set of dice from Gary's stash. A nice touch for a convention prize.

Equipment! Loot! Mildly happy donkey!

After slaying the evil dragon, Jon Chey was able to walk me through how deck building works. When you make your party, you'll choose three characters, each character will be a Human, Dwarf, or Elf, as well as a Fighter, Mage, or Cleric. (Rogues are hoped to be added soon, but no promises on timetable). Each class/race will have access to different equipment, and therein is your way of making a deck. Each piece of equipment has a set of cards with it, based on its quality, type, etc. A greatsword will have heavy, piercing hits, and maybe a downside card that slows your blocking. A wand will have some missile and explosion spells, while armor or shields will have different ways of blocking. If you choose not to equip a slot, you'll simply receive some very weak attack or movement cards, so it's much smarter to fully equip your party members.

As you can see in the image above, the game makes it easy to see just what your character's entire deck is, and mousing over any of the cards would highlight the piece of equipment they were bound to. Seriously, the interface was really well made, incredibly easy to figure out just how to kit out your characters, and what kits would be best for them. As your crew levels up, they gain talents, which allow them more options for equipment, be it higher level materials, or an extra slot or two for your favorite toys. (The picture above doesn't show all of the item slots for characters, there were several more places to put equipment at the PAX build.)

Not shown: The other two thirds of this map

The game runs in a browser window, and looked ready for release at the show. I know it's far off, but already the Blue Manchu crew has an awesome game on their hands. The version of the map screen at PAX looked like the image above... just with about three times as many dungeon areas. The little tavern you can see let you hire out new party members, while the shop bought and sold items for gold. There will be a pay model in place later, though they can't yet discuss just what will be pay for vs what will be free. What I can say is their currency is unique. In game currency from quests and loot is shown in gold pieces. Currency you've bought with real money is shown in pizza slices you use to bribe Gary with.

Before leaving I was able to give the PVP a try. I'm happy to say it was just as fun as the questing. You and your enemy face off with teams of your choice, doing battle with the same rules as the quests. Games were quick, violent, and filled with lots of cursing of each other for playing cards at just the right time. I should note that Co-Op play in the quests is not yet in the game, but has been mentioned as on the to-do list, and after PAX they received a flood of requests for Co Op play, so it's a good bet it'll be in as soon as possible.

In closing, you'll likely be seeing a ton of good press over Card Hunter. All of this press is well deserved. The game really felt like I was setting up a game of Talisman or Hero Quest with friends, just without all the clean up and cheese dust stains. Beta is scheduled for "Soon" and as soon as there is more info, expect us to be happily reporting on Card Hunter's progress. I'm glad to say that Card Hunter was one of my highlights of PAX 2012.

[Ink Asylum]

I really hope they get co-op into this game ASAP, especially after spending the past week playing Conclave online with fellow Coggers.

[Ghostbear]

This might be my favorite game of the show, it's warring with Minion Master and Torchlight 2.

[Lekon]

Originally Posted by Ghostbear

This might be my favorite game of the show, it's warring with Minion Master and Torchlight 2.

Seriously. You guys should have seen the smile on Ghostbear's face.

[Ghostbear]

Was I? I dunno, I was busy (barely) killing a dragon.

[Ink Asylum]

I could definitely see myself buying a lot of DLC for this game, especially if it has co-op. Quest packs, character classes, etc.

[Ravenlock]

Originally Posted by Ghostbear

This might be my favorite game of the show, it's warring with Minion Master and Torchlight 2.

That's awesome to hear. I'm now putting this near the top of my list.