Card Hunter
Card Hunter | |
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Developer(s) | Blue Manchu |
Publisher(s) | Blue Manchu |
Designer(s) | Jon Chey, Joe McDonagh, Dorian Hart |
Artist(s) | Ben Lee |
Writer(s) | Joe McDonagh |
Engine | Adobe Flash |
Release date(s) | September 12, 2013 |
Genre(s) | Tactical CCG and tabletop game hybrid |
Card Hunter is a browser-based Flash game that combines elements of a collectible card game with a table-top board game.
The game is developed by Blue Manchu Games headed by, Irrational Games co-founder, Jon Chey. The development team also consists of other former Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios employees, as well as consultants who previously worked on Magic: The Gathering.
Beginning
Blue Manchu Games was formed by Chey after he left Irrational Games, which had been sold to 2K Games and re-branded as 2K Australia.[1] Chey formed Blue Manchu as a self-funded studio with the intention of creating games that interested him,[2] and had no provable mass appeal so it would be difficult to attract investors.[1] Work began in August 2010, and the game was developed in secret until being announced in July 2011.[3]
Team
The team working on Card Hunter began as a distributed organisation with Chey as the only full-time employee.[2] The Card Hunter team includes:[4]
- Jonathan Chey, Game Designer, Programmer
- Co-founder, Irrational Games
- Director of Development, BioShock
- Producer, System Shock 2
- Designer, Freedom Force
- Former employee of Looking Glass Studios
- Joe McDonagh, Game Designer, Writer
- Production Director, Peggle Studio Franchise Director, Popcap Games
- Creative Director, LucasArts
- Director of Creative Development, Irrational Games
- Co-recipient of GDC Best Writing Award, BioShock[5]
- Jarrad Woods (aka Farbs), Programmer
- Irrational Games
- Dorian Hart, Game Designer
- Irrational Games, Looking Glass Studios
- Ben Lee, Art Director
- Artist, Freedom Force
- Tess Snider, Programmer
- Trion Worlds, Imaginary Number Co.
- Jason Matlzen, Programmer, IT
- Origin Systems, NCSOFT, Trion Worlds
- Richard Garfield, Consultant
- Creator, Magic: The Gathering
- Skaff Elias
- Designer, Magic: The Gathering
- Founder, Magic: The Gathering Pro-Tour
Gameplay
Card Hunter is presented to the player as a gaming session with gamemaster Gary who is guiding the player through a tabletop role-playing game, using dungeon modules similar to those of Dungeons & Dragons which consist of 1 or more encounters.[6] Part of this fiction is Gary himself is still learning the ropes; at the start of the player's career, Gary is using his older brother Melvin's more powerful characters to demonstrate the core mechanics of the game, but later his brother takes these away, forcing Gary and the player to start anew.
The player generates a party of up to three characters; more characters can be recruited and swapped in and out between modules. Characters are selected by class, which determine equipment type they can use, and race, which grant special bonuses during combat. Each character has a deck of 36 cards which are determined by class, race, and their current equipment. Initially, the amount of equipment each character carries is limited, but as the characters gain experience points, they gain more equipment slots, expanding the abilities through new cards that enter their deck, allowing players to customize their characters. Equipment can only be swapped out between modules, and various stores, with both normal stock and time-limited exclusives, can be used to buy and sell equipment and treasure at this time. Card Hunter has a microtransaction ability to spend real-world money as to gain access to better loot from the end of encounters or to open prize chests that contain random equipment. As such, the game is considered to combine the collectable card aspects of Magic the Gathering with the role-player concepts of Dungeons & Dragons.[7][8]
Once ready, the player selects one of the available modules in the campaign that they have access to, including revisiting completed modules. Modules are given difficulty levels, with more difficult modules having more combat encounters but also having more powerful randomly determined loot to be collected at the end of each encounter and more experience awarded at the end of the module.
Each encounter is played out on a rectangular game board typical of a tabletop game, with the player's and Gary's characters represented as stand-up game pieces. At the start, each character is dealt four cards from their shuffled deck, along with any bonus cards granted by race. The player and Gary take turns playing one card from any of their controlled characters, which allow the character to move, attack, or cast spells; these actions take into account the layout of the gameboard, such as line-of-sight and rough terrain that slows movement. Other cards are passive, such as cards that may block attacks. Cards may provide other effects, such as buffs or persistent effects. Once a card is played, it generally returns to a discard pile, though passive cards are retained. The player or Gary may pass instead of playing a card or have run out of cards; the round continues until both the player and Gary have both passed. At this point a new round is started; if a character holds more than two cards, they must discard down to two, and then each character is dealt four new cards from their deck, reshuffled from the discard pile as needed. Combat continues until either side earns enough victory points to win. Victory points are awarded typically when an enemy character is defeated, but other victory conditions can exist.
In addition to the single player campaign, there is a player-vs-player mode, where players take their current characters or preset characters sets into battle against each other.
Monetisation
The game is supported by microtransactions provided by buying a separate in-game currency called "pizza" for real money.[6] The pizza can be used to purchase new cutouts, which change the cosmetic look of your character, chests which contain random items or gold. A subscription model is also available, where players can spend pizza to join the "Card Hunters Club", membership to which grants an additional loot item after each battle.[6]
Recognition
Jerry Holkins (Tycho) of Penny Arcade selected Card Hunter as his favourite game of PAX 2012.[9]
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Alec Meer (2011-07-20). "Card Hunter: Irrational Co-Founder Goes Solo". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Making The Games He Wants To Make: The Jon Chey Interview". Gamasutra. 2011-07-19. p. 2.
- ↑ Leigh Harris (2011-07-20). "Irrational founder creates new Aussie dev". MCV.
- ↑ "Team". Card Hunter.
- ↑ Tor Thorsen, Brendan Sinclair (208-02-20). "Portal BioShocks GDC Awards". GameSpot. Check date values in:
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(help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Ben Kuchera (2013-05-10). "Card Hunter closed beta hands on: Classic D&D filtered through a card game, and it’s amazing". PA Report.
- ↑ Michael McWhertor (2012-09-03). "'Card Hunter' is a collectible card game for the loot-minded RPG fan". Polygon.
- ↑ Andrew Webster (2013-08-06). "'Card Hunter' is the next great board game, and it's all in your browser". The Verge.
- ↑ Tycho Brahe (2012-09-03). "Friction". Penny Arcade.