Sorry if this review isn’t as long as usual. I was almost finished with it when my browser crashed and I lost it all. Oh well. Also, I’d like to apologize for not being able to post last week, as I was pretty busy and didn’t have the time.
Anyways, this week I am reviewing Card Master Conflict (CMC). CMC is an online trading card game, much akin to games such as Yu-gi-oh or Magic: The Gathering. Players work to earn points to create decks, and then use them against other players’ decks to win games.
There are several layers of strategy to the game. First is the deckbuilding. Players can gain cards in a variety of ways:
- All players get a starter deck when they join.
- You can purchase packs with random cards using points earned from playing the game.
- You can purchase individual cards from other players with the same points.
- You can use voucher codes found on the blog, in puzzles, and in the game creator’s webcomics.
- You can donate for some cards as well.
Deckbuilding is a large part of the game, as your deck determines almost entirely about how successful you will be. Going through your cards and finding new combos of cards that will work together well together well not being common and expected and be a great deal of fun in itself, although it can take a lot of testing to figure out what works well. Gameplay is similar to the TCG “Magic: The Gathering”. There is even a guide on the wiki on the differences between the two games for new players. CMC is quite easy to pick up, with several main elements:
- Three elements, Light/Dark/Gray. Players earn one mana of each element per turn, which is increased by generator cards.
- Monster cards. You can play up to 5 of them at a time, and they each have an Attack and a Life value. Monsters may attack either the player or other monster cards. During fights between monsters both monsters lose the attack value of the other monster to their life. When they have 0 or less life, they are destroyed.
- Effects. Mostly buildings and such. A player can have 5 of them at a time, and they do different things from upping mana generation to exploding monsters.
- Spells. Played directly from the hand at any time.
The strategy required to make good choices during a battle makes each battle fun and the randomness of drawing and the differences between other player’s decks makes each game different and overall makes CMC very replayable. Although it can be intimidating as a new player playing against others with 1000+ wins under their belts, eventually you will get used to it and be able to play well enough to win. CMC is a great way to kill time, and most of the battles are relatively short.
The only issues I’ve had with it are the lack of players in recent times. It can take a lot of waiting in the lobby to find another player, although if you use the link to the CMC IRC channel chat you will likely have more luck.
Anyways, have fun, and I’ll see you all next week!
