Card Hunter is a web-based card game that has very, very strong ties to D&D and fantasy role playing. If you want to check it out, just head over to their web site and have a look around – the game will play out of a modern web browser. Optionally, if you use Steam, it is can be added to your Steam account and involves a ~200mb download and you get Steam achievements and updates.
The game is actually kind of nice in the sense that it wants you to play a little bit each day, with dungeons and encounters awarding less each time you return to them – it encourages you to come back the next day after the 20-some-odd-hour play timer has reset. The game is a grinder, to be sure, but it also doesn’t demand overly much of your time.
The challenge of the game appears to be simple risk management. I pressed into a difficulty level 2 tomb with my 1st and two 2nd level characters and came close to losing a character. I elected to back out and will go back through the starter dungeons in order to get my 1st level character caught up.
When you are playing, you are encouraged to subscribe by each treasure chest opened offering two treasures to anyone, and a third treasure to subscribers. Seems fair enough to me – 33% more loot for supporting the game does not seem excessive. At the end of a month, who is going to be better geared? Probably the paying customer.
The art work in the game often time reminds me of some of Erol Otis’s classic stuff and that is very high praise indeed. The game itself plays nothing like D&D, but the vibe is faithful to OD&D and it is well worth a look.
As far as the game goes, I’ve scantly explored it, only having a group of three 1st to 2nd level characters. It seems very gear dependent which is understandable as different pieces of loot provide different cards for you to utilize. It can be played cooperatively online, too.
Anyhow, if you like casual card games and D&D, take a peek!
