TUAW's Daily App: Shadow Era

You get a free deck with one hero after signing up. I picked the human warrior who can wield two weapons, only to later learn weapons aren't in the game yet (neither is armor). Ugh. Well one of the AI shadow opponents has a weapon card (which hits for one hp at a shot) in its deck, not sure if shadow players can buy it.

Fortunately you can buy a new deck with 100 shadow crystals after you level up 5 times (you earn 20 crystals per level) and this isn't difficult to do. Or you can buy shadow crystals as an in-app purchase but this is not required. As some already said, you can spend time or money, your call. Leveling will slow down after level 5 though, it requires more exp to level as you grow up.

Cards can also be purchased as singles using coins you earn for winning a game. You can sell cards for coins too. I saw someone suggest you buy a deck for 100 crystals and then sell off most of the cards to buy the singles you want. You don't sell to other players so this is a quick and painless process. Good idea.

This game will be improved and more interesting after weapons and armor are added. It will still be a watered down Magic the Gathering though, players can't interact, you have nothing to do during your opponent's turn. Maybe this will be added later?

Tip: The Mage deck seems unfair after you remove the suboptimal cards and add some human warriors and fireballs. I like the female Mage hero the best.

I tried playing this game, but it's nowhere near ready for prime time. I started by picking a Hunter, and I picked an ability that sounded interesting: "Gwenneth Truesight does double damage with a bow against exhausted opponents." Of course, after losing horribly twice in a row against the enemy, I go to their web site and find out the truth:
Bows do not exist yet.
In short, this game was rolled out way too early.

As a former Magic the Gathering Artist this may present some new opportunities for free lance work. I'll have to contact the company and find out if they would be interested in working with some of my fellow MTG artists (Dan Frazier, Doug Shuler, Monte Moore). It might be interesting to see how we can enhance the value of the in-app collectible cards with limited edition, autographed art prints or some such.

Any players out there with suggestions?

www.angryandusstudios.com for my site
www.danfrazier.com for Dan's site

In truth, this is more like the WoW TCG than Magic The Gathering, just saying

With few cards and computer automated rules, it's about as newbie friendly as CCG's get.


Gameplay is simplified, eliminating steps that would require your opponent to respond during your turn.

This means no blocking, instants or interrupts... which translates to much faster gameplay as you take your entire turn without interruption.


Card prices are accessible, and you have the option of spending time or money to get them.

I've been playing Shadow Era for about just over a week now and lost count of the number of hours I've spent playing it.

Though it is quite a bit more complex that other iOS CCG's (which I have found to be extremely basic) it isn't as complex as MTG (Magic The Gathering). I would put it as somewhere in the middle. You can easily pick up the rules just by playing a few games against the AI opponents, get used to your deck and work out which card combinations work best before playing against an online opponent.

Playing online is the only negative thing I have to say about this game, playing other random opponents is fine but it would be nice to be able to battle against someone that you know if they are online at that time, or send them a game invite. The option may be there but I haven't seen it.

Wowwww awesome, thanks so much TUAW!

We have many players who say that Shadow Era is their first CCG and they are loving it, so I think it is fairly friendly to newbies if you give it a chance :)