[PC Game] Scrolls, a CCG from the creators of Minecraft

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Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Super Edit: If you play this game, join channel Halforums whenever you're on to help find other halforumites.


Scrolls is my latest addiction. I had heard about it briefly back when Bethesda was attempting to sue Mojang over copyright infringement for calling their game Scrolls (which clearly everyone would confuse with Elder Scrolls, obviously) but it fell off my radar after that.

Scrolls is a digital CCG that combines cards and resource management with a hex-grid board. It's now in open beta, and so far I'm in love with it. I've managed to stay away from CCG games all my life, and now I know why as I've spent hours already building decks and playing games online.

The game is currently $20 (which also gets you access to the beta) and while it does support micro transactions, as far as I can tell there's no way to buy power. Microtransactions seem to be mostly for aesthetic stuff, new avatars and the like. You do start the game with one of three preconstructed decks, and you can use real money (roughly $5) to unlock the other two decks right from the start, but these decks can just as easily be purchased with in game currency that you get just by playing. The rare cards, gotten through booster packs, can ONLY be purchased with in game currency, so there's no way some kid with his daddy's credit card can buy his way into an unbeatable deck.

After a few hours of playing, I had decided which deck type I wanted to play (there are three, Order, Growth and Energy) and had purchased some booster packs with my in-game winnings. I got a couple of awesome rare cards, but unfortunately they were not of the deck type I was constructing. Thankfully, the game fully supports trading, and in no time I was able to find people that had the cards I wanted and offer up trades with them.

Here's a video showing the game being played.



The object of the game is to destroy three of the five idols on your opponent's side of the board.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Ooh! I've been wanting to look into this. I had no idea it was in beta! I know what I'm doing tonight when I get home!
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Dave said:
Ooh! I've been wanting to look into this. I had no idea it was in beta! I know what I'm doing tonight when I get home!
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As far as I know, the only way into the beta is to actually buy the game ($20) but since there's no further purchase needed after that, it's actually a lot cheaper than physical CCG's.

If you decide to pick it up, let me know. We'll play some matches.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Ravenpoe said:
As far as I know, the only way into the beta is to actually buy the game ($20) but since there's no further purchase needed after that, it's actually a lot cheaper than physical CCG's.

If you decide to pick it up, let me know. We'll play some matches.
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I have to wait a bit. Probably until the 1st of July. $600 for car repairs will do that to a guy. ;)
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

I feel like more people should be interested in this game. It is seriously fun.

Here's a quick video overview of playing a Growth deck (the other two suits are Order and Energy)

 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Gusto said:
I bought this, and played a tutorial game this morning with my Energy deck.

Seems cool!
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We should play! My name in game is Ravenpoe121

It doesn't yet look like there's a friend system, so I'd need to know when you're on and have you join a channel
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Covar said:
This game is hard as fuck. Not just the AI either, I'm finding it difficult just to be competitive.
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What deck did you start with? If you're a magic player, you have to forget what you know there and come into the game fresh. So I've been told by magic players, this is my first ccg and so far I'm doing pretty well.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Covar said:
Growth. I have trouble getting my deck going. Even against other Growth decks I'm getting lapped.
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I haven't played much with growth, so I can't yet give any green-specific tips, but here's some general strategy. First, press ctrl. This will pop up all unit information without you having to mouse over them. You only need three idols to win, so if you can control three lanes (preferably together) you will win, even if the opponent is able to destroy the other two. Do your best to keep the control of the middle row, as losing control of it will force you to focus on split areas of the board.

Kill your enemy's units. You can move each unit once per turn, so keep in cover until you can move out to wipe out an enemy unit. The idols aren't as much a concern in the beginning, as you want to take out the things that can hurt you first, and focus on idols second.[DOUBLEPOST=1371672955][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, when you start to edit your deck and add in new cards, you want to keep your total number of cards at 50. 50 is the minimum required for a deck, and since Scrolls shuffles spent cards back into the deck, you want it to be as lean as possible to increase the odds of gaining the cards you want.
 
Gared

Gared

Argh... I really, really hate playing against Order decks. It reminds me of all the times I played against counterspelling decks in M:tG. All of this "Oh, you thought you had that card out? I'm sorry... it's still in your hand," and "Oh, you wanted that unit in row 1? I'm sorry, you accidentally played it in row 2," stuff is just obnoxious as hell.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Gared said:
Argh... I really, really hate playing against Order decks. It reminds me of all the times I played against counterspelling decks in M:tG. All of this "Oh, you thought you had that card out? I'm sorry... it's still in your hand," and "Oh, you wanted that unit in row 1? I'm sorry, you accidentally played it in row 2," stuff is just obnoxious as hell.
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:troll:[DOUBLEPOST=1371675303][/DOUBLEPOST]Alright, everyone that plays this game, start joining channel Halforums whenever you're online.
 
Gusto

Gusto

Ravenpoe is definitely better at this than I am. :) Granted, the two games I lost against him were my 3rd and 4th games.

I've since done all the easy trials and bought a few more [largely useless] boosters.
 
Gusto

Gusto

I do have a decent handful of rare Order cards, so if anyone has some good energy cards theyr'e willing to trade, I can hook you up. :)
 
Gusto

Gusto

Gared said:
Man, getting a bad first draw sure can screw you over in this game.
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I don't know how closely the wanna hem to MtG but a mulligan option would be nice.

Although being able to use anything as mana, or sack a card to get two more, means that you can come back from a bad draw much easier than in MtG. Plus you don't have to worry about never seeing those cards again.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

A bad first draw isn't that detrimental. The first few hands are going to be spent sacing cards for resources anyway, and even if your opponent can field a unit or two early, there's no real urgency to address them because they aren't going to do much damage to your idols right away. You can cycle through your whole hand before you really need to act, and trade off resources for new cards if need be.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Gusto said:
Ugh, I'm regretting going with an Energy build.
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Energy is slow to start, but I've played against some energy decks that just absolutely wrecked me. Energy has a lot of direct damage spells that can really stymie other decks from building momentum. As an order player, I hate playing against a strong energy deck, as they can completely shut me down.

If you don't like the ranged, structure heavy design of the starter energy deck, see if you can earn up some gold and try trading and buying to work your way into a gravelock deck. It's a primarily energy deck with a little growth thrown in (for Gravehawks, which gain boosts for every gravelock you have) that synergizes the stacking power of gravelocks and gravelock elders. Something like this:



Use Tribal Memorials to build growth resources without having to sacrifice for them (alternatively, if you draw a bunch of Sand Pact Memorials early, you can sac for growth and use these cards to gain energy). You won't have any growth cards that cost over 2, so leave growth alone and focus on building energy. Also, I've noticed that some people stick Hellspitter Mortars in the back trying to protect them. Don't do this. Their attack is too random to rely on them for damage, but they make excellent walls, having a massive 6 health with only a 3 energy cost. Slap a potion of resistance on one of them to make them damn near indestructable for three rounds.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Word has it that Scrolls is already turned a profit, going into the black in only a week. Low budget indie development triumphs again! It may not be my particular cup of tea, but this is good for the industry.
 
Gusto

Gusto

Haha, there are like 4 cards in there that I don't have at all, but I'm like halfway to having that deck's cards.

Think I'll give it a shot.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

GasBandit said:
Word has it that Scrolls is already turned a profit, going into the black in only a week. Low budget indie development triumphs again! It may not be my particular cup of tea, but this is good for the industry.
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Notch is already in danger of being crushed by his mountain of money.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Ravenpoe said:
Notch is already in danger of being crushed by his mountain of money.
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Maybe Mojang can hire some actual developers who don't quake in fear at the thought of touching assembly code.

But why do that when java bloatware makes jillions.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Gusto said:
Haha, there are like 4 cards in there that I don't have at all, but I'm like halfway to having that deck's cards.

Think I'll give it a shot.
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Some of those cards are rare and expensive. Feel free to fill in with anything else that you like until you get them. I mostly just go to the scrolls wiki (google it) and try to find cards that synergize well together, as well as building off tips in the scrolls forum. Just go to http://www.scrollsfans.com/forums and have a look. Because this game is still in beta and far from done, there isn't a ton of discussion just yet, and some older discussions may be outdated as cards have been balanced/added/removed, but it's a good place to start.

There's a fourth suit coming, though no word on when it will be added. It will be Decay.
 
Gared

Gared

Oh man, Decay sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

Also, I've just been trashing (aka, selling back to the store) any Energy cards I come across in the booster packs because I want nothing to do with an Energy deck. If you want, I'll hang on to them until I see you online so I can just hand them off to you.
 
Gusto

Gusto

Yay, new suit. :)[DOUBLEPOST=1371836069][/DOUBLEPOST]
Gared said:
Oh man, Decay sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

Also, I've just been trashing (aka, selling back to the store) any Energy cards I come across in the booster packs because I want nothing to do with an Energy deck. If you want, I'll hang on to them until I see you online so I can just hand them off to you.
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Please do. I can give you some money or cards if you'd like.[DOUBLEPOST=1371836169][/DOUBLEPOST]Particularly the one above. I like that deck build and I'm about halfway there.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Gusto If you come across any Dustrunners (new common energy card) you may consider added them into your deck. They are ranged attackers that only do 1 damage, but they instantly kill anything with 3hp or less. This is an instant kill, not a damage effect, so it bypasses armor, plating, and other special effects. Really useful for taking out Waking stones, cannon automatons, and other hard to damage units.[DOUBLEPOST=1371836235][/DOUBLEPOST]
Gusto said:
Particularly the one above. I like that deck build and I'm about halfway there.
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I'm working towards that one too.
 
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