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Star Chamber is a good alternative for those who are interested in such games. It's a board game with collectible cards to affect units in play and add new ones. Has the feel of what would happen if Magic and Master of Orion had a child.

You can buy "starters" and "boosters" to build decks and collections, and "event passes" that you use to play in tournaments, for those inclined to do so. The cards seem pretty well balanced, and the community is willing to help newbies. You can buy cards as one-offs, or get a subscription that gives you a choice of cards or event passes every month.

Next weekend, they have a "Newbie Day", where newbs can play with veterans and get commentary and tips on how to improve their game, plus random card giveaways. I just got the game myself, and I'm going to try to get some experience.

They just got bought by SOE. As a former SWG player, I hope that Star Chamber is left more or less alone by Sony. They seem to have a solid product that doesn't need tinkering.

It's also a rather awesome online strategy/collectible card game

http://www.starchamber.net/

Star Chamber has a small, die-hard fan base, but now the developer has merged with a slightly larger company, and they've gotten together with an indie publisher (Matrix Games). I'm hopeful that SC will grow large with their upcoming release.

Anyway, I agree with the article: the key value provided by an internet publisher will be advertising. If that brings in the bucks, indie games have a shot. Otherwise, they'll always be small fry.

My sig is on-topic for once! I've been playing Star Chamber for about 6 months now, and I think I'm starting to get it. Low system requirements, solid gameplay, and a lot of gamespace to explore. Check it out.

I just downloaded and played StarChamber after reading this story. It seemed really cool at first, but it looks like this "free" game is just a way to hawk their Virtual Trading Cards.

Thanks, but no thanks.

LK

The online collectible cardgame + space civilization sim Star Chamber is a good similar idea. Free download, free trial play with sample decks. You pay money for booster packs at a low cost of $20 for 16 (240 cards total, more than enough for a good deck). It plays better and is more fun than games twice as costly. You go into a chatroom and play against other people and trade. There is an entire section of the system that even allows phantom sealed deck tournamnets.

Episodic gaming is hard to get off the ground, I my opinion, because the first episode has to deliever a lot of promise, and the next part(s) have to maintain that promise without disrupting the cost vs. content and length balance. Myst: Uru will hopefully open the way for more installment type games, with free downloadable extra content.

However, the good reviews still pour in from GameZone and Ferrago.

I heard about this game about a month ago. Since that time, I can't fathom how much this game has endeared itself to me. As soon as I saw the lack of a good community website, I began to build one with the help of another community member with the same idea. Then I built a non-profit card store to help further the game, using osCommerce, located at scfans.net, though there are other resellers on the books, such as Gameguys and IBK, to be completely fair.

The bottom line is, in terms of pure gameplay fun, excitement, and community involvement (the developer, Paul aka Merakon, is on almost every evening, and his support in getting SCWatch.net up and running has been stellar to say the least.

If you dig a good strategy game, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Just squeaking in under the wire, the recent Star Chamber, a 4X/board/card game for the PC, is one of the more unique releases this year. Furthermore, it's a free, and has free online play with ladder rankings. (The card booster packs are what costs you).

So go to their web site and check it out. There is no excuse not to. Or at least read this glowing review from Gamespot.