Star Chamber's Indie PC CCG Goodness Probed

Thanks to Ferrago for their in-depth review of PC online collectible card game Star Chamber, praising the relatively unknown indie title as "an invigorating little game", and suggesting: "It's been a long time since this jaded gamer was so captivated by a game." The same site has an interview with the creators from Nayantara Studios, in which they discuss the genesis of the game (from "a love of well-balanced, simple-yet-complex boardgames and adding a CCG element to be able to produce a high-quality 'CCG meets computer boardgame'"), and the future of indie gaming ("I do think that with the big publishers and teams focused on producing massive uber-budget games and MMORPGs, and especially with the consoles starting to dwarf PC sales, I think there is a significant window for the smaller, independent studios to take back some of the PC market.")

Comments

Tried it..

[CashCarSTAR]

Didn't like it.

Couldn't really say why. I felt as though the cards were too..vanilla, if that makes any sense. Nothing that really shifted the game outside of the strategic roots. Nothing that shook and rechanged the balance of the game. And once you had an advantage, it was hard to come back.

Just my opinion however.

Re:2 things

[Cosmik]

Awww, heck. HTML would be useful. Here you go:

"I do think that with the big publishers and teams focused on producing massive uber-budget games and MMORPGs, and especially with the consoles starting to dwarf PC sales, I think there is a significant window for the smaller, independent studios to take back some of the PC market."

2 things:

1) Big publishers are defined as having big money, and therefore, naturally, they are going to make "uber-budget" games. Big publishers aren't interested in small budget - that's how indie came to exist. It's nothing new. You can't take back something that you are.

2) If PC sales are being dwarfed then that means relatively, less PC games are being sold. That means with a smaller window, the big budget games will have more shelf space, media coverage, more exposure. That means a smaller window for indie games. How they intend to take back some of the PC market from big-budgets in a smaller environment baffles me.

One of the best online games out there...

[Xemu22]

This game is *definitely* worth a look. The synergy between the boardgame and card mechanics is some of the best pure gameplay I've ever seen.

This positive Gamespot review:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starchamber/ index.html

... is pretty accurate, IMO. Given that it's a small download, with a lot of free content, what have you got to lose? I became totally hooked on the game when I first played it.