Check Out PoxNora

There's been some good previews of Pox Nora, as well as an interview with the development team. I've been playing PoxNora a bit recently, and have greatly enjoyed. The description most people have given is part collectable card game, part RPG, and part strategy game -- and roll them all together. The game itself is available for both PC and Mac with the main focus being the collection of runes to summon your champions on the battlefield. I also like that the entry level is free, whereas adding more runes in, trading with others and such is basically a la carte service. At launch, the online store will have nearly 200 Runes. Starter packs ($8.49) include 30 random Runes and boosters ($2.99) contain 10 random Runes. Players can play PoxNora with pre-constructed starter decks for free. There some more information that I've pasted below, but I'd be interested to hear about other folks playing -- or you haven't, try out and lemme know what you think. Plus, the notion of crushing my friends via online cards a la MTG is one that brings a smile to my face.

A better break down of the basic information:

In PoxNora, players collect Runes that allow them to summon champions, equipment, relics and spells to the battlefield. The game is played out across a variety of maps where champions do battle to collect Nora, a vital resource used to summon additional Runes into play. The construction of your battlegroup and careful use of powers and attacks are vital to success. Runes also gain experience during play that can be used to upgrade or learn new attributes and abilities, meaning that as your play style evolves, so do your Runes.

Runes gain experience during play that can be used to upgrade or learn new attributes and abilities, meaning that as your play style evolves, so do your Runes. PoxNora also allows players to compete against bots if they want to play alone so they can experiment tactically in a more controlled environment.

At launch, the online store will have nearly 200 Runes. Starter packs ($8.49) include 30 random Runes and boosters ($2.99) contain 10 random Runes. Players can play PoxNora with pre-constructed starter decks for free.

An expansion will be released in late October with an additional 70 Runes and many other abilities.

Comments

My assessment of PoxNora

[El Gigante de Justic]

I've been playing it off and on for the last couple of weeks, and I agree it's pretty good. Like most collectable card games, there are certain runes which can become a bit unbalancing or just seem a little too powerful, but overall its fairly well balanced. There's a decent mix of strategy and luck invovled. And unlike most collectable games, investing more time into the game probably reaps better results than spending more money.
        The biggest difficulty is getting your Champion runes built up. You typically only get a decent amount of rune points if you win the match, and if you end up in a game with someone who already has theirs built up (especially players that were in the beta), you will have a tough time getting anywhere. There is a bit of a trade off to built up units, as they cost more to bring into play, but you can barely even get an attack in with your low cost/low level units, it's not going to matter much.

      I think what will help the game most is if they get enough players in the game, and then they can split up game lobbies in a way that maybe you can't use a battlegroup with any Champions over level X in for games in a given room. This will make it easier for new players, or players with new units, to get them built up. The new practice feature they're putting in will be nice too, especially if they let you gain any experience that way (at least to level 2, I hope).