Collectable card games are all the rage these days. Have you heard about this new Magic: The Gathering thing? I hear it’s hot right now. Blizzard’s got their Hearthstones firing, and the makers of Runescape are bringing out a card-battling spinoff.
And you can play said spinoff soon! Chronicle: Runescape Legends will be in open beta starting March 23.
The press release says “Chronicle: RuneScape Legends moves CCGs forward from traditional Battle and board control against an opponent, to a more strategic and narrative driven card game where players choose their own adventure by playing four cards at a time to develop a quest for their Legend. This isn’t a duel for board control, the battle in Chronicle is for control of the quest narrative.” I still don’t have a clue what that actually means in terms of game mechanics, but this idea of building a quest rather than combating an enemy is an interesting one, at least.
And it looks pretty, too! While the card designs are almost litigiously similar to Hearthstone’s, seeing characters interact with cards on a three-dimensional game board gives the overall package a unique look.
That’s the second time I’ve mentioned Heathstone, isn’t it? While Chronicle is trying to build its own identity, its visual style–and its mere existence as a digital CCG–will draw obvious comparisons to Blizzard’s genre juggernaut. Hopefully Chronicle will find more identity and success than the dozens of WoW contenders. You can sign up for the beta as soon as it’s released at the official site.
