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Card Hunter: Attack of the Artifacts free expansion out now
Blue Manchu has released a sizable expansion for its browser-based strategy RPG Card Hunter, adding six new quests, dozens of collectible cards, and a multiplayer league system. Attracting 100,000 players following its launch last year, Card Hunter is a deck-building strategy game in which players summon armies of monsters in a series of competitive turn-based battles. The new Attack of the Artifacts expansion builds on the formula with the introduction of hundreds of new items that can be used in battle, expanding strategic options for players. Every day through May 2, players who log in to Card Hunter will receive a Magnificent Artifact Chest containing five items from the new expansion. The league system is also free to try within the Artifact Anarchy and Clash of the Geomancers fixed-deck leagues. [Video: Blue Manchu]
Card Hunter expansion tapped for later this month
Card Hunter will deal out "Attack of the Artifacts," the game's first expansion, later this month. The free-to-play browser-based game, which is also making its way to mobile, will deepen the deck-building strategy game with new adventures, cards and monsters. Attack of the Artifacts isn't just for the solo adventurers getting in some Card Hunter between TPS reports at work. The expansion also adds league play where dungeon masters can "pilot monster decks and explore challenging new multiplayer boards to win prizes." Prizes include more pizza (the in-game currency), treasure chests and unique figures. [Image: Blue Manchu]
Card Hunter heading to mobile
Card Hunter, the RPG and collectible card game hybrid that launched last year, was one of the first "real" games we've seen for browsers, but even at the time it was obvious it would be best as a mobile experience. We weren't alone in that thinking: Newly-founded DropForge Games will be handling mobile porting duties. "The number one request from the Card Hunter community has been 'when will this be on my tablet?'" said developer Blue Manchu CEO Jon Chey. "The game's design screams out for a tablet experience." The mobile version announcement this morning didn't put its cards on the table about platforms or a release window. We followed up with DropForge VP Joe McDonagh who told us, "No release date confirmed. We're working on the plan right now but at a minimum we're going to release some new adventures for it. We're also going change the UI to optimize for tablet." [Image: Blue Manchu]
Snapshot: Card Hunter
This is a Snapshot, a quick, un-scored review of a game we think you should know about. You encounter a free-to-play browser game. You decide to play it. Roll a D6 to see if it's any good... A six! Wow, that's really lucky. Roll again to see if forced microtransactions or time limits will prevent you from enjoying it for a long session... Another six?! You're unstoppable. Okay, roll one last time to see if you're crazy... Three in a row? The odds are incredibly unlikely, but you've stumbled across Card Hunter, a free-to-play, browser-based, deck-building strategy game that will devour every last second of your free time if you let it.
Card Hunter 'just under' 100,000 players, adding tournaments to multiplayer
Card Hunter is looking to expand its deck of tricks, coming off last week's solid launch that saw the team at Blue Manchu struggling to keep up with demand for the free-to-play game. "We were so overrun on Thursday and we had to implement a queue. I think it's the first time in history people queued for a Flash game," said Joe McDonagh, writer/designer on Card Hunter. "We're a really small team and we're seven different cities in four different times zones so it's been really tough. But the time difference actually worked in our favor, because someone's always awake and working on improving the server performance." McDonagh tells Joystiq that the first thing the studio plans to add is "some sort" of tournaments to multiplayer, following that up with more single player adventures, too. "Obviously, there'll be some new cards too," said McDonagh. "It's been an amazing first seven days for us. We've had just under 100,000 players. That's mind-boggling to us."
WRUP: Hunting Cards, BRB
This week's surprise breakout game has been Card Hunter, a free-to-play, browser-based (don't stop reading!) mash-up of board game HeroQuest and card game Dominion. The game has plenty of pedigree, and features a fun storyline, which has up-and-coming Game Master Gary dealing with his older brother Melvin, who knows better than anyone else how to play Card Hunter. The game's servers are currently getting hammered, but put on your +2 cloak of optimism and you may get to try it out. What's everyone playing?
Irrational co-founder forms Blue Manchu, reveals Card Hunter
Irrational co-founder Jon Chey has formed a new studio, Blue Manchu, focused on more niche games. The studio's first project is Card Hunter, a microtransation-fueled, Flash-based browser game. It will initially launch on PCs, but is also planned for iOS. "The best way to describe it is, imagine I take an MMO, and every time you fight a monster, instead of playing a timer game with with pull downs and buttons that you click, you're playing a turn-based strategy game," Chey explained to Gamasutra in an extensive interview. "You have little pieces on a board, and you play cards to move those pieces around, and that's the battle you fight." Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield is contributing to the game's design. Chey says Blue Manchu, which is entirely self-funded, allows the opportunity to "make some games that probably wouldn't get made otherwise." Chey expects Card Hunter to be out sometime in the next six months.
