Shadow Era does what Magic: the Gathering has not — comes to iOS
For years I have wondered why Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the popular collectible card game, has not yet made its way to the iPhone. After all, it should be a lot of fun to build digital decks of monsters and spells and fight against friends over 3G or wi-fi, thereby removing the hassle of “having to see people in real life” (ugh).
Well, whatever the reason for Magic’s continual absence from iOS, Magic’s loss is Shadow Era’s gain. This freemium newcomer is apparently a lot like MTG, but has been improved and streamlined in a number of ways. You still get all the sexy card artwork, all sorts of neat spells to unleash and creatures to summon, but you don’t have to pay for your first deck, and you can even find ways to pay for more in-game content without paying a cent.
I actually tried to take a peek at Shadow Era yesterday, but quickly found it to microscopic to play on my 3GS’ screen. I found it very difficult to read card descriptions or see what I had in my deck, let alone take notice of what the enemy had in play. Granted, there are also web apps so that you can play Shadow Era on your laptop or computer — but if I’m at my PC, I might as well spend that time playing Dragon Age 2. I really wanted Shadow Era to be a cool mobile experience, and while it still may be, I think I’ll wait until I get a device with a larger or sharper screen to really give it a shot.
[via SlidetoPlay]
Been playing this for over a month and I’m really impressed and also surprised madic haven’t come to iOS sooner.
A few additional notes:
- on the iPhone it can be difficult to view but once you have played a few games and become familiar with the cards you’ll be fine.
- coming to it as a magic player, the game is simple to pickup and play quickly. New comers should also pick it up easily as well.
- although there are in game purchases, these are optional and you can unlock these the more games you play.
- if you have an iPad then you should pick it up.
The main reason that MTG wouldn’t work on iPhone is because of the interrupt mechanic. If you are constantly having to press a “pass” button every time your opponent does something, then the multiplayer games start to feel more like a chore than anything else. Magic is also designed for 30 minute matches, which would be very long for a mobile game, while Shadow Era is more in the 5-10 minute range. And don’t even get me started on the cost… :p
Noted, thanks! Didn’t think about how much shorter the games might be. Will definitely wanna try it when I have a larger/sharper device.
@ShadowEra
Magic: The Gathering Online seems to do just fine with instants and interrupts, so I can’t see how it would be much different on the iPad other than you’d be tapping instead of clicking.
this game is awesome and hope to see more cards in the future
I have Shadoe Era on my iPhone 2g and it works perfectly. ( kinda jittery but realy good) I can also read the cards realy well and see the pictures.
Having plaid magic since 3rd edition i was crying out for a IPAD ccg to get my teeth into… and i have say guys and gyals Shadow Era (SE) is quality and if Magic dont sort something they will lose market share as this game is really going somewhere – great online community, online torniments, ratings, freebies… and its far far cheaper than magic to…
Shadow Era is for me the best game for mobiles. The developerteam behind it releases many new updates with new cards, balancing and that stuff. The game itself and the community is constantly growing. On iOS Gamecenter almost halfmillion players are registered to Shadow Era. And there are even more players – dont forget the Android users and the ones who play it on a PC.