Have you played collectible trading card games? How about matching games?
When I attended New York Comic Con this year, I went to a booth where they were promoting Magic the Gathering Puzzle Quest. This is an app game that is available on Google play and the App Store to play.
I have been playing for a few days and here are my two cents on this digital game that is technically free-to-play, but is play-to-win.
What is Magic the Gathering?
Magic: The Gathering, or simply known as Magic, is a collectible card game that is owned by Wizards of the Coast. It is known as one of the oldest modern trading card games and was first released in 1993. Two (or more) players have duel using their cards (as spells) to reduce each other’s health points.
Magic isn’t played with a standard 52-card deck. Instead players create their own decks using the pool of cards created by the company. Magic releases new cards through expansion sets on an almost quarterly basis with older sets routinely rotated out of standard play to encourage players to continuously recreate or update their decks.
Throughout the years, Magic has expanded the ways that their players could enjoy the cards they create and the franchise they have lovingly developed over the decades.
Playing in various formats such as: Standard, Legacy, Commander, Two Headed Giant, etc.
Collecting the cards for trade, monetary value, or just for fun
Creating works of art with the card such as “shadowbox” Magic cards
However besides enjoying the cards physically, Wizards of the Coast developed other ways to expand upon their franchise. They have created an application called “Magic: The Gathering Arena” which is a video adaptation of Magic and then “Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest” which is what I’ll be going over today.
My Relationship with Magic the Gathering
In my previous relationship, I was exposed to Magic the Gathering. My boyfriend at the time was a hard-core player of the collectible card game and enjoyed participating in local tournaments. Due to this, I also picked up on the game casually and enjoyed playing decks that were Green, Black, and Red.
However, while I was familiar with the card game, I never enjoyed playing in tournaments, nor did I enjoy playing physically in-person with other players. Most of the people who were available to play with were intimately familiar with their decks and the cards that were ‘in-rotation’, while I on the other hand just knew my own cards. This resulted in games that I would spend half the time looking at each card my opponent played.
So while I knew how to play the game, I tended to be a spectator or turned to the digital adaptation so I could play against virtual opponents that wouldn’t mind me taking my time with seeing each of the cards in play.
To be honest, if asked which collectible trading card game I’d rather play, I’d go with the Pokémon Trading Card game every single time in a heartbeat.
Introduction to Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest
If I continue playing this game, I’ll update this section accordingly, however I’ll do my best to explain how this game works.
How to Play
Each opponent has a digital deck of cards, these cards are consisted of creatures and enchantments. They also start off with an amount of health that is determined by their ‘Planeswalker’ (powerful beings that ‘lead’ your digital army). Each player then takes turns matching gems that are in the lower-half of the screen to gather enough ‘mana’ (resources) to automatically summon creatures and cast enchantments.
Unlike traditional matching games, Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest have both players play on the same board. Each player will take a turn to make a match on the board in hopes of making combos and perhaps even screwing over their opponent. Strategy comes into play in two ways.
The cards in your hand: The player gets to order the cards that are in their hand in any order they desire. As you gather mana, the game will automatically cast the spells (creatures and enchantments) from your hand onto the field. The order of these cards are important if you plan on winning the game.
The color of your matches: Each Planeswalker gets bonuses and penalties for matching certain colors. This is why you’ll have to occasionally make difficult choices as to which gems to match to get the most amount of mana during your turn, or preventing your opponent from collecting the mana they need.
When matches are over, the player then gets to focus on the second-half of the game. Creating their decks and powering up their Planeswalker.
Creating your deck for Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest
Initially you start the game with a few cards, then as you play through the Story-mode (a series of battles with virtual opponents), you’ll receive ‘Mana Crystals’ which is the game’s in-game currency to purchase booster packs for more cards.
You can also receive free booster (1-3 cards) on a daily basis as you check-in on the game. The cool-down times from what I’ve seen are 5 hours, which means you could potentially get free cards four times a day if timed correctly.
Lastly, you can obtain free cards by entering the following free code if you download the app: 242qd (shameless promotion, I know).
With the cards you obtain, you then could customize your decks by going onto the ‘Planeswalkers’ page. I won’t go into this too much since I tend to just ‘Auto-fill’ when it comes to creating my decks and have no idea how to make the ‘ideal’ deck with this app.
Powering up your Planeswalker
You start out the game with one Planeswalker, but you can obtain more by spending Mana Crystals to unlock them. You get these Mana Crystals by playing through the Story mode, but you can also purchase them with money.
Currently I own two Planeswallkers: Nissa the Sage Animist and Liliana the Defiant Necromancer. I would love to be able to save up for Ugin the Spirit Dragon (costing 850, when I have saved up 100).
If you don’t want to purchase new Planeswalkers, you can power up your current ones by using the standard currency of the game, ‘Mana Runes’. These are given to you like candy during the Story mode.
While my Planeswalkers are currently still low-leveled, here are the benefits that I believe you obtain by actually taking the time to level them:
The Planeswalker heals: After every fight, you need to wait for your Planeswalker to heal, however if you level them up, they automatically heal up to their max health.
The Planeswalker get more health: If your Planeswalker has more health, then they can survive longer in their matches by taking more hits to knock out.
The Planeswalker recovery time increases: Your Planeswalker has a quicker recovery time with each level they gain.
The Planeswalker gains abilities: Your Planeswalker starts out with one ability at Level 1, but then they can unlock more abilities that can be used during your matches as you level them up.
What’s Good about Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest
Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest is a Free Game
It legit cost me nothing to download the game from the App Store. As I mentioned in my PostKnight review, I love love love free games. This allows me to try new games without having to invest money into seeing whether or not I enjoy a game.
Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest is a turn-based game
As someone who dislikes real-time games, I appreciate it when games are slower-paced and allow me to take time with my moves. It’s the difference between playing Tag with your friends and Chess. One game requires your full attention as you run around and tap your friends, while the other allows you to sit down and think about each of your moves before your opponent goes. You aren’t playing simultaneously.
Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest is a puzzle game
While I can appreciate the traditional format of the Magic trading card game, I really enjoy matching games. Some of my favorites include Pokemon Puzzle League for the Nintendo 64, Faerie Bubbles on Neopets, and HuniePop on Steam.
These games, while they may play a bit differently than Puzzle Quest, do follow the same core strategy of matching three or more colors to beat a game and encourage making combos to get more points.
What’s Bad about Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest
Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest has a weak tutorial
While I understand the overall gist of how to play Puzzle Quest, I still don’t understand how to cast creature spells versus enchantment spells. Do I need to match different kinds of colors to gain mana for each one? Does each one require a specific number of colors to match? Did I accidentally skip over this over the tutorial? Overall, not sure.
Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest’s Deck creation is confusing
Similar to the issue from not understanding the mechanics of using spells, I am unsure of how to create a decent deck to play games with. With the basic knowledge I have with playing Magic: The Gathering, I cannot for the life of me know what cards are good to put in my deck, versus what doesn’t work.
Initially I thought it was because I was unfamiliar with the cards from the latest format, but when I gave my app to an experienced Magic player (who granted was unfamiliar with the app), he couldn’t help me either. Luckily there’s an Auto-Fill function to make sure my deck is ‘decent’, but can I really really trust the Auto-Fill function to make me a deck?
Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest does not play offline
When I was in New York Comic Con, I inquired about whether or not I can play this game offline. The thing is, I love love love playing my app games while I’m underground during my commutes. It’s one of those rare occasions where playing a game doesn’t make me feel guilty about ‘wasting’ productive time.
From what I’ve been told, playing offline is difficult, if not, close to impossible. So if this is what you want, sorry.
The Magic: The Gathering franchise
I believe my overall feelings towards the app is tainted by my apathy towards the franchise of Magic. I’m unfamiliar with the lore of the game, I am unfamiliar with the cards of the game, and only know the basics to survive. I understand the concepts, but don’t feel overly attached to any cards or Planeswalkers.
If you review the puzzle games I listed as my favorites, two of those games come from franchises I’m intimately familiar with (Pokémon and Neopets), while the last one incorporates a Dating Simulator which is a guilty-pleasure of mine. I know what creatures are strong in Pokémon and in Neopets, the games are tailored towards kids, which makes gameplay straightforward and simple.
This is why I’m admittedly biased when it comes to this game. I have no particular negative feelings nor positive ones with the franchise. I enjoy puzzle games, but feel no attachment with any of the characters. Though granted, the app does make an attempt to incorporate the lore of the games by adding the bios of the Planeswalkers into the app.
Does Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest Match Up?
Honestly, it’s too soon to tell. I’ve been barely playing the game long enough to grasp it fully and I haven’t even attempted playing the other modes of the game such as playing with other live players.
I also am not sure if this is a game that can be fully enjoyed without sinking any money into it since I’m so new to it. I haven’t invested a single dime in it, but I also am not sure what cards are great, which means that I have no interest in spending my Mana Crystals on booster packs.
From what I remember from the trading card game, any deck worth its salt has expensive rare cards incorporated into their decks, but I’m unsure of whether or not this aspect of the game translates into Puzzle Quest. For all I know, a viable competitive deck could be played by someone who has not spent a dime and instead is a puzzle matching pro. Who knows?
Interested in trying out Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest?
If any of this piques your interest, please give Puzzle Quest a shot. It’s a free-to-play game and with my code you’ll get a head start to getting some cards to start out with. Additionally, you’ll be able to level up your Planeswalker like crazy in the beginning so you won’t have to wait long between matches with the amount of Mana Runes you start out with.
Click Here to Try Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest
Remember to use the code below to get freebies
242qd
WANT ME TO TRY OTHER GAMES OR APPS?
Either comment below your favorite apps (iOS preferred) or tweet at me so I can try out other apps. I know this post may feel a bit different than my productivity and minimalism posts, but I enjoy playing games (tabletop, app, and console) during my downtime. So if there’s any that you’d like for me to try, let me know.