I was able to try out a new trading card game today. The game is PK Cards, a fantasy-based card game where heroes called avatars lead their troops in battle against others. The battle works a lot like the battles of the Tuatha de Danaan in Celtic Myth: a series of one-on-one battles between individuals with the winner of the battle the one that wins the most of these one-on-one fights. Here is my review:
Appearance: It is the first thing you notice about a new game, right? So, why not start there?
The cards are colorful and have some excellent art. The art isn't as good as that in Magic: the Gathering, but on par or better than most Collectible Card Games I have played. The play mat that comes with the game is very useful and attractive.
Not really an appearance issue, but still something that one would judge it by early, is the name. PK Cards is not evocative of anything and as far as I can tell the rules never explain what PK stands for. There is a mechanic in the game called a PK, but all it is is a way to determine the victor in tied battles.
Mechanics
The game mechanics have a bit in common with Euchre. The troops come in 5 suits, each one of the Chinese Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Metal and Plant. In each individual combat one player will be the attacker. The attacker can play power or influence cards before placing his troop card. Power cards are abilities that stay in play while influence cards leave play after the combat. When the attacker plays a troop to attack, play passes to the defender. The defender then can play cards, ending with a troop to defend the attack. He must play a defender in the same suit if possible. The attacker's attack score is compared against the defense score of the defender (after any special effects add or subtract from those scores). The higher number wins. If he plays other suits (because he cannot play the same suit), then the tie is beaten if one of the suits "trumps" another suit. For example, fire beats metal and metal beats plant. If it is still a tie, the players resolve it by revealing the top card of their decks and comparing stats. This is called a PK.
The game seems a bit tough to learn at first, but after a few rounds I got the hang of it. Strategically, it can be a bit frustrating since you may find yourself forced to play a card because the attacker played a certain suit and with a bad shuffle, this can throw your whole round off. (This happened to me as I was forced to use a guy that would have been great late in the round but takes major negatives if I didn't play certain other cards before he came in to fight. I won't explain that rule, but there are more rules that affect the troop's ability to fight.)
Kudos to the design team of this game for coming up with a mechanic that is truly unique. I have seen a lot TCGs come out that try to not be Magic with new kinds of mechanics and fail and I have seen a lot of Magic copies. This game actually works.
Overall: I would recommend this game to anyone looking for a new TCG to master with a completely new mechanic. Personally, I have enough addictions, so I will probably sit this one out, but I wish the company luck in their endeavor. If I only had infinite money to buy games, infinite space to store them and time to play them all, I would certainly snatch this game up. It seems like it will be a lot of fun and it looks like PK Cards is planning to really support tournaments and players with player reward systems.
Posted by Nuadha at December 10, 2008 2:50 AM