Free-to-play game Cards and Castles features an entertaining mixture of card collecting and turn-based strategy. Put out by Bit Mass LLC, the game plays a bit like the Adventure Time game Card Wars—only, it takes the strategy part one step further.
However, the card building concepts are the same. In Card and Castles, you start with a small deck of cards. There are four options: the Warlock deck, the Pirate deck, the Crusader deck, and the Viking deck. Each deck has its own unique set of cards, so choose wisely.
If you pick the wrong starter deck at first, don’t sweat it. By playing the game, you earn coins, which can be used to buy booster packs. These can be used to make your very own deck, if you feel confident enough doing that. Or, you can take the easy way out and take advantage of the in-app purchase system, though it is a bit pricey.
After your deck is set up, then it’s off to battle. There is both an offline mode (play against the AI) and an online mode. The cool thing about the online mode is that you can have multiple games going at the same time, in case you really want to earn some coins.
The battle part is where the game really gets interesting. It’s here that it starts to transition from a card game to a turn-based strategy game. Each player starts with 7 random cards draw from his deck of 40. Each turn after, you draw a new card. There are minion cards, spell cards, buff cards… you name it. The minion cards obviously summon a minion to the field. The field is divided up into squares, like the Heroes of Might and Magic series. Each turn, the minion can move and attack. Some can shoot across several squares, while others need to be right next to their enemy. It all depends on the cards you choose to summon.
The ultimate goal of the game is to destroy your enemy’s base. This can be done with damage spells, or just by relentlessly attacking it with your minions. It doesn’t matter how you do it—it’s still very satisfying to see it explode when you win.
While Cards and Castles is certainly not the first game to combine deck building and turn-based strategy, it offers a refreshing view on just how fun it can be. And with both single player and mulitplayer modes available, it’s a convenient game to play on your phone whenever you have a few minutes.
Cards and Castles is currently available on iOS and Android.
