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The Cookie Run: Braverse TCG always felt like one of those low-to-no barrier entry point trading card games due to the length of matches, simplicity of cards, and easily defined win conditions and gameplay elements. It’s simple, and the ties to the past Cookie Run games and characters helps make it even more approachable. After looking over some of the new cards in the Cookie Run: Braverse The Dark Enchantress War booster packs, it feels like these newest additions retain the simplicity while also adding a variety of new “fighters” with special effects that encourage people to think deeper about strategies.
So right away, Cookie Run: Braverse The Dark Enchantress War sort of feels like it is trying to be “inviting” to possible players by pulling from the original Cookie: Run Kingdom. It’s specifically tied to the first Act, but also references her other escapades. That means in addition to the Dark Enchantress Cookie herself, we’re also going to see Cookies of Darkness too and her other allies too. (And they’ll be useful!) Some of the first ones I saw when going through packs were the Cake Witch, Mold Dough Cookie, and Licorice Cookie, as examples.
Cake Witch and Mold Dough Cookie also are good examples of this booster pack series including a lot of cards with added effects that make you think about strategy and synergy. Cake Witch’s Dangerous Question skill lets you check the top three cards of your deck and take one purple one you find there, but you banish the other two to the trash as a sacrifice. Likewise, Mold Dough Cookie’s Gem Frenzy lets you discard a card to deal one damage to an opponent’s cookie. Beet Cookie makes you force your opponent to put one of their Support Area cards in the trash if they have seven or more cards there, at the expense of sending one of yours there too. Chili Pepper Cookie gives you a chance to deal 1 damage to an opposing cookie, but that also means discarding two of your own cards to do so.
But in some cases, we’re also getting some great cards that make you think about how and when to play them that don’t also entail major discards. Both Cappuccino Cookie and Peppermint Cookie reward keeping lots of cards in your hand. The former deals +1 damage if you have seven or more. The latter means one of the enemy’s cookies takes 1 damage if you have seven or more cards on-hand. When you play Net Cookie, the Wicked Laugh skill kicks in on-play and keeps the other player from using a card you select’s attacks unless they put two cards from their hand in the trash. Peach Blossom Cookie ends up being a handy healer, since the Ripe Peach Bao skill can be used once per turn to return a green card from the Support Area to your hand to give every cookie in-play +1 HP.
Admittedly, I am still disappointed in the “shiny” cards that we’re guaranteed to get one of in each pack. They don’t physically feel all that different from a standard card, so there’s no extra glossiness or texture to it. The metallic, shimmer effect is also only slightly shiny and very subdued, so much so that I never really noticed unless I went directly under a light and moved the card in an exaggerated fashion. It’d be great if these were flashier like the Pokemon TCG cards. The Angel Cookie, Salt Cellar Cookie, and Seaweed Cookie in the photo I took and placed above this paragraph features three of these “special” cards, but you can’t really even tell that in the picture. Meanwhile, rarer Pokemon TCG cards, when photographed, definitely look distinctive.
The Cookie Run: Braverse The Dark Enchantress War booster pack cards fit in well while also adding more strategic opportunities. There are a lot of simple cards you can just… play and add to a deck without really thinking about it! However, the balance of this latest line also means there are plenty with added effects that force you to think about making sacrifices to more quickly fill the enemies’ Break Area or consider how cards will work together.
The Cookie Run: Braverse trading card game and its The Dark Enchantress War booster series are available now.
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