"Skylanders," a successful franchise from Activision, drives its way to the free-to-play online collectible card game genre with the release of "Battlecast."
"Skylanders Battlecast" is Activision's easy-to-understand take on the much complex deck-building game "Hearthstone" from Blizzard, according to Polygon. In addition, the card collection, music and menu interface of the new free-to-play online card game are pretty the same with "Hearthstone." On the other hand, the battle arena and ability to add cards into the game are designed to be more simple that it's Blizzard counterpart.
Like any other new releases, "Battlecast" has a few attractive perks such as daily giveaway for simple signing in. The player also gets free spins for a chance to get free coins, cards or packs. The players will also get daily quests and challenges that entitle players to earn awards.
Moving on, players start with a basic deck that comes with three heroes: Jet-Vac, Spitfire and Trigger Happy, along with a variety of spells, relics and gear. Coins are earned as players play the game, which in turn can be used to buy new cards. Additional cards may also be purchased within game coins or real money.
Unlike other online trading card games, "Battlecast" has a simpler workaround for adding news cards. Besides having the feature that allows players to buy the cards digitally, physical cards can be bought from a story and imported into the game. The app comes with a feature that scans an actual card and then converts it into its digital version. As a bonus, a hero card will display a floating hero through augmented reality.
Meanwhile, Game Informer adds that "Skylanders Battlecast" has given visuals effects more emphasis in order to make the battles more dramatically engaging. The objective of the game become a champion of the Skylands either through matchmaking or direct friend duels. There is also a single-player story mode that lets players battle against enemy boss Kaos.
Nevertheless, because "Skylanders Battlecast" and "Hearthstone" reportedly came from the same parent company it is no surprise why deck-building screen for the former is nearly similar with the deck-building screen in the latter. The only difference is that the new online trading card game has been designed to be simpler.