Some of the cards are very pricey, so you'll have to win a lot to afford them, but for the most part, you can still form solid decks without too many high-tier cards. With no ads and monetized solely through cosmetic in-app purchases, Nova Island boldly makes new cards purchasable solely through in-game currency obtained by playing.

The plus side of this is that there's nothing to stop you from giving it a try today!ĭebuting exclusively for mobile devices in late 2021, Nova Island is a captivating PvP deck builder that gives free-to-play a good name. Players can unlock cards and decks just by playing, but this free-to-play title has in-app purchases for things like booster packs just like you would buy in real life. MTG Arena may even be an excellent place for totally new players to dip their toes into Magic since the built-in tutorial levels do a great job of introducing the game's core concepts and mechanics. MTG Arena brings all of this action into the palm of your hand, brought to life by gorgeous graphics, vibrant animations, and great sound design. A player typically wins by reducing their opponent's life total to 0.Ĭards in Magic: the Gathering are built around fantasy and mythological themes like vampires, angels, dragons, and so much more. For the uninitiated among you, Magic: the Gathering is a collectible card game wherein players take on the role of a Planeswalker and then battle it out with other players by casting spells, using artifacts and equipment, and summoning creatures big and small from their individual decks. One of our era's most iconic card games, Magic: the Gathering, is having a renaissance thanks to its foray into the digital world with Magic: the Gathering Arena. It's also cross-platform, meaning you have a huge pool of players to pit yourself against.

Gwent is free (and a considerable download!) with in-app purchases.

Sometimes, you'll need to take a loss to preserve your deck for the next round, a tactic I'm quite fond of. You can attack your opponent and deplete their point pool by destroying their cards. You earn points by playing cards, each with its own point value. The player who wins two games is victorious. Instead, your goal is to score the most points at the end of a round. Unlike Hearthstone, you don't have a health pool to deplete. Gwent has you choosing from different decks, each with its own abilities and weaknesses. I loved Gwent when it was but a mere mini-game in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt now that it finally landed on Android, I couldn't be happier. If you've read some of my other roundups, you knew this one was coming! Gwent is my absolute favorite card game on Android, mostly because I'm a massive fan of The Witcher universe.

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