Then we were confronted by a map, allowing us to have conversations (in a very old-school, text-based manner) with characters we met, thereby taking on quests. Perhaps the coolest race is the Underworld Vennen, who are orcs mutated in a spiderish manner. Then there were four races for each faction to choose between, and six classes, including cleric, warlock, ranger and mage. The former, naturally, were the good-guys, and both have different special abilities which lead to fundamentally different play-styles (Underworld champions, for example, are good at shifting abilities around between cards, so are more difficult to second-guess). The first thing to do was to choose between the two factions on offer: Ardent and Underworld. We got stuck into the campaign from its beginning, and indeed the gameplay, while clearly sticking to the conventions of card games (and looking like a card game), also had the feel of an RPG. Thanks to the new PvE campaign, Hex: Shards of Fate has become a game which very effectively blurs the boundaries between trading card game and RPG. Gameforge’s thinking seems sound: currently, with only PvP on offer, there’s every chance that you’ll find yourself taking on a seasoned player before you’ve learned the most basic of ropes. Gameforge reckons that the arrival of PvE – essentially a string of dungeons that let players learn the essentials of Hex: Shards of Fate, such as how to build decks of cards, and the strategic subtleties that the game demands – will give players who aren’t already obsessed with TCGs an entry point. That’s because a major update has just brought a Player versus Environment (PvE) element to the game – previously it has only supported Player versus Player (PvP) play. However, that – publisher Gameforge fervently believes – is all about to change, and Hex: Shards of Fate may just have a shot at the sort of big-time appeal enjoyed by the likes of Hearthstone. But it has remained well below the mainstream radar, finding a constituency exclusively confined to connoisseurs of TCGs. After a notably successful Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $2 million, the game that has been hailed as the first Massively Multiplayer Online Trading Card Game (MMOTCG) has been available to play for while, weathering litigation from Wizards of the Coast – claiming it was a mere clone of Magic: The Gathering – in the process. If you’re already aware of the existence of Hex: Shards of Fate, it’s pretty safe to say you would describe yourself as – there’s no other way to put this – a bit of a geek. With a new PvE element, massively multiplayer trading card game Hex: Shards of Fate is looking for a mainstream audience.
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