The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

I had heard good things, so I went on my iPad and downloaded Shadow Era. It’s a free-to-play CCG that uses microtransactions for getting new cards. The best part is that they have an “open platform” stance. Your account lets you play on the web, on iOS, on Android, and so on. I love me a card game, and I’m not unwilling to drop a few bucks on additional cards, so I was excited to try it.

The game runs pretty well on the iPad! Although there is a bit of a learning curve with the interface, I never had any problem picking what I wanted to do. The game seems strongly based on the WoW CCG, which is a good base. WoW is a pretty good game, and the preconstruct deck I picked out was pretty good. I was enjoying playing against the built-in AI.

Brer got on, and I’m like, hey, maybe I’ll try playing a game against a real opponent! I mean, it was free, and he could play on the web and face me, right? So I told him to get an account and we’d throw down. I clicked on the “Challenge” tab in the menu so I could challenge him to a game. That’s what you do in card games, right? I was shown a list of ongoing games, but none I could join. The only button on the screen was “quick match.” I figured that meant they didn’t have ranked games yet or something. I clicked on it to make a room for Brer to join.

It threw me into a random match with a random dude.

I searched the FAQ, the forums, all around the menus, and I confirmed it. There was no way to play against a friend.

You know what would get me to pay a few bucks to buy cards? Being able to play a fun card game with my friends. Know what I can’t do in this game? Play with my friends. Competitive play isn’t fun unless I have a complete card pool to build decks from, and I’m not going to get invested enough to buy a full card pool without getting my friends involved and playing. For a game so polished, I was shocked it was missing such a simple, vital feature.

I wouldn’t doubt they will eventually add it, and when they do, I would suggest giving the game a try. But right now? It’s kind of useless. Good job, guys.