I am writing an overview/review of the online trading card game, Urban Rivals [urban-rivals.com]. The game has a storyline based around conflicts between different "clans" in the city. These clans cross into nearly every stereotype and group imaginable, and some quite unimaginable. This includes everything from a godfather-like italian mob, insane circus folk, techno-obsessed rave slaves, pirates, ninjas obsesssed with creating the perfect clone of Bruce Lee, aliens that will stop at nothing to eliminate all works of science fiction. The list goes on and on!
Basics
To help you begin playing, the game grants you eight cards as a starter deck. Eight cards is not only the minnimum a deck can have, its also the recommended size. Anything more won't be very effective in ELO mode, but we'll get to that later. Each card has four stats that are important. Power,Damage,Bonus,and Ability. Power is the cards ability to defeat the opponent's card, while damage is the amount of life the card will take if it defeats the opponent. These both range from 1-8. Not every card has an ability but those who do can have an advantage over the opponent. Abilities can weaken the opponent card, increase your own stats, poison the opponent, even heal you. Every card has a bonus, which is determined by the clan it belongs to. This bonus can only take effect if your hand has at least two members of the same clan. Bonuses and abilities are always active, and require no action to activate.
When you start a game, four cards out of your deck will be randomly selected, and this will be the content of your hand for the game. Both players can see the hand of the other player, as well as their own hand. You start with 12 Life, and whoever brings their opponent to zero first is the winner. Now by now you must be thinking, "Wait a second...Doesn't that mean whoever has spent more on cards will always win?" And my answer to that is no. The game has an aspect that makes it possible for any goliath to face David. Pillz.
"Pillz" are a unique play system that make Urban Rivals a game of strategy. Each time you play a card, you have the option to use Pillz on it. Both players start with 12 Pillz. Pillz multiply your card's power, and this number will equal the "Attack" stat, which is how the two cards are matched up once they fight. For example, if your card had 4 power, and you gave him 3 additional pillz, he would have a total of 16 Attack.
The game has many other aspects, but one last thing I would like to showcase is each card's Leveling ability. A card will start out at level 1, with one star. Each battle it wins grants it experience, which levels it up, increasing its stats, sometimes giving it a new ability, and giving it new artwork. Here is an example:
Now for the review.
I found the Urban Rivals game through an ad on a website, and while at first I was a skeptic of it, since most online card games all but force you to subscribe to some membership and buy booster packs with real money, this game was different. Every single card in the game can be purchased on the player market for "Clintz", which is the game's currency, won through battles and tournaments. It does have a secondary currency, "Credits", which can be bought using paypal, credit cards, and several other methods, but these credits can also be earned (At a much slower rate) simply by coming within the top 33% of players in the game tournaments, which occur every other hour. The game is quite easy to pick up, and has an overall fun community. Reader be warned though, you will get hooked. The short nature of battles and the joy of constructing a great deck aside, the feeling you get from outsmarting a player who appears to be substantially more powerful than you simply by using the right number of Pillz is so satisfacotry. I can't find anything wrong with it. 10/10
And a small tip to any of those signing up, when it asks you for a sponsor, entering in "LOA SAINTKADE" (without quotes) in the sponsor box will start you off with 5 Credits, for free!
Urban-Rivals.com
Basics
To help you begin playing, the game grants you eight cards as a starter deck. Eight cards is not only the minnimum a deck can have, its also the recommended size. Anything more won't be very effective in ELO mode, but we'll get to that later. Each card has four stats that are important. Power,Damage,Bonus,and Ability. Power is the cards ability to defeat the opponent's card, while damage is the amount of life the card will take if it defeats the opponent. These both range from 1-8. Not every card has an ability but those who do can have an advantage over the opponent. Abilities can weaken the opponent card, increase your own stats, poison the opponent, even heal you. Every card has a bonus, which is determined by the clan it belongs to. This bonus can only take effect if your hand has at least two members of the same clan. Bonuses and abilities are always active, and require no action to activate.
When you start a game, four cards out of your deck will be randomly selected, and this will be the content of your hand for the game. Both players can see the hand of the other player, as well as their own hand. You start with 12 Life, and whoever brings their opponent to zero first is the winner. Now by now you must be thinking, "Wait a second...Doesn't that mean whoever has spent more on cards will always win?" And my answer to that is no. The game has an aspect that makes it possible for any goliath to face David. Pillz.
"Pillz" are a unique play system that make Urban Rivals a game of strategy. Each time you play a card, you have the option to use Pillz on it. Both players start with 12 Pillz. Pillz multiply your card's power, and this number will equal the "Attack" stat, which is how the two cards are matched up once they fight. For example, if your card had 4 power, and you gave him 3 additional pillz, he would have a total of 16 Attack.
The game has many other aspects, but one last thing I would like to showcase is each card's Leveling ability. A card will start out at level 1, with one star. Each battle it wins grants it experience, which levels it up, increasing its stats, sometimes giving it a new ability, and giving it new artwork. Here is an example:
Now for the review.
I found the Urban Rivals game through an ad on a website, and while at first I was a skeptic of it, since most online card games all but force you to subscribe to some membership and buy booster packs with real money, this game was different. Every single card in the game can be purchased on the player market for "Clintz", which is the game's currency, won through battles and tournaments. It does have a secondary currency, "Credits", which can be bought using paypal, credit cards, and several other methods, but these credits can also be earned (At a much slower rate) simply by coming within the top 33% of players in the game tournaments, which occur every other hour. The game is quite easy to pick up, and has an overall fun community. Reader be warned though, you will get hooked. The short nature of battles and the joy of constructing a great deck aside, the feeling you get from outsmarting a player who appears to be substantially more powerful than you simply by using the right number of Pillz is so satisfacotry. I can't find anything wrong with it. 10/10
And a small tip to any of those signing up, when it asks you for a sponsor, entering in "LOA SAINTKADE" (without quotes) in the sponsor box will start you off with 5 Credits, for free!
Urban-Rivals.com
