'Magic: The Gathering Arena' First Impressions: Intuitive and Complex at the Same Time
"Magic: The Gathering Arena" is still in development, now with a second Closed Beta phase ongoing that has taken in more than a hundred thousand new players. The embargo on game screenshots and other info has been lifted, and reviews have started to come online about the new digital "Magic: The Gathering" trading card game.
"Magic: The Gathering," as far as the classic trading card game goes, has been around for decades, with hundreds of unique cards having been released and phased out in the dozens of editions the game has published over the years.
As such, it has a complex, layered system that the new "Magic: The Gathering Arena" had not dumbed down in the slightest, as Polygon's Charlie Hall noted. The result, so far, is a digital experience that has expertly rendered the feel of the table game to the screen and has also greatly sped up the play with some of its features.
The playing field is less "Hearthstone" and more like "Gwent," with Wizards of the Coast going for a stylish but professional look.
With "Magic: The Gathering Arena" still in closed beta, there are still some things that can be improved in the game. PC Gamer's Frank Lepore had opinions that are focused mostly on the visual and sound design, which already speaks to how much the game mechanics have been nailed down this early in the game's development phase.
The video below is the TCG that's "by fans, for fans," as Wizards of the coast introduced "Magic: the Gathering Arena" as its newest digital of the classic TCG. The game is coming out for the PC sometime later this year, as development continues towards an open beta.
