Hex: Shards of Fate

 PC
User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 111 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 64 out of 111
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 111
  3. Negative: 37 out of 111

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  1. RealThoughts
    Feb 5, 2016
    7
    The Good - Hex takes the mechanics of the most popular trading card game (Magic, duh) and builds on it. PvP play has a very familiar feel to any Magic veteran. This is essentially a Pay2Play environment. Formats include constructed, draft and sealed. The PvP additions (well, game) are champions and permanent effects (buffs) which remain in all zones. Shard (land) screw/flood is still anThe Good - Hex takes the mechanics of the most popular trading card game (Magic, duh) and builds on it. PvP play has a very familiar feel to any Magic veteran. This is essentially a Pay2Play environment. Formats include constructed, draft and sealed. The PvP additions (well, game) are champions and permanent effects (buffs) which remain in all zones. Shard (land) screw/flood is still an issue. Threshold (color) screw is a lessened by the mechanic, which is good. The Hex system removes the occasional skill involved in tapping lands, as well as allowing for better recovery due to not requiring each specific colored cost to be paid. In short, you could cast 4 Lightning Bolts with 1 Mountain 3 lands. The price model is also a benefit as limited PvP costs about half as much as Magic.

    PvE is the 'free to play' content. PvE has released its second update, but first installment of the Hex world. It is a limited taste, but shows potential. There is a lvl 9 cap - up to lvl 30 currently planned - and not all classes and races are available. There are talents for each race and class to add to the RPG feel of the game. Opponents abilities are interesting, making for some interesting (and frustrating puzzles). There are PvE only cards in addition to the PvP card sets. Most cards also have equipment to increase their power level. In PvE, a player can 'grind' gold, PvE packs, cards, equipment to trade for PvP currency to participate in that side of the experience (packs and platinum).

    The Bad - DEVELOPMENT - The world of Hex moves at a glacially slow pace. Original plans were 4 PvP sets per year. This has been reduced to 3 sets already. Current PvP rotation is >7 months on average through 3 sets. The first PvE world content was finally release 20 months after the Beta started and over a year after the Arena (first PvE experience). These cycles need to drastically improve before Hex can be considered a serious contender in the online TCG market.

    Bugs are also an issue, which is expected. However, the quality control on patches appears to be low as old bugs tend to reappear or previously working cards get 'broken' The code for some things is poorly written as demonstrated when champions for Set 2 could not be removed from the Champion pool for Throwback drafts involving only Set 1. These are mostly growing pains. Typically customer support is fair in resolving any issues.

    Final Thoughts: Hex has potential to be very successful. If you enjoy Magic the Gathering, you should give Hex a glance. As with any game, its success will depend on the frequency and quality of expansions. This is a growing sector of online gaming with new competitors frequently appearing. Hex has the vision to succeed well into the future. However, vision without execution makes for lost promise.    … Expand
  2. IronShio
    Apr 19, 2016
    5
    In knapp 2 Stunden 2 Game-Breaking Bugs... Nach Auswahl einer Aktion im Spiel geht nix mehr auf dem Table an zuklicken und damit hilft nur ein beenden des Spiels. Mit dem Neustart geht das aktive Spiel verloren. Der selber Fehler trat ein weiteres Mal auf als ich aus dem Shop wollte...nicht vorzustellen was passiert sollte das bei einem Kauf passieren... Echtes Geld weg? Oder imIn knapp 2 Stunden 2 Game-Breaking Bugs... Nach Auswahl einer Aktion im Spiel geht nix mehr auf dem Table an zuklicken und damit hilft nur ein beenden des Spiels. Mit dem Neustart geht das aktive Spiel verloren. Der selber Fehler trat ein weiteres Mal auf als ich aus dem Shop wollte...nicht vorzustellen was passiert sollte das bei einem Kauf passieren... Echtes Geld weg? Oder im Auktionshaus...

    Unspielbar so...

    Zudem... vom Regelwerk her einfach ein dreister Magic-Klon.    … Expand
  3. avan1976
    Feb 11, 2016
    7
    A very interesting game, but the lags both to log in, navigate menus and in-game really detract from the great game play. If the developers can match the crisp gameplay of Hearthstone, for example, it would probably be the better game. But for these types of games, its often about getting logged on, having a quick game, and getting off (i.e. convenience), and at the moment it lacks that. IA very interesting game, but the lags both to log in, navigate menus and in-game really detract from the great game play. If the developers can match the crisp gameplay of Hearthstone, for example, it would probably be the better game. But for these types of games, its often about getting logged on, having a quick game, and getting off (i.e. convenience), and at the moment it lacks that. I am playing on an i5.… Expand
  4. FunkyGodzilla
    Mar 21, 2016
    5
    First of all it's magic the gathering, but slightly simpler, doesn't have the book of terms yet, still more complex then hearthstone though, I liked the idea of getting into an online magic game that wasn't "magic online" frankly because I hate the interface so much, and it's a crime that there is still not an auction house yet, get with the times magic, for that i refuse to play.First of all it's magic the gathering, but slightly simpler, doesn't have the book of terms yet, still more complex then hearthstone though, I liked the idea of getting into an online magic game that wasn't "magic online" frankly because I hate the interface so much, and it's a crime that there is still not an auction house yet, get with the times magic, for that i refuse to play. Initially I loved the polished looking game-board, the art was fine, funny the resources looked kind of crappy though like a child's crayon drawing while waiting for a meal at Applebee's (yes exaggerating, but compared to creature art, the resources look out of place and much worse, it is NOT a big deal, but i'm just pointing out they don't look professional)

    The "PVE" almost INSTANTLY got frustrating. like it screams "BUY CARDS SO YOU CAN BEAT THIS LEVEL YOU FAILURE" kind of schemey, absolutely hated the PVE and quit before I even got past the first map.

    I realize everything can't be free, but I really didn't like that it sincrerely doesn't look like you can 'grind' out cards with ingame gold within any sort of reasonable time, unless you are a particularly crafty individual who wants to "play" the auction houses, buy low, sell high etc etc, you will probably take months and months to grind out a few good cards, I'm not entirely sure all the good cards are even listed for the ingame currency. and the only way to buy packs is to pay real money.

    unintuitive zoom function on cards (right click to zoom in on card, but it's not as simple zooming? you have to click OK then CANCEL or something stupid like that, even after I frustratingly did it several times I didn't want to grasp this awkward way to view cards and literally got confused every time I tried to zoon out up until I unistalled it (no not just for that reason, but I'm trying to explain HOW strange this feature is)
    TLDR looking at cards takes too long for some reason, seems like something that should have been fixed very early on. no reason for this

    Also had several times where l thought the game completely froze, i could have sworn it did the first time, the second time I waited it out it took a solid 20 seconds or so for the enemy AI to end it's turn. Not sure if it's an AI problem or laggy servers. this was the FIRST day I played and it happened multiple times.

    Ultimately I WANTED to get into this game, but it doesn't seem like much better quality then comparable games like Hearthstone or Spellweaver I just couldn't justify dropping money on the game and i'm not "grinding" out the cards over then next fifteen years.

    Already have almost 200K gold banked in spellweaver (the in-game currency you CAN actually buy packs with) after playing for only 3-4 weeks or so, didn't drop a dime on it, if you want a good Magic-like game, I would choose that over this, there is no reason to spend money if you don't have to for a extremely comparable game.    … Expand
  5. kirkkh
    Feb 25, 2016
    5
    It's terrible. Buggy, bots, disappearing cards, wonky, pay to win, short and ugly. Not as complex as Magic, not as fun as hearthstone...Although, it's a wet dream for a shy-hipster-gamer, they can safely play a game (no one will ever hear of) while suffering through a sloppy cash grab developer. Suck at popular games? It's fine no will judge (or know) your secret atari-like obsession withIt's terrible. Buggy, bots, disappearing cards, wonky, pay to win, short and ugly. Not as complex as Magic, not as fun as hearthstone...Although, it's a wet dream for a shy-hipster-gamer, they can safely play a game (no one will ever hear of) while suffering through a sloppy cash grab developer. Suck at popular games? It's fine no will judge (or know) your secret atari-like obsession with off-off-trip A gaming. What garbage. Sad.… Expand
  6. RBurgundy
    Sep 19, 2017
    7
    The PvP element of this game is my favorite part, specifically limited. Its relatively cheap ($5-$7) a draft and you can sell your cards on the auction house to reinvest in limited if you don't want to accumulate your cards for constructed. Its a ton of fun with a lot of good depth and interactions between cards. The newest set was just released and it seems very promising for limited..The PvP element of this game is my favorite part, specifically limited. Its relatively cheap ($5-$7) a draft and you can sell your cards on the auction house to reinvest in limited if you don't want to accumulate your cards for constructed. Its a ton of fun with a lot of good depth and interactions between cards. The newest set was just released and it seems very promising for limited..

    Visually the game looks great. Lot of good visual and sound effects that really play well of the interesting card designs and features they have in the game. However, unless you have a real gaming PC your computer will not run the graphics well at all. I removed the backgrounds from the game files and it drastically improved the play speed and my enjoyment. Until they improve the optimization of the graphics and the client as a whole the graphics can only be enjoyed by those with a computer powerful enough to handle it. It's not unplayable but it can be annoying. They did add performance setting but they don't seem to do much.

    As a player who does not play much PVE (personal preference, I like the competitive nature of PvP games) I can only comment a little on the PVE experience. If you are coming into this expecting F2P you should be prepared for a steep learning curve. The game does not hold your hand through how the economy works so you will have to seek out the info through third party sites or the forums, which are actually very helpful as is the community in general.

    With all that said, if you are a fan of TCG's this game is absolutely worth your time to check out. It has much more depth and strategy than most other online TCGs or CCGs on the market and that's what keeps me coming back. I have been playing for 2 years and despite the bad things I mentioned Hex has provided me a ton of entertainment for the money I invested. If they can continue to make client and UI improvements and if the next set is good for limited it will be amazing again

    Note: Recently there was a bug in the auction house that charged people more than they should have been charged for items they purchased (with in game currency). Hex did nothing about it and allowed people to be scammed by the game. If you use the in game AH make sure to check outside the game on reddit, twitch, or other places to make sure it is not bugged.

    Note #2: They changed from being published by Gameforge to being self published. As a result they were required to wipe everyone's accounts six months after the change of publisher. They only gave a week's notice to accept the new Terms of Service instead of telling people at the time and giving them 6 months to accept the terms. The game is awesome but the company behind it seem to have no idea what they are doing.    … Expand
  7. night4
    Oct 16, 2017
    5
    If the single player campaign were longer, it'd get a 10. I realize they'll release more PvE content in the future, but it'll take way too long.

    Anyway, this is very fun, and I enjoy it more than Hearthstone. I especially like that they included cards from old school MtG that would be considered "overpowered." Edit: Cannot sign in to account from Steam, which means I've lost all    If the single player campaign were longer, it'd get a 10. I realize they'll release more PvE content in the future, but it'll take way too long.

    Anyway, this is very fun, and I enjoy it more than Hearthstone. I especially like that they included cards from old school MtG that would be considered "overpowered."

    Edit: Cannot sign in to account from Steam, which means I've lost all progress and purchased cards.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best PC Game of 2016
61
#61 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. MMORPG.com
    Jul 18, 2016
    84
    Hex: Shards of Fate is unquestionably a brilliant card game that’s complex, rewarding and addictive. I often feel confused, out of my depth and in desperate need of help and yet I wouldn’t want it any other way. Cryptozoic Entertainment have masterfully blended two genres with finesse and polish, to the point where PvE and PvP offer serious longevity.
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  2. Everyeye.it
    May 4, 2016
    78
    Hex doesn't want to make a revolution in the TCG world. It's a classic but valid experience, and, as a free-to-play, offers a great number -and quality- of content, becoming one of the best TCG-online together with Magic The Gathering.
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  3. Vandal
    Mar 16, 2016
    85
    We all know the ingredients, but we've never seen a recipe like this. HEX is a great game, fun, deep and with a very promising future in the competitive scene.
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