Scrolls

 PC
  • Publisher: Mojang AB
  • Release Date: TBA - Early Access
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 46
  3. Negative: 9 out of 46
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  1. Riveted
    Dec 23, 2014
    8
    Scrolls is a surprisingly deep tactical card game. Units are placed on the board, and you then have to manage positioning, attack countdowns, board modifiers, creature buffs and debuffs, unique abilities, and attempting to guess what your opponent is going to do next. This isn't so much a traditional card game as it is a complex chess match.

    For those who enjoy tactical games, this is    Scrolls is a surprisingly deep tactical card game. Units are placed on the board, and you then have to manage positioning, attack countdowns, board modifiers, creature buffs and debuffs, unique abilities, and attempting to guess what your opponent is going to do next. This isn't so much a traditional card game as it is a complex chess match.

    For those who enjoy tactical games, this is an absolute must to play, but it is rather hard to get into. Currently there are 360 cards in the game, and each of them have their own rules that affect the match in a different way. For example, one creature might have to wait 2 turns to attack after it is placed on the board, another will be able to attack as soon as it's played, while yet another will only attack after you have played 'x' number of creatures after it. Having to remember how each card works is quite a challenge for a new player, so many early matches involve using the entire 90 second turn to figure out how to react to an opponent's play. This means that matches between new players can take up to an hour sometimes, which turns off a lot of people. Comparatively, a normal match between players who know the rules, and their decks, takes an average of 15-20 minutes.    … Expand
  2. NrpTheNinja
    Dec 15, 2014
    10
    Scrolls is an great, deep strategy game that I recommend to everyone! At the very least you can try the free demo version and get hooked. At only 5 USD, Scrolls offers enough content to keep you occupied for a long time. You will have fun collecting all the Scrolls, beating trials, and unlocking achievements. What sets Scrolls apart from other TCGs is the board. It adds a whole newScrolls is an great, deep strategy game that I recommend to everyone! At the very least you can try the free demo version and get hooked. At only 5 USD, Scrolls offers enough content to keep you occupied for a long time. You will have fun collecting all the Scrolls, beating trials, and unlocking achievements. What sets Scrolls apart from other TCGs is the board. It adds a whole new element of strategy, and the little creatures look awesome as they are summoned too! The game has a lot of social aspects like chats, trading with other players, and multi-player quick and ranked matches for a high replay value. I've been playing Scrolls for a year and a half and I still can't get enough of it. The people in the community are incredibly nice and helpful compared to other games too. Fun, varied gameplay will have you Scrolling for months!… Expand
  3. TastyWheat
    Dec 16, 2014
    9
    Surprisingly deep TCG with board game elements. It has an extensive demo, and at $5 for the full purchase, it's hard to beat. Mojang has really done a great job here. In many ways it's not your typical TCG. Board position is a crucial element, and it makes the game feel more like a clever mashup of Magic: The Gathering and Plants vs Zombies than a Hearthstone competitor. Definitely checkSurprisingly deep TCG with board game elements. It has an extensive demo, and at $5 for the full purchase, it's hard to beat. Mojang has really done a great job here. In many ways it's not your typical TCG. Board position is a crucial element, and it makes the game feel more like a clever mashup of Magic: The Gathering and Plants vs Zombies than a Hearthstone competitor. Definitely check this one out.

    Microtransactions are there if you want to get a jump on your card collection or avatar customizations, but Mojang has done a really good job of avoiding a pay-to-win scenario. Everything you can buy with real-money (shards) is available for in-game currency (gold) at reasonable prices, while many more items are gold only, including booster packs. The all-important "Black Market" in-game trading platform is gold only too.    … Expand
  4. iScrE4m
    Dec 15, 2014
    10
    Strategy, CCG, collecting, awesome community, hardcore gameplay, big esports potential. Those are just few things that define what Scrolls is. With amazing development team behind it I have high hopes for Scrolls future.
  5. Shiny
    Jan 2, 2015
    10
    I really love this game. It combines a traditional card game with a board game mechanic, that makes this game very strategical.
    You build your deck and start a game, place units, cast spells and enchanments and try to destroy the oppenents idols, while keeping your own safe.
    At the beginning you start with just one Growth Starter Deck. So, what to do? You can play Trials, which have    I really love this game. It combines a traditional card game with a board game mechanic, that makes this game very strategical.
    You build your deck and start a game, place units, cast spells and enchanments and try to destroy the oppenents idols, while keeping your own safe.

    At the beginning you start with just one Growth Starter Deck. So, what to do?
    You can play Trials, which have custom rules. Beating them not only rewards you a lot of money, but alos shows you the mechanics of the game.
    I'd recommend doing a couple of those, for you get new starter decks for beating other factions.
    That way you can easily test all other factions and pick one to dive in.
    You can spend your gold then on booster packs, or preconstructed decks, to further enhance your library.

    If you feel you need a human to test your deck against, go into a quick match.
    Feeling already experienced enough? Go Ranked, which is tougher, of course, but you learn a lot about other cards, factions and playstyles that way.
    You can also compete in Judgement. Though, there you get a random selection of cards and try to build the best deck possible with these limited cards. Each win with this deck grants you more rewards (more gold and more cards to keep from the random deck you build).

    There's also Crafting, Black market, Watch Live Games, but I won't explain everything at this point.
    Pay to Win? Not a chance. You earn gold in game quite easy and there is a limitation on real-money transactions. I have never had the need to pay some real money and already got 75% of the cards at least once (playing since release).

    All in all, it's an addictive game, with a deep level of strategy involved and a lot of stuff to get into.
    Try the demo, it's free and offers you already a lot. 4,50 € isn't much to spend and keeps ragers and people of that sort away.
    Now that I think about it, the community is really great. Never in a game have I experienced such a friendly atmosphere.

    Well, again: Try the demo yourselves! :)    … Expand
  6. tuckboat
    Jan 13, 2015
    9
    The only negative I can find with this game is that it can be very time consuming. Slow-pacing is a requirement for a good tactical turn-base game. I for one am loving all of the digital card games that are popping up everywhere and this is one of my favorites. It's got it's own mechanics that make it feel like a somewhat new experience even if you are an old-school fan of the genre. AlsoThe only negative I can find with this game is that it can be very time consuming. Slow-pacing is a requirement for a good tactical turn-base game. I for one am loving all of the digital card games that are popping up everywhere and this is one of my favorites. It's got it's own mechanics that make it feel like a somewhat new experience even if you are an old-school fan of the genre. Also the artwork and illustrations are top-notch (something I have seen overlooked too often). If your a fan of the genre you need to download now!… Expand
  7. GuidoFubini
    Jan 6, 2015
    10
    Played scrolls for about 18 month now and still excited to play after having played several thousand games. Content unlocking is incredibly generous and you can buy the full version of the game for 5$ (there is a free demo version). The community is super friendly and helpful and the game has great potential to become even better with more people joining and tournament scene developingPlayed scrolls for about 18 month now and still excited to play after having played several thousand games. Content unlocking is incredibly generous and you can buy the full version of the game for 5$ (there is a free demo version). The community is super friendly and helpful and the game has great potential to become even better with more people joining and tournament scene developing further. Fully recommend it.… Expand
  8. Sghignifiss
    Jan 7, 2015
    10
    This game wins hands down in the ever growing field of TCGs. It has a very deep strategy in card definitions and some very intriguing tactic aspects in the use of a board game-like battlefield in which creatures are summoned and moved. I've already seen this concept in other card games, but never in such a well designed way.

    The game itself in my opinion is the perfect balance between    This game wins hands down in the ever growing field of TCGs. It has a very deep strategy in card definitions and some very intriguing tactic aspects in the use of a board game-like battlefield in which creatures are summoned and moved. I've already seen this concept in other card games, but never in such a well designed way.

    The game itself in my opinion is the perfect balance between complexity and playability, deep mechanics and user-friendliness. Games are quite long if you campare them with games like Heartstone but they're very involving and give much fun and satisfaction. So many game modes to chose between will keep you playing for hours in a single session: from daily pve trials to pve skirmishes to an infinite list of specific pve trials that keeps you playing for MONTHS, to quick pvp games or ranked games, or even the judgement mode, which is a draft mode similar to Heartstone's Arena mode but much more well designed to create actually working decks and not just random 'keep-the-best-card' decks.

    You can add to all this that this game cost is just 5$, meaning that you pay 5$ to get the full game and then nothing more: you'll earn (many) gold playing and you'll use it to purchase everything in the game. The game is even cross-platform and if you purchase the full game for a platform you'll get it free for the others. I bought the game for PC when it was in beta and got the Android version for free.

    Add also to all this that the gold earning/shop costs ratio is very affordable: you'll get 10 new cards with every 3 or 4 games. And there's A LOT of ways to get cards, too: from the shop with 10 random cards packs, single card puchases or preconstructed decks, from the black market, in which you can buy and sell your single cards, and from the trading channel in which you can even trade your cards for gold or other cards with other players live!

    All this is surronuded by a GREAT community effort to keep the game fresh and alive: you can find TONS of guides, articles and so much useful web tools to manage decks, create new cards, analyze game mechanics and discuss about the game in general. The work done here to maintain the game open to community input is wonderful.

    This is a real TCG game like only MtG could be. This is for real TCG players. It will not be easy. It will not forgive mistakes. It will take you moths to learn and to master. But if you call yourself a serious TCG player you have to try it. The demo is free to download and it consists in the full game limited to easy level pve and qick match pvp. If you're a real TCG player you'll love it.    … Expand
  9. mrrockitt
    Mar 16, 2015
    9
    Excellent!
    Great twist on the TCG. Good, clear graphics and intuitive interface. This game is very generous with the gold-gathering unlike may other TCG's and you certainly don't get the feeling that you won't get anywhere unless you spend real money.
    There's good variety in the decks and play-styles available and the game has one of the nicest community's out there! Highly recommended    Excellent!
    Great twist on the TCG. Good, clear graphics and intuitive interface. This game is very generous with the gold-gathering unlike may other TCG's and you certainly don't get the feeling that you won't get anywhere unless you spend real money.
    There's good variety in the decks and play-styles available and the game has one of the nicest community's out there!
    Highly recommended to TCG fans who wants something a bit more cerebral than Hearthstone!    … Expand
  10. porkbus
    May 4, 2015
    9
    I downloaded the demo version of Scrolls this morning. I've played most of the day, which is surprising. I just recently tried Magic 2015 and played that first campaign before I hit the paywall. I spent maybe 5 hours? on that. I refuse to spend money on Magic online when I'd rather have the cards and play with people at the store. I downloaded LOTRO and spent maybe 6 hours with that beforeI downloaded the demo version of Scrolls this morning. I've played most of the day, which is surprising. I just recently tried Magic 2015 and played that first campaign before I hit the paywall. I spent maybe 5 hours? on that. I refuse to spend money on Magic online when I'd rather have the cards and play with people at the store. I downloaded LOTRO and spent maybe 6 hours with that before I got bored with it; it's pretty, but I spent too many years with WOW. For me, Scrolls is the highlight of this year by far. Last year it was The Cave and Ittle Dew. Scrolls, for me, is comparable. I don't consider it a AAA title, which is good; those sorts of games are big on glam and short on gameplay, as a general rule. My kids won't even play with the Wii or the 2DS, but they do love their Android games (Piano Tiles is big at the moment) and my 5yo will not let go of the Ouya. They both consider Scrolls boring, which I consider a "thumbs up". There are no COD players in my household.

    I would give this a 10 for the card game genre. Maybe a 6 or 7 if you're a MMORPG player (and your server's down). Probably a 3 if you're a tactical boardgame person (it's a small board, but it does have hexes). If you're a COD person, you will never read this, so whatever.

    I personally consider this superior to Magic and most anything else on the PC. It's a different story IRL, so let's hope Mojang doesn't start printing cards and hexmaps.

    Specific to the game, I have not found any bugs yet. Everything works. The only drawback I've discovered is that I feel I'm stuck with a Growth deck, as I opted to spend that initial 5k gold I earned in the first hour on the Explorer's Packs, instead of a preconstructed deck of another resource. I like the feel of opening the pack, which nets me random cards.

    The AI is not that bright. I've found I can concentrate on a few undefended idols for an easy win, as the AI won't move its pieces away from whatever idol I've given up as bait; it's reluctant to move around. But this is a minor quip, as the Trials are for making gold and picking up on general strategy. I haven't yet tried a multiplayer match. There are player rankings (the top 100) and I noticed several player-made decks for sale in the store itself (talk about bragging rights). There is also a "black market" in-game where you can buy and sell cards. And there are tournaments. I clicked through to a Twitch stream this morning before I knew what I was doing at all. There's a lot going on here.

    The deck-builder sucks. I can't sugar-coat that one. Thankfully, it lets you sort by resource and cost. I'm not really a fan of the drag-a-card thing.

    Oh, there's no undo button. If you meant to move somewhere else on your turn, too bad. I kind of like that. I'm not sure why.

    I hope this keeps me entertained for more than the 4 or 6 weeks? that Archeage did at release.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. CD-Action
    Mar 4, 2015
    80
    I strongly urge you to give Scrolls a chance, especially that there’s a free demo available and the full game costs next to nothing. [02/2015, p.54]
  2. Games Master UK
    Feb 22, 2015
    79
    A clever card battler that's fantastic for genre fans, but too hard to pick up to win many new ones. [Mar 2015, p.70]
  3. games(TM)
    Feb 13, 2015
    70
    While its an advancement on Hearthstone mechanically, if Hearthstone is the standard for the genre these days, then invariably Scrolls becomes one for CCG veterans only.
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