SolForge - Initial Thoughts

About the Game (From the Steam Store Page)

 Designed by the creators of Magic: The Gathering and the Ascension Deckbuilding Game, SolForge is a free-to-play digital collectible game in which players construct their own decks to challenge their friends or battle against the computer. There are multiple modes of play, including tournaments, drafts, ranked play, campaign mode, and a variety of new events every week! Players can customize their decks with cards from their collection that they can earn through gameplay or purchase from the store. Try it now for free!

The core mechanic in SolForge is leveling. Whenever you play a card, that card levels up into a new, more powerful version. As the game progresses, you level up, and gain access to your more powerful higher level cards. Some cards start off weak and level up into powerhouses, while others start off strong and don't improve much as they level, presenting strategic and tactical choices that will challenge even the most seasoned gaming veterans.

With hundreds of cards that each transform as you play, SolForge is a game unlike any other. Try it free today!

Previous Playtime

5 hours

What Was I Thinking When I Bought This

Well, it's a free-to-play, and in 2014 I was more naive about these things. However it wasn't just the price that attracted me. I was mostly hooked by the fact that it's a card game "designed by the creators of Magic: The Gathering." I was a huge M:tG fan from way back and the idea of a free Magic-like card game really appealed to me.

Expectations and Prior Experience

One thing I've discovered over the course of writing this blog is that it's entirely possible there is no digital card game I will not like. I've played four of them so far and every one is among my favorite games overall. It's been a long time since I played SolForge, but I don't anticipate it breaking the trend.

If I recall, it rather ingeniously uses the fact that it only exists in digital form to do things that would be impossible (or at least rather complicated and tedious) to do in a tabletop game. This appeals to me purely as game-design nerdery, and it would take a simply awful execution to turn me against the idea.

My big regret, though, is that I probably won't get a chance to play multiplayer. From what I understand, SolForge is a bit of a zombie game at this point. They were planning on shutting down the servers entirely, but then they somehow managed to keep a few of them open. In all likelihood, the multiplayer scene is pretty close to moribund.

I did once play this game online with my friend Daniel, but that experience was not a good one. The game was good and the company was great, but actually setting up the game to get two human players in the same game at the same time was a monumental chore. And while this is the part where I say I hope they've fixed it in the interim, it seems likely to me, given the overall state of the game itself, that they have not.

So here's how I see this going - I will play a large number of games against the AI, and be unreasonably delighted to do so, but I will never get the chance to see SolForge the way it was meant to be seen.

I'll try not to be too morose about it.