'Duelyst' could be the 'Hearthstone' competitor we’ve been waiting for

"Hearthstone" (2014) has run virtually unopposed in the casual CCG (collectible card game) genre since its release, with primary competitors like “Magic: The Gathering” (1993 - present) being far less accessible due to its steeper learning curve and a visually-uninspired video game version.Now that Hearthstone’s barriers to entry have risen substantially, the time is ripe for newcomers to elbow their way into the scene and keep Activision-Blizzard on their toes. "Duelyst", which entered open beta in late 2015, has high production quality and an experienced development team behind it, both of which indicate that it very well could be the chosen CCG to break the duopoly, siphoning off the section of the "Hearthstone" player base that yearns for a little more strategic thought without being overburdened by complexity.

Like "Hearthstone," there are classes represented by heroes (called Generals), and the player builds a deck using both class-specific and neutral cards of varying rarity to achieve the win condition: reducing the enemy General’s health to zero. The most noticeable difference between the two games is that Generals and minions do battle on a 5-by-9 grid, offering some strategic depth as you must decide what square to drop your minions in, where to move the current minions on the board and anticipate your opponent’s maneuvers. In addition to minions, there are also spells and “artifacts,” which temporarily modify your General’s abilities. Your General can move slowly around the board and when buffed can become a one-man wrecking crew. The cards and their effects are clearly explained by hovering over the card, and the way mechanics are explained and how cards are played out onto the board will likely be intuitive to "Hearthstone" players. Experienced CCG players and newcomers will have no problem adjusting to any of the systems used here. This fusion of card game and board game feels a lot like a variant of chess in which both white and black start with just their king and draw cards to determine what pieces they throw down. This combination of card game and tabletop strategy has been attempted before but with mixed results as shown by the recent collapse of Mojang’s “Scrolls” (2014).

Fortunately, "Duelyst" shows signs that history won’t repeat itself this time. There is a good chance it can carve out a niche in between “Magic” and “Hearthstone” for a small, but dedicated, user base. The mechanics, user interface and gameplay as seen in the beta are undoubtedly worthy of praise. What it will come down to for many is whether they are fans of the aesthetic; not everyone will fall in love with the simplistic art style or the board’s bright colors. It certainly doesn’t have the advantage of the Blizzard gloss that coats all of its products or having characters from popular fantasy lore, but the hundreds of 16-bit sprites in Duelyst and their individually-customized animations are clearly well-crafted with great attention to detail. The same goes for the game audio, which is excellently produced. The developers have laid the foundational bricks of a successful game with great care.

This was for good reason. The Duelyst developers, Counterplay Games, are comprised of experienced individuals who worked on “Diablo III” (2012), “Rogue Legacy” (2013) and the “Rachet and Clank” series (2002 - present). They certainly have the talent and the know-how to execute the game well, but as a small, newly-formed game company they will have to confront the difficulty of building the trust of customers willing to drop large sums of money on card packs. With trust being so limited for this independent company, they cannot afford to make missteps lest its players flee to greener pastures. Here's hoping that they will defy the odds and make the "Hearthstone" developers sweat a little by offering a worthy challenger.

The Duelyst beta has been out since October 2015 and is currently available to download for free on PC and Mac.