Card Wars Kingdom is a mobile game inspired by the card game tournament found in the Adventure Time episode: “Card Wars”. The game features gameplay elements that will be familiar to those who have played Hearthstone or Magic the Gathering. However, there are quite a few differences that make the game unique.
In this short guide we’ll be covering the basic how-to parts of the game. Let’s take a look, shall we?
How to Play
Card Wars Kingdom has a very simple objective. Unlike other card games of late, the goal is not to kill your opponent, but rather your opponent’s creatures. This is done in numerous ways, with the main two methods being spells and creature-on-creature combat.
At the start of each game a coin is tossed to decide who goes first. Afterward, players will enter the “Deploy Phase”. Neither player will be able to attack or cast spells during the Deploy Phase, and it simply exists to ensure players have at least one creature in play (as a lack of creatures on the field leads to defeat).
After the Deploy Phase, players will gain 1 point. Points are required to make a move in this game; the more points you have, the more cards you can play. Each card will have a number on its top left that represents the amount of points you need to play those cards. Each turn the number of available points you have will increase by 1.
Before playing a card, players can tap on the card to zoom in on it. Tapping on the card again will bring up detailed information on the card. Be sure to read each card carefully as any card can be used on your creatures or your opponents accidentally without confirmation. This can have game changing effects if you use your cards without be sure of their effects, so watch out!
Up to 4 creatures can be played at a time, and only 5 can be used per game. Each creature has its own stats and spell cards associated with it. To get a spell card you must “drag attack” with that creature. Once you do, you will draw 1 of the 5 cards associated with it.
Using spell cards will build up your Floop Meter. Once full, you will draw a Floop Card. Floop cards are cost-free cards that typically have much stronger abilities than your typical spell cards. These should be used in reserve as their free cost can make or break a game, and should be used only to secure a victory or in dire situations.
Stats: What do they do?
There are five stats that each creature has in Card Wars Kingdom. These stats include:
- Cost (purple circle): Determines how many points it costs to play the creature
- HP: Determines the maximum health of the creature
- ATK: Determines the damage dealt by drag attacks
- MGC: Determines the damage of Magic Attacks
- CRT: Determines the chance of landing a critical strike
There appears to be another stat that is represented by a weight. However, despite multiple tests I have been unable to discover what it does. I had originally believed it to be the defense stat that was present in the original Card Wars, but after multiple tests it appears that defense stats have been exchanged for a place as a status effect.
EDIT (7/23/2016): As readers have pointed out in the comment section below, the weight is actually used to balance the maximum strength of your deck. Each deck has a set maximum weight dependent on your player level. This is used to prevent players from having decks that are too powerful or simply using multiple high-powered creatures.
While in-game, each creature will display a condensed version of its stats. The purple circle determines the creature’s Drag Attack cost. The red circle displays how much Drag Attack damage the creature will do, while the blue circle determines their Magic Damage. Lastly, the grey circle displays your creature’s current health.
Depending on the deck you’re using, you’ll want to have higher HP, Damage, and Magic Damage or have a low Drag Attack cost. Check your cards, and what each element is good at to ensure your deck has a consistent strategy or at the very least some reliable cards.
Powering up your Creatures
Borrowing from the long list of RPG style mobile games out there, Card Wars Kingdom lets you combine your lottery-gained creatures to level them up. Leveling up is scripted — so no matter how you decide to level up your creature, it will have no effect on how much of each stat is gained per level. As such, feel free to dump any of your extra/spare creatures and cake carts into the power up slots.
That said, using spare cards/extras will yield much more experience than using cake cards. Furthermore, using cake or creature cards of the same type (i.e: corn cake with a corn monster) will yield 1.5x the normal experience points. Keep in mind that using creature cards instead of cake cards will also cost more coins.
Be sure not to pour all your upgrades into one creature. Doing so will make your deck uneven, and unless you have a deck/character combo that relies only on one creature then it’s not a good idea to do so.
That’s all for now folks!
There’s plenty more to learn in Card Wars Kingdom, but most of it will be through experimentation as few players will be likely to open up the same cards through the treasure lottery. Remember to keep all the basics in mind while playing, and most of all remember to actually read your cards in the Team menu!
With that said and done, good luck out there explorers!
