What is Hex?
Some of you may have already heard about the recent hype behind Cryptozoic Entertainment’s first original hybrid MMO/TCG Hex. They started a kickstarter campaign to fund the game which churned out over 13,000 backers and $1,800,000, and the numbers are still going up as I watch their introductory video.
Hex takes the addictive nature of trading card games and combines it with the prosperity and longevity of MMOs. There are many digital versions of trading card games that are only available in arcade form. This makes them very linear as you could essentially only do two things, collect and play (point A to point B.) They lack what Hex offers to the digital trading card game market. With the progressive nature of an MMO things are always subject to change through out the games life time.
The game and the campaign.
From what I’ve gathered, the general mechanics are similar to other popular card games with the exception of a fully customizable equipment system for PvE and a real time market system like in many MMOs. The concept seems a bit unusual at first, but because it is an MMO, the ability to customize and grow, communicate with other players, establish guilds, and create unique play styles are all part of the experience. The content ranges from dungeons and raids, story and guild quest, to a competition-ready PvP environment.
Hex is pretty much creating an entirely new genre of games. Cryptozoic set a $300,000 goal which is reasonable, but I’m sure Cory Jones (CCO and president of Cryptozoic Entertainment) expected to get backed for a few more dollars. What he didn’t expect was that his passion for the game bleed off to the masses and made it so effortless understand the games potential, and how this project could be the next big thing in gaming.
Kickstater is probably one of the best ways for small, independent companies to fund a project. If your project is any good as Cryptozoic demonstrated you will get tons of support, especially from the ever so amazing gaming community.
