Best online TCG for me. Certainly beats Hearthstone in complexity.

So, Hex.

Here's a game that just can't decide what it wants to be.

They marketed heavily as an "MMO" yet there is no functionality at all for any sort of multiplayer interaction in the PvE. Amazingly, Hearthstone has even done a better job in that regard with the occasional "Co-op Brawls".

In fact - on the topic of Hearthstone and PvE - where the Hearthstone "Adventures" have often contained some creative encounters with quality card rewards, Hex PvE encounters in AZ1 tend to be quite bland and largely rely on frustrating the player in some way, while offering almost nothing in terms of value in the rewards.

Which brings me to the second part of, "Hex doesn't know what it wants to be". It's labeled as a "F2P" game - and technically yes, you can download the game and log in for free. You can even play through the PvE campaign (which has not been updated or expanded upon for 3 years now?) for free. However, beyond that, if you want to play the actual TCG part against other players, the game uses a payment system that's almost identical to Magic Online. (Albeit cheaper per-pack)

Now, experienced players will probably read this and jump in to ask, "But Bovinity, what about grinding for gold?"

Yes, you can grind in the Frost Ring Arena for gold which you can then trade to other players for their Platinum which you can then use to buy packs. And this is entirely PvE, you won't even be playing against other players. Just the same AI over and over again. If you're an experienced player with an already-refined (read: paid for) deck, you can grind and get about $1/hour out of the Arena.

Yes, $1/hour for an experienced player with an already-good deck. In other words, a new player is likely to get a better return on your time walking on the side of the road and picking up cans to turn in. With the added bonus that you won't utterly hate the game afterwards, which enough Frost Ring Arena grinding will indeed cause you to do.

Now, what about the software itself? Well, the Hex playing boards are certainly prettier than anything in Magic Online right now at least. The interface overall is much prettier. I don't think that's reason enough to play one game over another, but if that's what you're looking for, then Hex is a good choice for you. The tradeoff is that the interface is horribly laggy. Using the Auction House is a painful experience more often than not, every click can take seconds to process.

On to the game itself!

So Hex wasn't sued by Magic for no reason. The game is extremely similar in many of the core play mechanics. Mostly the same play phases, card interactions and so on exist here. If you enjoy Magic, you'll probably like Hex. If you hate Magic, there's no reason to waste your time in Hex, simply stated.

This brings me to another one of Hex's big marketing points: That they're a purely digital game, while Magic Online is still tied to the paper cards, and therefore Hex is capable of a lot more. This is true, but there's a problem: The design team of Hex just hasn't leveraged it well at all. Many of the mechanics just aren't compelling at all. For example:

Random Effects on cards? No, I don't find that to be a compelling use of the format.

Cards "remembering" buffs placed on them if they're removed/bounced/etc? That's nice, but again - not really a truly compelling use of the format. I don't know that any players thought to themselves, "Gosh, I sure wish Magic did that!"

Prophecy? It's ok. Similar effects could indeed exist in a game like Magic, albeit not in the same way. In fact, most all Prophecy effects are just familiar card effects. (+1/+1 to a creature, Fork on a spell)

I think the only truly interesting concept I've seen the designers use in the format are cards with "hidden" tokens.

In fact, I truly believe that the design team is a big factor in holding Hex back right now. They seem incapable of truly leveraging the digital format, their PvE encounters are bland and uninteresting, and they even seen to be unable to produce cards/effects that encourage anything but the same old Rush and/or Burn styles of play. (If you're a casual follower of Hex, what major decks have you heard of? Yotul and McBombus? No great shock there.)

The upcoming rotating out of all existing Characters and Gems is probably the most blatant, "We have no idea how to fix what we've done, lets just burn it all." move that I've ever seen from a card game. Even with that move, the upcoming 5th set seems to still be full of cards that just aren't very interesting unless you want the same kind of pure burn/rush/tempo style play that Hearthstone offers.

So the bottom line - and the thing that most people probably ask themselves when looking at the variety of card games out there now - is the question, "Why should I pick Hex?" and the answer is simply that there's no good answer.

If you're looking for a deep, complex strategy card game there's simply no good reason to not go with Magic: the Gathering right now. If a clean interface, occasional PvE content, and a more honest F2P system are what you're looking for, there's little reason to not simply play Hearthstone.

If you're looking for something in between, then maybe one day Hex will be what you're looking for, and maybe supporting it today will help it become that game. Right now, it just hasn't met its goals.

Love the game.

I picked this up about a month and a half ago. Played Magic years ago and have been a pretty avid Hearthstone player for the past year or so.

I haven't played hearthstone since starting Hex.

This game is great. Complex gameplay (without being like hard for a noob to pick up), like there's just so many, many possibilities that you can do. So many interesting, viable decks.

I play primarily PvP Constructed and a good bit of Limited and can't recommend it enough. Set 5 is being teased right now and the cards look amazing.

Hex has a popular PvE component that I play some but PvP is my main interest in a game like this.

If you like card games you should really give this a try!

If you're looking for a full-fledged TCG, this is it. Great graphics, polished interface, and overall exceptional production value. It plays very similar to Magic: The Gathering but with a few key differences (eg. cards can retain effects even if they go back into your hand or into your deck). As such, it's leagues above something like Hearthstone in terms of depth.

However, keep in mind that since it works like a regular TCG, it's expected that you will either use money or a substantial amount of time to build up your collection (at least there's an auction house so you can buy/sell quite effectively).

I always wanted to play Magic Online but couldn't get past the hideous and outdated interface. HEX ended up being exactly what I was looking for, and more. Highly recommend.

The game is fun, but there is a paywall and getting cards requires grinding or shelling out money which is typical of this type of model. I would rather these games start using a pay once model on top of their free model. The difference should be the rewards you can gain. This would encourage people like me who see through your cash cow scheme to pay for the game what it is worth. I'm sick of these games being where you have to grind if you don't want to pay or hand over your weekly pay check if you do in order to compete.

The free currency 'gold' is as worthless as a broken ubisoft game. Yeah you could buy some garbage cards people put up in the auction house but no one is really playing this so there is hardly any cards up for sale. Game is somewhat dead in this regard. The campaign is nice but like I said, I hit the pay wall there and wont be able to advance unless I buy some platinum to get packs or just grind my life away. There is no happy medium here so if you want to pay gobs of money for worthless digital cards go for it.

Well I think I've put in enough hours on this game to write a review. The mixed reviews seem to range form the absurd to some valid points. Development was slow for awhile, mostly due to a lawsuit with a company that made the biggest tcg ever. I will say I started playing Magic during Beta in my youth and have a long history with card games and video games.

I am one of the people that did almost entirely free to play for the bulk of my play, making a competetive budget deck from pve grinding was not too difficult or too easy, it was a rewarding experience and I learned a lot about the game, trading, and community.

The Good:

-A F2P model that works, but suplementing it with a cash infusion is certianly advantageous. Even with a 20 dollar purchase of in game currency you can easily make more either through trading or winning competitions.

-A multitude of playstyles.
You can do the campaign with multiple characters, which is not so difficult, but can be far more complex when you tune and try to find interesting combos or increase your speed to the bbst possible.
A competitive constructed ladder for when you gain some cards to make competitive decks, some fo which can be made without using any expensive cards.
Draft for the more experienced players, Evo tournament for the new players (a great way to learn more cards and gain cards witha minimal buy in, also all buy-in can be accumulated without paying cash)
Free tournaments held by community pages (most notably FiveShards) which require no buyins and offer great prizes, currently there are two of these that occur weekly, twice each day at different times to accomodate all schedules.

- A far deeper experience than most ccg/tcgs on the market, think more like magic, much less like Hearthstone. With this being said it is far easier to jump into than magic both economically and the learning curve. I feel my understanding of the nuances of the game has increased at just the right amount as I continue playing.

-PVE events that can be very profitable even to those that have minimal cards, very good way to earn currency without spending money

-The use of the digital format to do things physical card games cannot is way ahead of any other existing one.

-Lastly a great community, I recommend finding a guild even though there is not a system in the game for them.

Cons-

-The auction house. The fact it exists is a pro, the UI and system is the con. Not easy to check current prices and sell cards at same time without going between windows which makes the experience very pain staking

-The lack of new and challenging PvE content which was promised, although some spoilers have been made available and it appears with the lawsuit ending things are progressing much more quickly.

-The announcements of new additions can be vague or late, it does seem they are learnign from this situation though.

-The chat/friends ui coudl be greatly improved. included in this is the aforementioned lack of a guild system. Although with outside apps it is not hard to keep a guild cohesive.

Conclusion: Although I listed quite a few cons, most are simply wishlist items. The game simply is fun, easy to learn but difficult to master, and f2p is more than possible if you find community articles and writeups.

8.5/10 simply because it can be improved, but it is the best game of its kind on the market currently and I intend to continue playing as long as these things all remain true. If you need help feel free to contact me in game: talthulortamn is my ign.

Best digital collectible card game out. As deep as Magic mechanically, better visualization and board functions than MTGO, release sets as regullary as you'd want, PVE available to grind up gold for packs if you want to play for free (there is a method for this), good draft formats including guantlets and enough of a playerbase so you don't waste your time in ques.

great game. wonderful digital tcg. pve content has potential , looking forward to more.

nicely made game but rngesus hates me