Stone Blade Entertainment’s ‘SolForge’ CCG Open Beta Is Now Live

Stone Blade Entertainment’s free-to-play CCG SolForge has been available on the App Store in limited Beta form since last December (and on Steam for the last month or so), but today they have officially launch the Open Beta with some major enhancements and features finally appearing in the game.

For those of you unfamiliar with SolForge, here is a little overview (taken from the official website):

Game Overview
SolForge is a free-to-play digital collectible strategy game that combines all the depth of a traditional trading card game experience with the convenience of online and mobile gaming. In SolForge, you take on the role of a Forgeborn, one of the select few who can wield the magic of the SolForge itself. You collect cards that represent ferocious creatures and powerful spells, and use those cards to construct decks and battle AI opponents or test your skills against other players in the arena.

Goal of the Game
You and your opponent each start a game of SolForge with 100 health, and the goal of the game is to reduce your opponent’s health to 0 by dealing damage with your creatures and spells. How you do this—whether it’s by attacking with a swarm of creatures to win as quickly as possible or playing defense with powerful spells until you can take over the game with a single unstoppable monster—is completely up to you.

The version 3.0.0 update finally sees the addition of (cross-platform) Online Play, allowing players to compete against online opponents (friends or random) in both timed or untimed matches. iPad players can compete with players on Steam and your same login credentials will get you into the game on either platform. The timer allows for quicker matches, counting down while it is a player’s turn to take an action. When the clock runs out, that player forfeits the match.

Deck Building has been enabled for players to craft their own winning decks from over 180 unique cards. Everone is given a standard set of cards, but Kickstarter supporters and those who pre-ordered booster packs will have access to additional cards.

“The SolForge store is now live, where you can buy booster packs to expand your collection. Any early access rewards and pre-ordered packs will be in your collection as soon as you log in”. There are also three daily currency and card awards for just logging in, completing three matches and winning a match.

There are three different kinds of booster packs in SolForge – the Basic pack, the Normal pack, and the Premium pack, with varying costs in SolForge currency. These packs have different numbers of cards and distributions of rarity to give players more flexibility looking for the cards they want for their collection. The Normal pack is the version that we have previously explained, with 8 cards across three guaranteed levels of rarity and a chance to contain the highest level of rarity. This is the kind of pack that is included as part of the Early Access rewards and 20 packs for $20 promotion.

I had trouble connecting to the store from within the iOS tonight, so there are already some kinks that are being worked out (it is a beta after all). I was awarded with 1200 silver coins and a free card as my daily reward for playing a match. Right now the only items that seem to be purchasable in the store (via the web, where I WAS able to login) are packs of GOLD coins. However, it is unclear how this translate into booster packs and cards (at least until I can access the store).

I’ve been playing the game (against the AI) off an on since the launched last December and it is rather fun. Remember this is still a beta so there will definitely be some hiccups….but it is free-to-play after all. And the sooner you download it the more daily rewards you’ll earn.

UPDATE 8/15:

Last night I was able to connect to the store and you can use your silver to purchase the Basic Booster packs (three cards) as well as additional table skins. The other levels of booster packs are purchasable using gold. I gotta say it is pretty fun (and addictive) tearing into your booster packs and seeing what cards you’ve unlocked. In the two Normal Booster packs I received as part of my daily rewards I got some nice cards.