World War II: TCG

World War II: TCG is a free-to-play, online turn-based digital collectible card game developed and published by FrozenShard Games. The game was released on March 6, 2014 for iOS, June 19, 2014 for Android, and February 23, 2019^[1] for Steam.^[2] It is the first release from FrozenShard Games, which was founded on September 24, 2012^[3] by three former Blizzard Entertainment employees^[4] and was created following a successful Kickstarter campaign.

World War II: TCG
Developer(s)	FrozenShard Games
Publisher(s)	FrozenShard Games
Designer(s)	Marc Tormo
Programmer(s)	Christian Gascons
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Mac OS Android iOS
Release	March 6, 2014 (iOS) June 19, 2014 (Android) February 23, 2019 (Steam)
Genre(s)	Digital collectible card game
Mode(s)	Single player campaign Player vs player Historical missions Raids

World War II: TCG is based on the events of World War II.^[5]

Gameplay

As of 2015, World War II: TCG allows players to join five different distinct factions including: The Germans, Russians, Japanese, Americans, and the British. Players can enjoy the game in a variety of ways by playing in a single player mode, online co-op, an online PvP mode, and even a cross-platform PvP mode so players can play each other on a variety of different consoles.^[6]

World War II: TCG contains four major types of cards in: Units, Items, Orders, and Commands. Each card type is based on World War II technology, such as the Japanese A6M Zero plane and Tiger tank.^[7]

The game has a unique resource system^[5] in which the player starts with three action points that can be used to play cards from their first turn onwards. Players can use their action points to promote units and become more powerful; a card that starts as an infantry unit gains more attack power, health, and abilities after being promoted. If a card is destroyed, it returns to the player's deck and may be drawn again in its promoted state.^[8]

And though World War II: TCG had a good fan base behind it, as of October 3rd, FrozenShard announed the official end of the game itself. Due to the fact that Gamesparks, the backend provider of FrozenShard, ultimately decided to end their services. And with no other viable options/services to be able to support the game, FrozenShard in turn ultimately decided to shut down the game. ^[9]

Expansions

Release dates in chronological order:

• Sea Lords - Added ships and submarines (80+ new cards), May 11, 2017
• Stronghold - Added structures (60+ new cards), May 28, 2018
• Outbreak - Crafting option (80+ new cards), May 2, 2019
• War Machine - Swap cards option (130+ new cards), October 14, 2019
• Defiance - Gameplay and UI rework (120+ new cards and leaders feature), December 7, 2020^[10]

Reception

Joseph Luster of the Warfare History Network website called World War II: TCG a "fun new take on WWII Combat" and said it was "surprisingly likable". He highlighted the fact that "cards can be examined to get a better idea of which one would be appropriate for a particular play. But, the simpler battles can typically be won mainly by being aggressive and coming out strong with cards that will, ideally, overpower the ones your enemy puts on the field".^[11]

Rob Thomas of 148Apps.com reviewed an early version of the game and stated that, "While an enjoyable enough experience most of the time, World War II: TCG sports a few serious weaknesses." Thomas criticized how "random chance" sometimes resulted in "infuriating unfairness," along with the game's lack of "fundamental concepts" from other digital trading card games. While Thomas viewed the tutorial at the start of the game as lengthy, he noted that there was a lack of explanations for many new elements introduced after the tutorial. He concluded the review by saying that, "Free to play doesn't excuse many design mistakes that make this collectible card game feel fresh out basic training."^[12]

World War II: TCG was a finalist in Gamelab 2014's "Best Debut" section.^[13][14] FrozenShard Games was selected by Asus as the winner of the "Innovation Prize", where the game was presented in Bilbao's Guggenheim museum^[15] for the Fun&Serious Game Festival.^[16]

References

1. "FrozenShard presenta World War II TCG para iPad". IGN España (in European Spanish). 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
2. "WWII TCG - World War 2: The Card Game - Steam News Hub".
3. Sempere, Josep Maria (2013-07-12). "FrozenShard anuncia World War II: TCG". Eurogamer.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
4. "La II Guerra Mundial, a las cartas". El Diario Vasco (in European Spanish). 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
5. AS, Diario (2014-04-06). "World War II TCG: un original juego de cartas para el iPad". AS.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
6. "WWII TCG - World War 2: The Card Game on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
7. Gascons ([e-mail]), Christian. "World War II: The Card Game". www.frozenshard.com. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
8. Gascons ([e-mail]), Christian. "World War II: The Card Game". www.frozenshard.com. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
9. "Steam Community :: WWII TCG - World War 2: The Card Game". steamcommunity.com. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
10. "WWII TCG - World War 2: The Card Game - WW2 TCG - New Expansion: DEFIANCE AVAILABLE NOW - Steam News". store.steampowered.com. 2020-12-06. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
11. "Game Features: World War II: TCG". Warfare History Network. 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
12. "World War II: TCG Review | 148Apps". www.148apps.com. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
13. CD, Alex (2014-06-25). "Arranca el Gamelab 2014". Vidaextra (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
14. "Los mejores estudios indie de España participarán en la Gamelab 2014". Game It – Consolas, videojuegos y hardware (in Spanish). 23 June 2014. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
15. "La industria del videojuego busca a los mejores". ElCorreo.com. 2013-11-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
16. "ASUS convirtió un proyecto de videojuegos en una realidad | Fun & Serious Game Festival" (in European Spanish). 2 December 2013. Retrieved 2021-01-26.

External links

• Official website
• Steam Store Page