Okay, this one seems to be a bit niche, but in the early days of online browser games, there was a Trading Card Game that was so unique and exciting that I am genuinely saddened that it will never be revived! There has never been a game quite like it since and it will always hold a special place to me!
This TCG was essentially a turn-based 1v1 battle with two players facing off against each other. Each player selected their champion to battle against their opponent. The players would then select a ‘move’, this could be attacking your opponent or defending to reduce incoming damage. Once you had selected your move, you had the ability to use a power-up card to enhance your strike, help your defense, or heal yourself!
I always remembered the artwork on the shop screen where the shopkeeper was a badass with big muscles and an eye patch! Unfortunately, we were too young at the time to be able to really take advantage of the shop! If this game was released now, I think I would be in trouble!
Although you could buy additional card packs through the troll shop, you also had a free pack available every month, that usually had common cards and a sneaky rare to get you excited! I remember having the rare monster below (Pandenese), the ninja, and the winged demon in my monthly allocations!
Each of the characters had their own areas that they originated from. Mountains, Forest, Plains, Ice, Swamp, Desert and Arena.
There were 48 different character cards that you could play as, all that ‘evolved’ into a cooler version of itself as you won battles. There were 4 levels that you could reach:
- Level 1 – 0 victories
- Level 2 – 5 victories
- Level 3 – 20 victories
- Level 4 – 50 victories
Here are the sheets of characters that you could play as:
I remember the first time I laid eyes on this epic game. My friends, brothers, and I were crowded around a CRT monitor on a Packard Bell desktop at my friend’s house while our parents were having drinks and catching up downstairs in the living room.
The concept of the game was so simple, but there was just something completely unique and exciting about it. Looking back at the pictures, I think the artwork was what really struck a chord with me. The thing that made this experience even better was that if your character was defeated in battle, it would be sent to the graveyard! So it really made you feel connected to the creature and you didn’t want to let it die (although sometimes the connection dropped and we lost!)
Finally, I just wanted to comment on how nostalgically awesome the website and banners were. Obviously, times change and websites look completely different than they did even 10 years ago, but there was an awesome charm to these types of sites, their layout, and their artwork.
Here is a snippet of the website and some banners they used.
I hope the creator doesn’t mind me using his images on this page. The original page where you can read more about this fantastic game and see all the images on is https://www.behance.net/gallery/1049341/BattleTrolls
