Aether: Trading Card Game

Introduction

The card game genre has a bright future in web3 games, with Gods Unchained and Splinterlands withstanding the test of time while Cross The Ages and Cards of Ethernity aim to come in and disrupt the genre forever. The latter comes under the Aether Games, a strong focus on artistic excellence, sharing true creativity, and turning our lifelong passion for fantasy into a tangible reality.

Cards of Ethernity, or CoE for short, is a digital collectible competitive card play-and-earn game. Players can compete against other players or AI opponents in 1-on-1 combat utilizing their decks crafted from the 150 collectible cards available at launch.

Gameplay

Cards of Ethernity stands out in the card genre with its innovative gameplay, but mostly through its in-depth lore and storytelling throughout the game. As expected, all cards in CoE are NFTs, meaning players have full ownership over every card in their decks, allowing them to freely buy, sell, and trade them as they see fit.

There are a total of 150 cards available for players upon the game’s release. They are split across the game’s 6 creature types; Dragons, Trolls, Fairies, Beasts, Demons, and Elementals. Each one of them carry certain buffs and special abilities to cater for different playstyles. 

Prior to entering any matches, you need to build a deck of 30 cards, with a cap of 2 for each individual card. Once you are done theorizing your deck, you need to select a Pet and an Adventurer you wish to take with you to battle. Adventurer is your champion, and your win condition is to eliminate the enemy’s Adventurer before they destroy yours. On the other hand, Pets hold special abilities that can be enabled by spending mana to come to your aid in battle through giving certain cards buffs, debuffing enemy cards, or protecting you for a given round.

The Duel section will offer three modes for players to choose from; Ranked, Casual, and Friends. Each is pretty self explanatory, offering players the opportunity to select the pace of gameplay they want at a given time.

At the start of a match, players are prompted with four cards to mulligan. You have the option to stick with the cards you are granted or reshuffle them for a chance at a different card. As you are probably used to from Hearthstone and Legends of Runeterra, each round you gain a mana crystal and you can only play cards within that amount.

Where Cards of Ethernity stands out from traditional card games, and even existing web3 titles, is its innovative mana system and tons of keywords that make for an astonishing amount of possible interactions.

Just a handful of the keywords present include Supremacy, Discipline, and Guardian. The latter is the equivalent of Hearthstone's Taunt and from our time spent playing the game with Aether Games' development team, almost every form of deck is viable.

A balanced meta is incredibly important in card games, and for the development studio to reach this point of balance even prior to its full release is impressive to say the least.

Review

Cards of Ethernity is just one piece of the empire being built over at Aether Games. The hours we have put into the game is a testament to how enjoyable and balanced it is. Every deck you theorize will manage to take wins away from your opponent but at the same time leaves you vulnerable enough to lose games at times if you misplay your cards.

It is an ambitious new entry to the card game genre in web3 gaming, and definitely one you should keep your eye on its development to see how far it can go.