''SolForge'' was a

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

digital collectible card game A digital collectible card game (DCCG) or online collectible card game (OCCG) is a computer or video game that emulates collectible card games (CCG) and is typically played online or occasionally as a standalone video game. Many DCCGs are types of ...

by Stone Blade Entertainment. The design team included ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a tabletop and digital collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast (now a subsidiary of Hasbro), ''Magic'' was the first ...

'' designer

Richard Garfield Richard Channing Garfield (born June 26, 1963) is an American mathematician, inventor and game designer. Garfield created ''Magic: The Gathering'', which is considered to be the first collectible card game (CCG). ''Magic'' debuted in 1993 and its ...

and Pro Tour hall of famer

Brian Kibler Brian McCormick Kibler (born September 7, 1980) is an American collectible card game player, game designer, and streamer. In 2016 Kibler helped design ''Drawing Dead''. Previously, he designed Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer with Justin Ga ...

. The game was released in May 2016 following three years in

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

. In January 2017, Stone Blade announced that the game would be shutting down that month, however, an agreement was later reached with two executives from

Grinding Gear Games Grinding Gear Games (abb. GGG) is a New Zealand video game developer company founded in 2006 and based in Auckland. A former independent developer, the studio was acquired by Chinese tech company Tencent in May 2018, after the Chinese company had ...

, but not the studio directly, keeping the game online. The game's servers were still online in 2018, however, updates to the official client ceased so the fan community developed an unofficial client to address bugs and add features called ReForged (formerly KUSC). It had an Android and iOS version that could play matches with players using the official client. In December 2018, it was announced that Stone Blade had asked for the unofficial client to be shut down, and in January 2019 both the official server and the unofficial client were discontinued. The official client is still available on Steam as of October 2019, however has been removed from mobile stores.

Development

''SolForge'' was part funded through a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

crowdfunding campaign, raising $429,715 towards its development in September 2012. According to Stone Blade CEO

Justin Gary Justin Gary is an American Magic: The Gathering player. At age 17, Gary was U.S. junior champion in 1997. His most notable Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour, Pro Tour finish is his win at Pro Tour Houston 2002. Rob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle who bot ...

, the game ended up costing over five times this amount to develop.

Gameplay

''SolForge'' is a competitive two-player turn-based strategy game. Each player begins with a deck of cards and 120 health points, they must play these cards and reduce the opponent's health zero to win the game. Players can play two cards per turn, each card may be played in one of five lanes. Cards deal damage to the opponent's card in its respective lane. If there is no opponent card in the lane, the damage is dealt directly to the opponent. Once a card is played, it is replaced by a more powerful variant of the card (upgrade) up to a maximum level. Other copies of that card in the player's deck are not affected.

Reception

Ben Barrett, writing in ''

Rock, Paper, Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' (also rendered ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun''; short ''RPS'') is a UK-based website for reporting on video games, primarily for PC. Originally launched on 13 July 2007 as an independent site, ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was acquir ...

'', found the game had the "addictive nature synonymous with the genre", and found himself logging in almost daily to play. He was frustrated however by the business model, and the lack of a

secondary market The secondary market, also called the aftermarket and follow on public offering, is the financial market in which previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold. The initial sale of the s ...

for cards, which he felt gave the game a "slight '

pay-to-win Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

' feel".

References

External links

*{{official, http://solforgegame.com/ 2016 video games Android (operating system) games Free-to-play video games IOS games Kickstarter-funded video games Linux games Digital collectible card games MacOS games Video games developed in the United States Video games with cross-platform play Windows games