Credit goes to Morokh for the original beta thead and SquiddyCracker for updating it.
Release date : 11th December 2014
Price: $5USD
Where?: Available on www.scrolls.com
Platforms : Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The Linux version should be coming, in the meantime you can run it using Wine. There's also an Android version, while the iOS release is scheduled for next year.
You can use a single account to play across both tablet and desktop versions.
What is Scrolls?
Scrolls is a multiplayer trading card / strategy game created by Mojang, the company behind Minecraft.
Like any other card game it is about collecting and trading cards (here, Scrolls obviously), building a collection of cards that work well together called a 'Deck', and putting it to the test by challenging other players for ultimate supremacy !
Players familiar with card games will find many elements they already know, but Scrolls brings some elements from board games to the table.
The Board you'll be playing your Scrolls on is equally divided in two, each player has a 5x3 tile set to place his units.
On each side at the end of the board are the Idols. Break 3 of your opponent Idols and you win ! Loose 3 of yours and be doooooomed !
Scrolls look like this :
What is special here is the countdown. Basically, once your unit is in play, his countdown number will decrease by 1 point every turn until it reaches 0, at which point the unit will automatically attack in a straight line hitting the first target in sight and resetting his countdown value to its original number.
Playing the right cards at the right time is one thing, but taking this countdown into consideration and placing/moving your units accordingly on the board plays a great deal in whether or not you'll be able to win a game.
Resource managing is another aspect of every card game, the thing with Scrolls is that in order to build your resource pool you will have to sacrifice some scrolls.
At the beginning of a game you will start with 5 scrolls on the first turn, and will automatically draw 1 new scroll each turn. You will then be given once during your turn the possibility to sacrifice 1 scroll (and only 1 per turn) for either 1 additional resource point to your pool, or the ability to draw 2 new scrolls.
In order to summon things you need resources, so you'll end up sacrificing scrolls, but you also need scrolls to play so it is all about managing your hand with care.
This example is a Creature scroll, but there are 3 other type of scrolls :
Game modes
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other features
Demo version
There's also a free Demo version that you can try out before purchasing the game.
The demo version gives you access to the following:
The Four Resource Types
When you purchase the game, you start with a preconstructed deck filled with scrolls belonging to the Growth resource type, but as you continue playing you'll automatically unlock the basic decks for the remaining three resource types - making for a total of four resource types:
Order
Growth
Energy
Decay
Each one defines a certain theme and play style, Order is militaristic resource type with homogenous creatures that rely on effecient use of power and unit formations; Growth represents the forces of the wild that can swarm you in the blink of an eye if you're not careful; Energy is technologically minded which is resource expensive but has the capability of great explosive plays; and finally Decay, while slow and lumbering, relies on powerful death synergies and victory through attrition.
As you gain many scrolls and build a decent collection, you can, of course start to build your own Decks, and mix resource types as much as you want.
As you play, you will gain Gold after each match, or when completing Trials for the first time.
There is a second currency Shards, that you buy with actual money.
But wait a second !??!! I was promised free updates ! and doesn't that make the game Pay2Win ?
Like they did with Minecraft you will get every new addition to the game as they implement it without having to pay anything more.
Any Scroll or item in the game can be purchased with both currencies, Gold and Shards, and it will be the same for new Scrolls introduced in the game.
There is no plan for any content locked by a real money pay-wall.
The items you can purchase are mostly all random:
Add to this that the game is quite generous with rewarding the player with in-game currency. Especially if you compare it to other games that use a similar approach.
As of June 6 (2013) you automatically get 2000 Gold when you purchase the game to spend in the Shop to start buying new Scrolls. You usually get 100-150 Gold for a loss, and victories can net you as much as 500 Gold. Combined with the Gold you can get from the Trials (the set ones and the daily ones), you'll be able to get yourself a top-tier deck within a couple of weeks, and don't be surprised if you got a full collection of scrolls (without paying a single additional dollar for Shards) within months.
Scrolls New Player Survival Guide (A repository of helpful information)
I paid for this game when it was $20 during the beta! WTF?!
Existing customers will be given the $20 shard package at no additional cost.
Microtransactions ? Real money ? But I already paid for the game !
You didn't read this post did you ?
Read the 'Shop' section.
See also this thread on the official Scrollsfan forums and this page on the official site.
Beta wall of shame?
Release date : 11th December 2014
Price: $5USD
Where?: Available on www.scrolls.com
Platforms : Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The Linux version should be coming, in the meantime you can run it using Wine. There's also an Android version, while the iOS release is scheduled for next year.
You can use a single account to play across both tablet and desktop versions.
What is Scrolls?
Scrolls is a multiplayer trading card / strategy game created by Mojang, the company behind Minecraft.
Like any other card game it is about collecting and trading cards (here, Scrolls obviously), building a collection of cards that work well together called a 'Deck', and putting it to the test by challenging other players for ultimate supremacy !
Players familiar with card games will find many elements they already know, but Scrolls brings some elements from board games to the table.
The Board you'll be playing your Scrolls on is equally divided in two, each player has a 5x3 tile set to place his units.
On each side at the end of the board are the Idols. Break 3 of your opponent Idols and you win ! Loose 3 of yours and be doooooomed !
Scrolls look like this :
What is special here is the countdown. Basically, once your unit is in play, his countdown number will decrease by 1 point every turn until it reaches 0, at which point the unit will automatically attack in a straight line hitting the first target in sight and resetting his countdown value to its original number.
Playing the right cards at the right time is one thing, but taking this countdown into consideration and placing/moving your units accordingly on the board plays a great deal in whether or not you'll be able to win a game.
Resource managing is another aspect of every card game, the thing with Scrolls is that in order to build your resource pool you will have to sacrifice some scrolls.
At the beginning of a game you will start with 5 scrolls on the first turn, and will automatically draw 1 new scroll each turn. You will then be given once during your turn the possibility to sacrifice 1 scroll (and only 1 per turn) for either 1 additional resource point to your pool, or the ability to draw 2 new scrolls.
In order to summon things you need resources, so you'll end up sacrificing scrolls, but you also need scrolls to play so it is all about managing your hand with care.
This example is a Creature scroll, but there are 3 other type of scrolls :
- Structures: These are units which are generally unable to move. Some are Walls that protect, others such as the Artillery structures will deal damage from a distance as opposed to the normal attack path, while structures like Totems will provide buffs or debuffs.
- Spells: These come in primarily two varieties, your average one-time use & effect spells and the recently added Lingering Spells. The latter will continuously affect the entire board, for a set number of turns.
- Enchantments: These are attached to units (structures & creatures), and will continuously affect them until the enchantment is either removed or the unit is destroyed.
Game modes
Single Player
- Tutorial: A series of lessons to ease you into the game and its rules.
- Skirmish: Play against the Easy, Medium, or Hard AI.
- Trials: Over sixty challenges with special rules, ranging from Easy to Hard difficulty. There's also a selection of randomized Daily Trials (Easy, Medium, Hard) that will provide you a continuous gold boost - complete all three, and you have enough to purchase a pack of scrolls!
Multiplayer
- Quick Match: Play against other humans or reptiloids from Epsilon 7, no pressure!
- Ranked Matches: Climb up the ladder in a more competetive format, where the top players have the chance to earn extra gold and even vanity items such as new Head-pieces for your Avatar.
- Judgement: In this mode you pay an initial fee of Gold or Shards, for the chance of creating a deck from a random selection and use it for up to six competitive matches. After playing all matches, players are rewarded depending on their performance.
Other features
- Crafting - Craft what are essentially "Foil" versions of your cards, but beware - it is a massive Gold sink.
- Challenge matches - Challenge your friends and strangers to unranked games.
- Trading - Trade cards and gold with other players.
- Spectate - Watch the Judgement, Quick Match, Skirmish, Challenge, and Ranked matches of other players.
- Chat - Talk with other people! Both in a game, and out of games.
Demo version
There's also a free Demo version that you can try out before purchasing the game.
The demo version gives you access to the following:
- Purchasing scrolls in the form of singles & packs.
- Easy daily trials
- Skirmish (but only against Easy and Medium difficulty AI)
- Quick match
- Building and saving decks
- Purchasing scrolls from the Just for You-section of the Store
- Medium & Hard difficulty daily trials
- Games against Medium & Hard AI.
- Ranked
- Judgement
- Trials
The Four Resource Types
When you purchase the game, you start with a preconstructed deck filled with scrolls belonging to the Growth resource type, but as you continue playing you'll automatically unlock the basic decks for the remaining three resource types - making for a total of four resource types:
Order
Growth
Energy
Decay
Each one defines a certain theme and play style, Order is militaristic resource type with homogenous creatures that rely on effecient use of power and unit formations; Growth represents the forces of the wild that can swarm you in the blink of an eye if you're not careful; Energy is technologically minded which is resource expensive but has the capability of great explosive plays; and finally Decay, while slow and lumbering, relies on powerful death synergies and victory through attrition.
As you gain many scrolls and build a decent collection, you can, of course start to build your own Decks, and mix resource types as much as you want.
As you play, you will gain Gold after each match, or when completing Trials for the first time.
There is a second currency Shards, that you buy with actual money.
But wait a second !??!! I was promised free updates ! and doesn't that make the game Pay2Win ?
Like they did with Minecraft you will get every new addition to the game as they implement it without having to pay anything more.
Any Scroll or item in the game can be purchased with both currencies, Gold and Shards, and it will be the same for new Scrolls introduced in the game.
There is no plan for any content locked by a real money pay-wall.
The items you can purchase are mostly all random:
- Random Scroll (100 Gold)
- Random Growth Scroll (200 Gold)
- Random Energy Scroll (200 Gold)
- Random Order Scroll (200 Gold)
- Scroll Pack (1000 Gold): Contains 1 Rare, 2 Uncommons and 7 Commons from all Resources & Sets.
- Explorer's Pack (1200 Gold): Contains 1 Rare, 2 Uncommons and 7 Commons from all Resources with at least 4 of the scrolls being from the latest Set.
- Just for you (100 to 1000 Gold/25 to 120 Shards): A selection of 6 Scrolls (2 of each resource) that is different for each player, where you can only buy 1 of each, and that changes every twenty-four hours (100 to 1000 Gold/25 to 120 Shards)
- Preconstructed Decks (5000 Gold or 500 Shards): A selection of themed deck, each one containing 50 scrolls (many of which are quite handy, but often you'll be able to purchase the contents cheaper off other players.)
- Avatar outfits (5000 Gold or 500 Shards): Outfits for your Avatar, which you can mix and match per your fashion sense
Add to this that the game is quite generous with rewarding the player with in-game currency. Especially if you compare it to other games that use a similar approach.
As of June 6 (2013) you automatically get 2000 Gold when you purchase the game to spend in the Shop to start buying new Scrolls. You usually get 100-150 Gold for a loss, and victories can net you as much as 500 Gold. Combined with the Gold you can get from the Trials (the set ones and the daily ones), you'll be able to get yourself a top-tier deck within a couple of weeks, and don't be surprised if you got a full collection of scrolls (without paying a single additional dollar for Shards) within months.
Scrolls New Player Survival Guide (A repository of helpful information)
I paid for this game when it was $20 during the beta! WTF?!
Existing customers will be given the $20 shard package at no additional cost.
Microtransactions ? Real money ? But I already paid for the game !
You didn't read this post did you ?
Read the 'Shop' section.See also this thread on the official Scrollsfan forums and this page on the official site.
Beta wall of shame?
