One of the best things as a kid for me was watching cartons and seeing merchandise and the biggest case of this was Pokémon. It was everywhere from toys to movies and of course cards. The Pokémon Card craze was an insane thing to behold and its clear it left an impact on many developers. Enter Cardpocalypse. A game that follows 10-year-old Jess, heading to a new school for the first time and learning that the entire school is enthralled by the Mega Mutant Power Pets card game. Jess is a fan of the show the card game is based on and soon gets a deck of her own….and then things get strange.

In addition to the grown-ups wanting to stop the kids from playing, Jess soon finds that the monsters from the game are invading her world and must be stopped. But how you may ask? Simple, they must be defeated in a card battle. The game itself plays a lot like Hearthstone meets the Pokémon Trading Card Game. You will have one creature as your leader and use other pets to reinforce your fighters. There are also effect cards to consider and these unique mechanics that will help you during your battles.

The fights will introduce new techniques and rules as you continue, and you will continually have to change your strategy as you continue onward. To get better cards, you will need to trade or barter with others using what you have and build your deck that way. Its a good way to make yourself stronger but be aware that you will take a little while to get used to this. Once you have enough cards though, you can build more decks and start to customize them as you see fit. Having multiple custom decks makes the battles easier and helps you strategize faster.

I have to say that Cardpocalypse has a very interesting visual style. The game goes for the hand-drawn aesthetic, and this reminds me of some cartoons that are designed to look like children’s drawings. Its basic, but it fits the game well.  The music is also very well done, and if I had any complaints, it is that the game can take a while to get going and the pacing in general could be much better. Still you could do a lot worse than this, and for a game that utilizes both classic RPG mechanics and CCG mechanics, things are remarkably well done. I recommend Cardpocalypse as it is a very fulfilling experience.

Disclaimer: A review key was provided