Transformers Trading Card Game Review
First off I would like to thank Wizards and Hasbro AU for sending me a free copy of the Transformers Trading card game. I wasn’t paid for this work, I just asked if I could help so the nice people from Hasbro AU sent out the starter pack. On to the review.
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Game Play
My 10 and 9 year olds were the first to play. With great joy they opened the pack. Inside were 4 character cards and and 40 battle cards. After reading the rules we played the basic version and as directed by the rules card we ignored the text on all of the cards. This game play is very simple. Its 1 v 1 and each player picks 2 of the character cards my 10-year-old picked Ironhide and Red Alert while the 9 year old selected Optimus and Bumblebee. To decide who started they paper, scissor, rock for it. They took turns attacking and defending, until they no longer needed my guidance which took about 6 turns. When attacking or defending you draw from your battle deck and if you get either orange or blue in the corner of the cards it will add to your attack or defence. The objective was to KO each of the opponent’s character cards. Which was completed in about 10 turns, so it is a very quick pace which will suit younger players.
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Once the kids got the hang of the basic rules after a few games we moved onto the more advanced version. This involved equipping armour, weapons and utilities to the character cards, we also used the special abilities of the Bots. This did speed up the game. Each character has 3 slots, 1 for a weapon, armour and utility, this allowed the character to take/receive more damage and have extra abilities like drawing more cards when you attack or defend which is very helpful. What I really liked was how easy it is to attach and remove items, my favourite card was the grenade launcher, it gave +4 to attack and had an awesome picture of Thunderclash on it. My kids did ask who he was so I had to get out my Thunderclash toy to show them.
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There is also another type of card which was called an action card. I wasn’t sure if we were playing it correctly as we played the action cards like ‘instant’ cards in MTG which can be played at any time. The action cards allowed players to either do direct damage to a character or draw extra cards to help in attack or defence.
The advanced rules did require a bit more supervision and coaching on my part and they still didn’t get it 100%, but I enjoyed helping them to understand the rules.
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Good points – This card game is 100% aimed at kids, the gameplay is easy to understand and is well paced to keep them interested. The more advanced rules will provide something to challenge them and make them think. I also liked the fact that the damaged is assigned to the characters rather than a person’s ‘life points’.
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Room to improve – As I mentioned previously, there are times were we had to make up our own rules as the online rules weren’t accessible in my region. There is a huge element of luck, like the drawing of extra cards from your battle deck to increase your attack or defence which will burn through the battle deck quickly, while this didn’t bother the kids to much I personally didn’t like this aspect and would be happy to play without it. The other drawback, which I believe is only because it was the due to it being a starter pack is that you weren’t able to build your own deck and there is a limited number of cards so once all battle cards end up on the scrap pile we just shuffled them back into use, however once there is a major release I don’t believe this will be an issue as once you get more cards you will be able to customise your deck.
Artwork
The artwork is taken from the IDW comics so as you would expect it is awesome, there is also some artwork from the mobile app legends card game. The kids did enjoy looking at each card and commenting on each picture. All the pictures of the cards are of well known characters which would appeal to kids of all ages.
Overall
This perfectly hits its target audience which is kids 8+, while my 7 and 5 year olds could play it they couldn’t do it without adult supervision. I would recommend this game to any parent looking to introduce their kids to a card game. If you are a big kid you will enjoy the game especially if you play it with your kids, however it is very simple when compared to MTG.
Transformers being a well known brand will help this game, but I don’t see it reaching the heights of popularity like MTG and Pokemon. However the kids are still playing it now so hopefully I am wrong.
Rating
7/10, as a parent, Transformers and card game fan I highly recommend that you give this game a try especially on a rainy day. It is a perfect introduction to card games especially if your kids love Transformers.
