Urban Rivals
| Urban Rivals | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Boostr |
| Publisher(s) | Boostr |
| Designer(s) | LLCz Productions |
| Platform(s) | Web & Mobile |
| Release | 17-Jan-2006 |
| Genre(s) | Strategy Card Game |
Urban Rivals is a massively multi-player online virtual trading card game.
General information
Urban Rivals is an online multi-player card game. Each card represents a character (some of which are based on real people or well-known fictional characters). Each character has specific Power and Damage values, and belongs to a clan. Some cards have abilities that are either triggered or countered by another card's ability.
Free registration gives a player 8 character cards; further cards can be purchased.[1] 4 new characters, usually for 2 different clans, are added every two weeks. Sometimes 6 characters are added, usually for a new clan.[2] Usually every 6 months a new clan will come out; the most recent is the Skeelz clan.
The game uses affiliate marketing to encourage existing players to recruit or sponsor new players; such sponsors can offer bonuses for purchases of credits, describing them as cheat codes.[3]
An associated comic book[4] is published online every month, with 9 panels each on the Urban Rivals official website. Sometimes this comic gives out hints of a new character or clan.
Game play
When 2 players enter a battle, 4 cards are randomly dealt 'face up' from each of their decks. Each player chooses one card and plays a number of 'Pillz,' resulting an an Attack Value (0 Pillz = Power, 1 Pillz = Power*2, etc.). The card with the greater Attack Value has a greater chance of winning the round and dealing its Damage Value to the opponent's Life Points. The game ends after 4 rounds or when one player loses all of their Life Points, the winner being the player who's Life Points are greater.
After each fight, players receive battle points. These points are used to upgrade a player's level. More points are earned from fighting against a player with a higher ranking, from having a character defeat a higher level opponent, or leveling up after a fight. A bonus is given if a player has Pillz remaining after inflicting a KO, but a penalty is incurred for causing a battle to time out.
Characters receive experience (XP) after each fight, with which they level up (the starting and maximum level is determined by the character, with 1 being the lowest, and 5 the highest possible) and become stronger. Characters earn more XP when fighting characters at higher level and when they win.[5] Some characters receive an ability to help them in battle when they reach a specified level
A player's level is based on their current number of battle points. When a player reaches Level 5, they can join a Guild. Upon reaching Level 10, they can create their own Guild. Upon reaching Level 15, they can play in ELO mode. A player receives a "Leader" card every 5 levels.[6]
Clintz is the currency in Urban Rivals. They may be obtained by fighting, selling characters, or winning tournaments. Credits may be purchased for money, and used to buy booster packs. They can also be earned from ELO tournaments and from daily tournaments. Once in a while, cards will become retired, and can not be obtained by booster packs; The only way to get them is by selling and trading. These cards receive the tag "Cr", for "collector".
Tournaments, Missions, and Events
Every other hour, there are one-hour tournaments where players have the opportunity to win Clintz or free credits. There are also more strategy-based ELO tournaments, with stricter deck-building rules, which last a week. In ELO, players start out with 1000 points. A player can challenge anyone up to 150 points above him/her, or up to 50 points below.[7] Players gain more points from defeating higher-point opponents, but will also lose more points if they lose to low-point opponents. If you do not play in ELO for a few days, your score will gradually reset to 1000. At the end of the week, 12 random players of the top 100 receive a CR (collector card). 50 random players above 1200 points receive a random Rare card. You are also able to win credits; the top player gains 50 credits, ranks 2-25 gain 20 credits, player below rank 25 get 10 credits, if they scored at least 1300 points, 5 credits with 1200 or 2 credits with 1000 points and a minimum of 5 matches done. A similar gradation is made in sharing out the Jackpot (Clintz) to the tournament participators.
In December 8, the game added a new Event creation feature, allowing any players above level 40 to create his own customized tournaments. Rules can be set with a high degree of flexibility, in terms of scoring, matchmaking and more. The community has created more than 10 000 different Events in 3 months, some are based on story telling, others on guild vs guild.
On December 18, 2010 the creation of mission mode was released. Doing missions gave players a new way to receive, cards, clintz, and credits. There are currently well over 200 missions with more expected to come in the near future.
Critical reaction
Urban Rivals received 88% from Game Vortex, praising the typical five-minute game length, free access and poker-like element of the gameplay. However, the presentation was seen as functional, with inconsistent artwork quality and lack of sound.[8]
Urban Rivals released an app for the iPhone OS.
References
- ^ http://pc.gamezone.com/gamesell/p34634.htm
- ^ Tcgplayer interview
- ^ http://www.cheatbook.de/files/urbanrivals.htm
- ^ http://www.urban-rivals.com/comics/
- ^ http://www.urban-rivals.com/game/rules.php?show=table
- ^ http://www.urban-rivals.com/game/rules.php?show=leaders
- ^ Urban Rivals - Game's Rules: The ELO system (level 15+)
- ^ Ricky Tucker. "Clint: Urban Rivals review".
Clint: Urban Rivals isn't the best I've played, but it is a still a good one. The price of entry is right (free), though it takes a while before the real game opens up to you.