Following the success of its smash-hit Minecraft, Swedish game developer Mojang is reportedly planning to release a second game, Scrolls.
Revealed to Gamasutra prior to the start of the 2011 Game Developers Conference (GDC), which is taking place this week, Scrolls will be “a collectible card game with board game elements,” similar in nature to “Magic: The Gathering.”
With a playing area that resembles a chess board, Scrolls will require players to build decks of ‘scrolls’ that they can use to cast spells and “summon units” in an attempt to thwart the progress of other players. The types of cards available to players will change “constantly,” says Gamasutra, and players must adjust their decks to compensate for the different cards.
The goal is to reduce opponents’ health to zero. To do this, players must break through the defenses of their opponents, and attack the opposing “king.”
While the game will have a single-player option, which gives players the opportunity to build-out their decks of cards, Scrolls really shines in the online multiplayer arena. There, Mojang hopes to hold massive world-wide Scrolls championships, complete with sponsors.
Both friendly and ranked one-on-one games will be available. And the game will also include a digital auction house, where users can buy and sell cards between each other.
According to the lead designer of Scrolls, Jakob Porser, Scrolls has been in the works for the past five years, with the help of Minecraft creator Markus Persson.
“We are both great fans of the CCG genre,” Porser told Gamasutra, “but we felt that there were some common gameplay flaws in the available titles. We’re excited to finally put all our thoughts into action with the realization of Scrolls.”
Mojang is planning to release an open beta version of Scrolls, which will be free. No release date has yet been announced.
