An Old Man Has Many Opinions About Magic: The Gathering – https://youtu.be/gTPEQXQ-3Wk
Firefly Boardgame Review: https://youtu.be/rFPxmf6VLwY
Star Trek Catan Review: https://youtu.be/35EoTQHlUxY
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“Vintage Education” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Arena of the Planeswalkers purports to take Magic: The Gathering to the next level by creating a 3D Battle arena where you and an opponent battle it out in the role of Magic’s iconic planeswalkers.
But is this landscape really a game changer for Magic the Gathering, or a superficial skin that is Magic in name only, and of no real interest to players? Let’s find out!
Arena of the Planeswalkers contains the following.
The first important thing to note is that the core engine of the game is the same as Hero Scape, but with some minor modifications to make it more streamlined but mostly to create Magic: The Gathering flavor within the system.
Now, when I say flavor, I mean that in the strictest sense of the word, because while Magic the gathering intellectual property from planeswalkers to summoning creatures exist in this game, Magic: The Gathering mechanics do not.
There are no direct MTG mechanics. There’s “spells” but they’ve been changed to work within the HeroScape system.
This is my first issue with this game, it is Magic: The Gathering in name only. If you were to strip the planeswalkers away, and, let’s be honest, the five planeswalkers are about 90% of what makes this MTG themed, the game system alone would not in anyway be evocative or reminiscent of Magic: The Gathering.
So since this is essentially Hero Scape, you might be asking What is HeroScape?
Hero Scape was a Hasbro game, long since discontinued. It was somewhat popular in the late 90s and still has a cult following today. While Hasbro has tried to bring it back a few times already, largely with reskinnings and such, but it has ultimately failed to take root. Yet here it is again.
HeroScape was widely known for its customizable Terrain Matters gaming system. It came with plastic hexagonal pieces which interlocked and stacked upon one another, allowing players to create stylized 3D landscapes.
Terrain options such as forest or hill affected creature movement and attacks, heck even details such as the height of the game board mattered, you could create hills, walls and so forth. This was so loved that HeroScape is still purchased today just to get extra terrain.
Now, this makes some sense for working with Magic: The Gathering. I mean, Magic is about different worlds, planeswalking. Extra dimensions? Depth? Collecting. Sounds like Magic to me.
Maybe the Hero Scape gaming system is a perfect fit. When I heard about this, I imagined pieces of terrain unique to a plane, different interlocking tiles for kamigawa or innistrad, letting you literally shape a world beneath you and create a magic the gathering planeswalker duel.
Unfortunately…what we got, was cardboard.
In the end, Arena of the Planeswalkers is cynicism incarnate. Stick Jace on the box cover, call it Magic” The Gathering, and who cares about quality as long as they buy it? Well, my advice to you, the customer, is to not.
Final Conclusion: Arena of the Planeswalkers is Magic in name only. Other than artwork and figures of Jace and company, the game has no actual connection to Magic: The Gathering and is nothing more than an MTG skin placed on a discontinued game system owned by Hasbro.
It features low quality components, extreme cost cutting, and a flat, featureless gaming board that goes against everything the Hero Scape gaming system it is based on represented.
Hero Scape fans might find this to be a pleasent piece of nostalgia in terms of gameplay, and they may even enjoy the slightly polished gameplay rules, but overall this product fails on all level.
If you are looking for gift ideas, there’s a lot of excellent options available to you, but Arena of the planeswalkers isn’t one of them.