Richard Garfield is working on a new strategy game – and wants to bring back the magic of Magic: The Gathering.
Magic – The Gathering fans rejoice. Because the inventor of the card game, Richard Garfield, is founding a new studio and is already working on his first project, Chaos Agents. The strategy game should bring back the magic of card games, according to Garfield’s ambitions, which he reveals in an interview with GamesBeat.
Chaos Agents: The new game from the Magic inventor
Garfield teams up with industry veterans Skaff Elias, Arka Ray and Jon Bankard to found new game studio Popularium. The four founders have worked on major franchises such as Magic: The Gathering, Hearthstone, Halo and World of Warcraft.
The foundation of the studio and the first project Chaos Agents have now been announced at a closed event.
So what is Chaos Agents? The project will be described by the developers themselves as a genre mix and will be playable on the PC and in the web browser. With Chaos Agent, Garfield wants to venture into auto battler territory. More than 60 heroes from five alien races should be available for players.
Skills are randomly assigned at character birth and players can choose to focus on the Chaos skill or the Summoner skill. These RPG elements are designed to make each hero unique.
More is currently not known about the actual gameplay loop. The developers explain on their website that the Chaos Agent Simulator will be rolled out in 2023. You can register for access now
The developers show the first concept drawings of their heroes on their website. (Image source: Popularium)
Magic’s Lost Magic
The studio founders talk about the lost magic of Magic – The Gathering in an interview with GamesBeat. Garfield comments as follows:
Something had changed about Magic. […] It was cool when you had a kite and your friends didn’t. But the more one deals with it, the more it was lost. It’s becoming more of a game of manipulation and following the usual decks. The cards are no longer treasures but become commodities that can be bought at the market. This is the point where something is lost.
The team now wants to bring back the vision of a unique collection in digital form with Chaos Agents. Garfield was also very taken with the idea of an auto battler. He sees great potential in this for multiplayer games with strategic elements.
Chaos Agents should be easily accessible, but at the same time offer the possibility for complex deepening. It’s not meant to overwhelm by throwing players straight into 1vs1 matches, but to offer a proper multiplayer experience.
What do you think of Richard Garfield’s newly announced project? Are you looking forward to Chaos Agents? Do you already play Auto Battler? Or does the genre scare you off? And do you agree with Garfield’s statement that the magic of the card game Magic -The Gathering has been lost over time? Please let us know what you think in the comments!
