Neopets BattleDome TCG: A Nostalgic Comeback
source: ebay listing
If you were anything like me when I was a kid, I’m sure a couple of things were true. One, the internet was completely new, shiny, and made you want to explore every part of it. And two, you weren’t allowed more than a Beta Fish and, even then, you probably weren’t its first candidate for an owner. This had to be extremely common because the success of Neopets took off, and away I went with it
Now, it definitely wasn’t the first in its genre, and it definitely wasn’t the last, but the fact that Neopets had a stranglehold on those millions of people worldwide (I definitely had to fact-check this, because that is still baffling for how young the internet was) proves its unique impact. I say all this to bring up that nostalgia hit me like a train when I saw that Upper Deck was partnering with Neopets to bring back the Neopets card game under the name, Neopets BattleDome TCG.
A Nostalgic Roller-Coaster in Card Form
Checking out the game for the first time was a roller-coaster of emotions, from happiness that I get to see all my old friends that I let starve, to anxiety that it could (and probably will) end up like its 2003 predecessor. I was excited to see the product looked absolutely amazing. The foiling on some of the painted Neopets is really stunning and made me absolutely giddy to play with my childhood friends again.
Combat System: Familiar Yet Innovative
On that note, let's talk about how this game sets itself apart from all the other card games on the market. Hopping right into the meat, the combat system is very unique. It’s almost akin to something you would find in a mobile app or a board game. This adds a lot of variance in a way that initially I thought I would be put off by, but I was dead wrong.
Combat feels like it’s actually straight out of the online game, which was honestly impressive that they were able to capture the feeling of clicking the button on your browser and waiting for the screen to refresh to see how your pet was doing in the BattleDome.
Source: chowdersays - youtube video
The Game Flow: A Focused, Pet-Centric Experience
The game flow is also different than in a lot of other games I have played in the past. Typically, in a game like Digimon or Pokemon you have a lot of moving parts and typically play your monsters in your deck. Neopets makes your pets feel like the entire focus. Just like in the online client, you focus on one pet at a time, and they directly go to battle
When a round is over, everything on the field is discarded, and you start another round completely from square one. This is a welcome addition because a lot of times in other games, you can feel like you totally got run over, but this has essentially a built-in best-of mechanic where you can feel like you can turn the tide of each round. It’s definitely easy to find yourself in a “let’s go again” mood on this formula alone.
True to Its Roots: A Classic with a Modern Twist
The Neopets BattleDome TCG is not only a new and refreshing game in a sea of other trading card games but also feels completely true to the source material. From filling your deck with codestones to finding random Faeries in your deck to aid your Neopets, to feeding your dying Neopet, the game feels like a lot of planning and care went into the product, which I cannot tell you how amazing it is to actually type positives for something so dear to my heart. I won’t say everything is completely perfect, but I can say my initial feelings give this game 4 out of 5 omelettes.