In September 2010, it wasn’t a social gaming company but Konami that triggered the biggest boom in the history of this new industry (in Japan): social card battle games.
The title in question is Dragon Collection, which has over 7 million players in Japan and is still doing well on GREE. Konami also released the game in the US, in November last year.
And now the company is ready to use Dragon Collection’s popularity for another title, DRACOLLE & POKER, which is to be released for smartphones in late January (in Japan, at least). DRACOLLE & POKER will not hit the GREE or Mobage platforms, however.
Konami explains:
This title combines the card battling elements of “DRAGON COLLECTION” with the familiar structure of poker rules. Users collect and upgrade cards to create their own custom card deck, and then wield that deck in poker-based card showdowns.
Card battles are a test of strategy as well as luck – each user’s deck setup determines what flushes, full houses and other powerful hands they can use to add bonus damage and special status effects to their attacks. Having the tactical judgment to respond to any situation is the key to claiming victory.
Here are some screenshots:
DRACOLLE & POKER’s design reminds me a lot of “Sword & Poker”, a (pretty fun) game series Japanese developer Gaia released in Japan and elsewhere in 2010/2011. In fact, the battle and stage screens shown above look very, very similar, to say the least.
