History VideoGame / SolForge

* {{Cameo}}: [[Webcomic/PennyArcade Tyco and Gabe]] shows up in the alternate art for Alloyin Strategist. This probably ties in with Penny Arcade's blog post promoting Solforge some time before its Open Beta launch.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Dinosaurs are a creature type, complete with a Dinosaur who buffs other Dinosaurs.
** Thundersaur is a powerful Dinosaur that is a staple in many decks.
** Bron, The Wild Tamer is a card that you can play by replacing an Dinosaur you control with it, transforming into Dino Knight. When the Dino Knight is destroyed, it reverts back to Bron, signalling that he has dismounted the Dinosaur.
** The addition of Bron, plus the spell Thunderstomp, has made Dinosaurs into a viable archtype. As of Darkforged Uprising, Dinosaurs is now a Tier 1 deck.

* BalefulPolymorph: As of March 3rd, 2015, at least three Uterra spells.
** Botanimate and Dendrify transform an opposing creature into a tree (with Botanimate being hard-gated but shrinks the creature more)
** Metamorphosis transforms a target creature into an egg (that hatches into a a 9/9 Feywing when that player goes into the next player level).

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: In case you accidentally (or otherwise) try to use a harmful effect such as damage to your own creatures, or beneficial effect such as healing to your opponent, the game will ask you if you are sure about doing it.

* {{Homage}}: The comedic alternate art ''Super Chrogias'' is an homage to the old {{Superhero}} trope where the superhero goes into a PhoneBooth to change costume.

* PettingZooPeople: Uterra has the Lupins (WolfMan), Tigrins (CatFolk) and Tuskins (Elephant people).

The general rules of the game go like this: At the beginning of your turn, you draw five cards. You get to play two of them (except on the first turn of the game, where you can only play one). Each card has three levels. When you play a card, its leveled-up version is placed in your discard pile. There are five lanes into which creature cards can be played, and on each turn creatures will fight with either the opposing creature in the same lane, or attack the opponent directly if there isn't one. At the end of the turn, you discard the cards you haven't played, but those ones don't level up. Every four turns your discard pile is reshuffled into your deck, giving the possibility to draw some of those leveled-up cards. The first player to reduce their opponent from 120 to 0 LifePoints wins.

* {{Cameo}}: [[PennyArcade Tyco and Gabe]] shows up in the alternate art for Alloyin Strategist. This probably ties in with Penny Arcade's blog post promoting Solforge some time before its Open Beta launch.

* ShoutOut: [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Dr. Frankenbaum]] (along with [[Film/BrideOfFrankenstein Bride Of Frankenbaum]]) and [[Creator/SigmundFreud Sigmund Fraud]] are [[PunnyName pretty obvious]].

Sadly, it has been announced that Creator/StoneBladeEntertainment [[http://solforgegame.com/news/announcement-from-justin-gary/ will be pulling the plug for Solforge on 31st January, 2017]].

Recently, a group of community members have taken up the cause to do a revival, [[https://discord.gg/v43duXM more information can be found here]] and [[http://s15.zetaboards.com/reforged/index/ here]]

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: In case you accidentally (or otherwise) try to use a harmful effect such as damage to your own creatures, the game will ask you if you are sure about doing it.
** Because you can have a maximum of three copies of a card in a deck, the game disallows you to sell cards for silver if you only have three or fewer copies of that card in your collection.

** Gradually becoming more than just a casual archtype, there are now cards that casts poison on the player themselves, plus other cards (Dissolve, Venomdrinker) that interact with creatures who have poison.

* EvolvingAttack: Almost every card basically is one, with most of the cards capping at Level 3. The Forgeborns cap at Level 4, and some other cards don't actually gain an extra level.

** Mongosaur, literally named after community and QA member Mong0.

* ShoutOut: [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Dr. Frankenbaum]] (along with [[Film/BrideOfFrankenstein Frankenbaum's Bride]]) and [[Creator/SigmundFreud Sigmund Fraud]] are [[PunnyName pretty obvious]].

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Arboris, Grove Dragon becomes stronger if you can bring your LifePoints to above your starting life total. His level 1 and 2 stats are relatively ok, but at level 3, he becomes strong enough to ''[[OneHitKill one-shot]]'' a full-health opponent, nevermind an injured one.
** Forge Guardian Omega can also be one at Level 3; with Aggressive, Breakthrough, 40 Armor and a whopping ''80 Attack'', it can, and will, easily end the game with one swing.
** Level 4 Oros, Deepwood Chosen, depending on how well you can increase your health. Because his attack value is directly tied to your current health, if you manage to keep your health higher than your opponent's, he can end said opponent in one hit.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Some cards are only useful in specific situations
** Oxydon Spitter is a rather poor card unless the opponent uses armor.
** Oreian Justicar and Herald of Destruction are average cards unless your opponent runs a spam deck.
** Chistlehearth Archer and Tangle can shoot down a creature with Mobility, but do nothing otherwise.
** "Ambush" cards are amazing when your opponent triggers them from your hand, but you generally don't want to be playing them during your turn.
** Averted with Dragon Slayer; provides utility against Dragons, but has good attack.

* ConfusionFu: Playing a card is not the only way to level it up; Several Alloyin cards can level up other cards without showing them to the opponent, so a player facing a deck with such cards have to guess what the opponent's end game strategy is. Discarding a card without playing it also levels it without showing it to the opponent, but such action usually is last resort.

** Also, there are several Alloyin cards who, at level 3, can level up your Forgeborn to level 4 before you reach Rank 4. Killion, Infinity Warden is one such card who is both capable of that strategy and a Forgeborn himself.

* ShoutOut: [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Dr. Frankenbaum]] (along with [[Film/BrideOfFrankenstein Frankenbaum's Bride]]) and [[Creator/SigmundFreud Sigmund Fraud]] are some obvious {{pun}}s.
** The Toorgmai, whos name is [[SdrawkcabName reverse]] of [[Comic/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy I am Groot]].

* SequenceBreaking: Cards in play and in hand usually cannot have higher level than the player's rank, and even cards in discard pile usually cannot be two or more levels ahead than the players (i.e., you cannot have a level 3 or 4 card in discard pile when you are at Rank 1). However, Leafkin progenitor is the first of a rare breed of creatures who can reach level 2 or even 3 on the field before you even gain a rank, making those creatures harder to deal with using level-gated effects.
** Also, level 3 Synapsis Oracle, level 3 or 4 Killion, Infinity Warden and level 3 Voltaic Prophet allow you to play your level 4 Forgeborns when you are still at rank 3 (and Killion himself is a Forgeborn).

''[=SolForge=]'' is a digital TradingCardGame created by Creator/StoneBladeEntertainment (formerly known as Gary Games, creators of ''[[TabletopGame/AscensionChronicleOfTheGodslayer Ascension]]'') with an assist from Creator/RichardGarfield, the creator of TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering and thus the TCG genre. It's currently in beta on iOS and on Windows via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, with plans for an Android version at some point in the future as well. The main gimmick of the game is that [[EvolvingAttack cards "level up" over the course of a game]], so that when you draw them again they'll become more powerful.

The general rules of the game go like this: At the beginning of your turn, you draw five cards. You get to play two of them (except on the first turn of the game, where you can only play one). Each card has three levels. When you play a card, its leveled-up version is placed in your discard pile. There are five lanes into which creature cards can be played, and on each turn creatures will fight with either the opposing creature in the same lane, or attack the opponent directly if there isn't one. At the end of the turn, you discard the cards you haven't played, but those ones don't level up. Every four turns your discard pile is reshuffled into your deck, giving the possibility to draw some of those leveled-up cards. The first player to reduce their opponent from 100 to 0 LifePoints wins.

The game is currently at Open Beta stage for PC, iPad, iPhone and Android, and is free-to-play. The PC version is available through Steam, while the iOS versions are available at the Mac App store and the Android version from Google Store. Players start with two starter decks, and can play daily for silvers (the in-game currency), cards, booster packs and also tournament tickets. Players can also spend real money for Gold (the other in-game currency), which will let players buy alternate art cards, as well as allow anything purchased with said Gold to be shared with other players.

* ''Rise of the Forgeborns'' (March 2014) introduced the Forgeborns, the first cards to cap at level 4 instead of the usual 3, as well as cards that directly reward players who play multiple factions.
* ''Secrets of Solis'' (August 2014) introduced multiple new mechanics such as Consistent, Solbind and Overload.
* ''Imprisoned Heralds'' (November 2014) contains some Spell cards which evolve into creature plus a few new mechanics such as Assault and Upgrade.

* ''Raiders Unchained'', introduced "Raid", where you get benefits when three of your creatures attack at once during your turn, and "Formation", where a card gains bonus when placed between two other creatures.

* AscendedFanon: In a preview article from last year about [[http://solforgegame.com/news/darkforged-uprising-prelude-to-war-spoiler/ Sparky, the Forge Guardian Dog]], long-time player Outrageous said his personal canon was the Sparky formed the sword. Fast forward to May 20th, the foiled version of Guardians Assemble that Outrageous created is shown - with Sparky forming the hilt of the sword.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Forge Guardian Omega boasts a ridiculous stat compared to all other creatures. The catch is that to summon one, you must sacrifice ''five'' Guardian Pieces on board (that usually means at least three turns of placing the Pieces), one of which must be an active Forge Guardian Gamma (which, by itself, is quite fragile). That, and Omega is just as susceptible to all sorts of "kill" spells such as Botanimate and Dreadbolt. ''Secrets of Solis'' brings a slightly easier method to bring out Omega in the form of Forge Guardian Delta, which puts a copy of Omega into your discard pile for you to play normally after the next re-shuffle.
** Guardians Assemble, which will be found in Raiders Unchained, will provide further support to Forge Guardians.

** Botanimate transforms an opposing creature into a little tree.

** Dendrify also transforms a target creature into a tree.

* DePower: Metasculpt takes a creature's special abilities away. This usually makes the creature less powerful, but in rare cases may make it stronger.
** Nanoswarm performs the same feat *and* reduces the creatures attack, but has the disadvantage of being level-gated.

* LiterallyShatteredLives: Frozen Solid temporarily freezes a creature, and if that creature takes damage before it thaws out, it will die. ''[=RotF=]'' adds in a few more cards that can smash frozen creatures.

** Several cards that buff your monsters, like Enrage.

* {{Microtransactions}}: You can obtain cards though buying chests or packs.

* {{Necromancer}}: Some creatures are necromancers [[PiratesWhoDontDoAnything in name only]], but some really do raise the dead. Perhaps because of this discrepancy, Necromancer as a creature type has been phased out.
* PlayEveryDay: The game gives rewards for players who login and play every day. One for logging in, another after you win three games.

* SequenceBreaking: Sparky, the Forge Guardian Dog, Leafkin Progenitor, Progeny of Xith and Iniog, Carrion Demon are the very few creatures who can show up as a level 2 or 3 even before you even rank up, making them harder to deal with using level-gated effects.
** Also, level 3 Synapsis Oracle and level 3 or 4 Killion, Infinity Warden allow you to play your level 4 Forgeborns when you are still at rank 3.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Arboris, Grove Dragon becomes stronger if you can bring your LifePoints to over 100, a.k.a. above your starting life total. His level 1 and 2 stats are relatively ok, but at level 3, he becomes strong enough to ''[[OneHitKill one-shot]]'' an opponent.
** Forge Guardian Omega can also be one at Level 3; with Aggressive, Breakthrough, 40 Armor and a whopping ''80 Attack''. It can, and will, easily end the game with one swing.

A new upcoming set [[http://solforgegame.com/news/raiders-unchained/ Raiders Unchained]] is soon arriving. It's main mechanics are "Formation", in which a card's abilities are activated when it enters the field between two other creatures. And "Raid", which gives bonuses at the end of your turn when three or more of your creatures attack during your turn.

Raiders Unchained happens to now available for pre-order, and should launch with a new client - powered by the Unity platform. While pre-ordering, [[http://solforgegame.com/product-category/preorders/ you can get exclusive foils]] from the set, which won't be available after the set goes live.

** Bron, The Wild Tamer is a card that you can play by replacing an Dinosaur you control with it, transforming into Dino Rider. When the Dino Rider is destroyed, it reverts back to Bron, signalling that he has dismounted the Dinosaur.

* SequenceBreaking: Leafkin Progenitor, Progeny of Xith and Iniog, Carrion Demon are the very few creatures who can show up as a level 2 or 3 even before you even rank up, making them harder to deal with using level-gated effects.

''[=SolForge=]'' is a digital TradingCardGame created by Creator/StoneBladeEntertainment (formerly known as Gary Games, creators of ''[[TabletopGame/AscensionChronicleOfTheGodslayer Ascension]]'') with an assist from Creator/RichardGarfield, the creator of TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering and thus the TCG genre. It's currently in beta on iOS and on Windows via {{Steam}}, with plans for an Android version at some point in the future as well. The main gimmick of the game is that [[EvolvingAttack cards "level up" over the course of a game]], so that when you draw them again they'll become more powerful.

* CombiningMecha: Forge Guardian Omega can only be formed by having five cards of a specific type on the field. Once formed, it's an extremely powerful card that bears a notable resemblance to {{Voltron}}.

** The addition of Bron, plus the spell Thunderstomp, has made Dinosaurs into a viable archtype.
* EvolvingAttack: Almost every card basically is one, with most of the cards capping at Level 3. The Forgeborns cap at Level 4, and some other cards don't actually gain level.
* ExcusePlot: If you're the sort of person who needs a good reason why the dinosaurs are fighting the zombies, this probably isn't the game for you. Blame the lack of flavor texts for that.

** The Forge Guardians were suspected to be an obvious homage to Voltron by many. This was confirmed when long-term player "Outrageous" leveraged several Voltron references leading up to his spoiler article being published.

** Subverted by B+ Players, who enter tournaments regularly with rogue decks knowing they won't win. For them, the experience is in creative deckbuilding, and the desire to shine some light on cards and strategies that some may deem ineffective.