There is no shortage of card games for the Android and iOS platforms at the moment, all trying to carve out slice of the pie that is mostly dominated by Hearthstone. Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions is one such game, and we have to say right now that it offers enough depth and unique mechanics that make it stand out from its peers, although there is a bid of a learning curve involved.

That is of course, not so much as a knock against it, as if you are willing to invest the time in it, there is much to love here, especially if you are a fan of card games. One thing that will be immediately apparent at the start is the way the game is laid out. The field is broken down into four lanes, each of which will be controlled by a champion of your choosing. Then there is your health bar, and the objective to knock the opponent’s down to zero first.

Your first move will have you deploying a champion or champions, depending on whose turn is is, and after that you will put down units, actions or spells in those lanes. There is no mana cost here, although you are limited to only playing two cards every turn.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions has a fairly unique draw mechanic in which the action slots that you have are also possible cards that come at the end of your turn. If you use up your actions for the turn, you will not be able to draw new cards in the same turn. As such, you will need to balance between making a move and planning ahead.

Next, let us explore the twisting mechanic. The spells and units in your deck have varying symbols and numbers which you will see at their corners. Each time they perform an action during a turn, they are twisted around. Depending on what turn it is, some cards are able to perform moves such as being able to attack multiple times, while others unleash a strong charge attack.

As if there wasn’t enough to keep tabs on, every match will you see attempting to complete challenges for your champions. Clear all these and you will have your champion become much stronger while having a new ability to play with. More decks will be unlocked as you progress, so there will be more ways to play this game.

Speaking of which, in addition to gacha’ing for booster packs, the game features the ability for you to scan in the real life counterparts of these cards and have them added to your deck. Very handy indeed, although unfortunately we do not have any real cards to test with. Still, if you have the physical version of the game, you will be able to have your collection with you at all times.

Ultimately, Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions is a major card game title in a while which we have seen trying something new with the tried and tested card game formula.