Valhalla Lost gives you an unprecedented level of control over your CCG strategy [Sponsored]

Valhalla Lost is brand new collectable card game (CCG) based on Norse mythology that's been built from the ground up with mobile in mind. It's currently in open beta on Android and will launch on iOS in early 2016.

It was developed in collaboration with actual players who joined in on the beta, who have provided a number of quality suggestions to improve every aspect of the game.

There's a unique block system which prevents enemies from attacking the player during the next round if you opt not to use an attack or ability for your creature cards.

These activatable abilities that certain creature cards have are an innovative feature of Valhalla Lost that give you a new level of control over the battle.

Lance Yu, Head Producer for Valhalla Lost, believes that the similarities to physical card games and the mobile-centric design are what really set Valhalla Lost apart from its genre brethren.

Yu: "Valhalla Lost offers an experience that is more similar to physical collectable card games than digital ones. We tried to think about old-school players when we made it.

"That being said it's been designed specifically for mobile devices, so it takes into account mobile user's habits and preferences."

Developing a truly innovative CCG isn't easy though - especially for mobile. Yu and the team had to work really hard on balancing the game and ensuring it worked well on a smaller device.

Yu: "There were two major challenges. First, we wanted to give players extremely well-balanced cards. It's really difficult because we added a lot of systems that haven’t really been used in CCGs before.

"The team played over 1,000 games with just the concept cards before we even began coding.

"We also faced some difficulty creating a proper rhythm and usability for the mobile screen. It’s a lot easier to make a CCG for computers as it has more screen real estate than a mobile.

"Managing to fit all of the functions and special effects we wanted on that tiny screen took us over six months to get right."

The development team is proud of what they've achieved though, and feel that the activatable skills and the blocking mechanic give you an unprecedented level of control over the battle.

Yu: "Activatable skills, which some cards can use instead of just attacking, and the unique block system, which lets any creature card defend the Hero.

"These features give players a lot more options so they can try different strategies, rather than rely on luck alone.

"They emphasise the fundamental elements of traditional collectable card games: strategy, thought, and challenge."

The work isn't done just yet though. There's a new mechanic being worked on that will help genre newcomers gain an understanding of collectable card games much faster, as well as a new 'battlefields' feature.

Yu: "We're working on a mechanic that allows you to create a deck that the AI controls, so you can get a better idea of how your cards work together.

"We’re also thinking about implementing battlefields that will affect the game. This way you'll have a lot more to consider when deciding which deck they will use."

Valhalla Lost is available right now on Android and is coming soon to iOS. Other platforms are being discussed for the future though.

Yu: "We're launching on Android initially. Once that version is ready we’ll expand to iOS, and then maybe to Windows Phone in the future.

"We also have plans to launch on PC, as CCGs are very popular on that platform. All in good time, though."

You can get the open beta version of Valhalla Lost right now from Google Play [download].