RuneScape Legends is an online strategy card game set within the pages of a magical book where the world of Gielinor unfolds before your eyes. This game offers a unique strategic twist on card games as players craft quests with a deck of cards, battle enemies for gold and bonuses, and then face the final challenge of player vs. player combat. The single screenshot released thus far has echoes of Blizzard's hit Hearthstone, a market that Jagex would no doubt like to tap into, but the promised focus on quest building and the appearance of virtual miniatures on the game board suggests it will have at least a few unique elements of its own.

Launched in 2001, RuneScape has been played by over 100 million players worldwide, making it the world’s largest Free-to-play Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), as recognized by the Guinness Book of Records. The game is set in the medieval fantasy realm of Gielinor, an open-world landscape of kingdoms, regions and cities that are home to a myriad of monsters and magicks, and propel players into a multitude of quests and adventures.

Chronicle‘s biggest hook is that when the player selects a deck and begins the battle, the opponent’s deck is hidden. Battles are played out sequentially across the board, each player’s card in turn doing its thing to aide the Legend or impact the opposition. The game play surprise is in finding out how one’s deck matches up against the other player’s. Pretty early on players figure out a build order that works best, but the level of uncertainty in not knowing exactly what the other player has done keeps the game from being just another CCG and Hearthstone clone.

Of course, Chronicle‘s case is not helped by its cards looking Hearthstone derivative in art style. Once you earn enough gold, you can spend them on ally and weapon cards which provide bonuses without a combat exchange. The order you play these cards in is crucial - you'll need a weapon or significant attack bonuses before taking on powerful boss characters. Each match takes place on an in-game board, where miniatures are moved across its surface. Instead of looming overhead as an icon, your opponent's avatar literally sits with you at the table, visibly reacting to successes and failures.

These are minor touches, but really add a lot of personality to the game, especially in how it lends your opponent a strong background presence. Needless to say, I was hooked during Jagex's press event, and kept returning to Chronicle stations at every opportunity. Surpassing your own challenge cards is immensely satisfying in itself, as are the RPG leveling systems. But Chronicle always keeps you focused on an overarching conflict with a rival who might upset your plans at any time.

Even if you don't play cards against the rival, simply watching their stats increase can be a tense experience. Runescape developer Jagex will jump into the collectible card game scene next year with a new game called Chronicle: Runescape Legends. Set in the Runescape world of Gielinor, the game is played out on the pages of a "living book," which the studio says will allow players to "craft their own miniature RPGs" against computer-controlled enemies before striking out into PvP combat against other players.