Cellmons

A now-defunct Polish MMO TCG, combining TCG characteristics with gameplay elements inspired by Pokémon games. The game had 2d graphics, with card art imitating the style of Magic: the Gathering and locations presented in an oil-painting style.

First, the player could choose a character from the list of available ones, ranging from fantasy monsters such as dragons and spiders, to more traditional humanoid wizards and warriors. The character started very weak, but could be levelled up through duels with other human players or AI.

Dueling, the core part of the game, was based on a rock-paper-scissors system. Before each round of combat, every player simultaneously allocated three attacks between physical and magical attacks, with no limit on how many of each kind could be chosen. The player could also give three guesses on the enemy attack types, with correct guess granting reduced damage later on. On top of that, every player could choose one spell card to play on the given round. After both players made their picks, a round of combat played out where both player characters executed their chosen attacks in order governed by their statistics. At the end of the round the spell cards would be played and have their effects resolved. The duels would last until one of the combatants would run out of their life points.

The effectiveness of respective attacks was based on the character statistics. The statistics could be improved through levelling process, with the character being able to choose a "reincarnation" (evolution system reminiscent of Pokémon games) type after gaining enough levels. Reincarnation could give the character access to new spell schools, or further specialize them in the ones they already had available, while changing the look of the character in a way reflecting the choice of the player. Even later on, the character could evolve into a "shadow" character, an embodiment of one of the game's setting faculties - schools of priesthood, necromancy, combat, elementalism, magic, and technology. Each character was associated with one of these faculties, which governed which spell cards they were able to use in combat.

The name of the game is short for "Cellular Monsters", as the authors originally planned to release a java version of the game for cellular phones. This idea has been abandoned later on, and the scope has been reduced to just PC version. The first version of the game was released in 2004, offering only Polish language and downloadable windows client, with a subscription model based on monthly payments. In 2006 the game has become free-to-play. Game servers have been shut down sometime before 2010 due to declining player count. A failed attempt has been made by the authors to reactivate the game in the year 2010 as an English language game. It was met with lukewarm reception from the Polish fanbase which felt alienated by the new version, as many players struggled with English language.