There’s something entirely infectious about the whimsy with which Card Hunter presents itself. There’s absolutely no attempt to be cool, it’s an unapologetically, ridiculously geeky game designed to play off the decades of history surrounding the hobby. Alec echoed as much in his preview back in June and now we can excitedly reveal that you can all get your mitts on it on September 12th via any web browser you care to mention. While the inevitability of my own endless fascination presses heavy, you may require further convincing. Read on.

The developer pedigree on show is immense – the parts of Blue Manchu Games not composed of ex-Irrational and Looking Glass, which is most of them, are Magic: The Gathering heavyweights such as Richard Garfield. What that man has forgotten about designing games would likely fill my head to bursting, nevermind the multiple brilliant games he’s helped put together. And hay, it’ll be free to play and supported via purchases of additional characters and adventures, as well as a subscription system that buffs rewards, so you don’t really have an excuse not to try. If it grabs your fancy but you’re not one for this business model, there’s also a ‘Basic Edition’ on offer for $25 which provides a number of extras including all available single-player content.

Want it now? The beta is still available to sign up for over on the official website.