Magic: The Gathering’s new virtual, free-to-play card game, Magic: The Gathering Arena , isn’t a direct simulation of the physical card game in the way that Magic Online is – with every single card and every unique set of rules. Instead, Arena is trying to translate the actual experience of playing Magic – of bluffing and deliberating – all with another player sitting across from you, analyzing your every move. It’s taking the community appeal of in-person events like Friday Night Magic, and making them accessible to players 24/7.

“ Letting you play Friday Night Magic 24/7.

“ I was impressed with the attractive conciseness of it all.

“ It's all about staying "true" to Magic.

With that, of course, Arena does follow the rules and principles of Magic: The Gathering, with cards designed to look identical to those in the physical game. It has all of the cards available in the current rotation, and, based on the three hours I had with the game, absolutely appeared to stay true to core MtG. What’s more impressive, though, is that it also manages to be a fast, flowing game experience, with so many thoughtful ways of representing cards and what they do without cluttering the screen with text. Apparently all of this is much easier said than done, too, with three of the developers in the room telling me this was their most difficult development experience, topping even MMOs.Plenty of things are automated as well, with cards that can be played or attacked glowing green and any card that allows you to draw a specific thing from your deck immediately showing you the cards that comply (though you can see all of your cards, in case you want to use that opportunity to look through your deck). You can choose to block with everything or attack with everything at the click of a button, but Arena also has a “full control” mode, designed to give the more experienced players who might want it complete ownership of the playing field. It also has deck building and the ability to purchase packs for more cards to add to your deck, or you can unlock them as the game progresses.Beyond their unique visual states and animations, cards have fitting sound-effects, with the dinosaurs of my deck roaring upon summon. The sound design was all fairly pleasant, and the Planeswalkers -– which are basically Magic’s version of Superheroes -– are fully voice-acted for one of the first times ever. Planeswalkers take a special place on the field, away from other monsters, giving them an elevated status that was a cool touch for me as a Magic player, as was the map I played on. Maps in MtG Arena are designed to look like the different worlds in Magic, with the specific map I played featuring animations with butterflies swaying leaves, serving no purpose but to enhance the aesthetic appeal and immerse players deeper into the rich lore of the series. In every way, it’s intended to feel like a visualization of the world of Magic, without fully replacing cards with animated creatures, with the logic that that makes it feel less true to the visual identity of the game.There were definitely some design decisions in the build that I didn’t love, like having to click to confirm that I wanted to attack with all of my monsters twice, once with a big green button, and second with a slightly smaller one above the ‘cancel’ button. Each time I mentioned something like this, though, I was met with acknowledgement and agreement, which hopefully contextualizes that this was an early alpha build. I’d mention more of the very minor complaints I had with Magic: The Gathering Arena, but I don’t doubt that most of them will be altered before the game reaches beta later this year.

: This article originally said that MtG Arena's matchmaking was "designed for players to have a 50/50 win-loss rate", which is a direct quote from the developers. They have since reached out and asked that that be altered, as it is not accurate.

Alanah Pearce is a writer at IGN, and has far too many Magic cards. Seriously. Send help.