Platform is currently browser-based (requires Flash), and the game is still in closed beta. Didn't take me long to get an invite though - sign up on the web site. Supposedly, iOS and Android versions may be forthcoming, as well as a full executable-based standalone version. This game would totally rock on iPad.
http://www.cardhunter.com
Their blurb:
(Freedom Force should be added to that list too.)Card Hunter is an online collectible card game with some twists:
It’s free to play and you can win cards by playing the game.
Search dungeons to find treasure and then equip your loot to build out your decks.
Use your cards to move your characters and battle monsters’ decks.
We’re taking two great flavours and combining them into something new. Classic fantasy adventuring meets collectible card gaming!
Tired of pressing buttons while grinding away at quests? Card Hunter is all about skill – your skill at deck building and playing your cards. Tired of paying for endless new card sets? Card Hunter lets you win by playing, not by paying.
Card Hunter is being developed by an all-star team. Our resumes include games as diverse as BioShock, System Shock 2 and Magic the Gathering, to name a few.
This game really calls back to old-school Basic box D&D in a great, humorous way - and adds a dash of KotDT. The art style looks like all the classic modules. The PCs start out in the village of Ommlet.
This is a light, turn based strategy game with attractive, grid-based maps that look like tabletop D&D module maps. Likewise, the PC and monster counters look like stand up, cardboard figures on a base. There is a definite RPG style progression - PCs have character sheets and items.
That is where the cards come in. Your "deck" of cards is made up from the items you equip. So, a sword might give you several different attacks and/or a block. Shields and armor provide blocks and damage reduction cards. Boots give movement cards and damage reduction. Wands and arcane items provide spells, etc.
So, there is some level of randomness, as you draw a hand every round. But, that give a cool "work with what you've got" vibe.
The game is much more than what I am articulating. The art direction and humor are great, and spot-on old school D&D evocative. There is also some multiplayer, but haven't tried that out. Need friends in-game for that... The free-to-play part is not at all smarmy or trappy - and as far as I can tell, payment is totally optional and unnecessary. (I shot them $10 just to support.)
Can be played in bite-sized, 10-minute chunks too.
Again, it's in beta, so there's the possibility that your characters might be reset once per month or so, but I honestly think it's really close to launch - seems very solid as-is.