I've been keeping my eye out for a deal on Eye of Judgement since it was released several years ago.  I didn't really care too much about the card game, I just wanted a cheap Playstation Eye camera that gets bundled with the game.

This week I spotted a deal I had to jump on.  The Eye of Judgement bundle was $19.99 at EB Games.  So I quick picked one up and gave it a try.  I really like the card game!

It's a pretty simple strategy game, if you boil down the overly complex written rules.  The play area is a 3x3 grid, upon which you can summon creatures.  Occupy 5 squares and you win.

Players start the game with 5 cards.  Each turn a player earns 2 mana and picks up a card from the deck.  Each card states how much mana it costs to play.  Players can cast spells, or make existing creatures attack, until they run out of mana, or until they summon a new creature.  Any unused mana is carried over till their next turn.

If an attacked creature runs out of health, it is removed from the board and the player to which it belonged recovers 1 mana point.

That's pretty much it!  There's lots of subtly rules, like how certain spells behave, or bonuses monsters can get, but the game itself is pretty simple.

When you play it in front of the playstation eye, the ps3 does all the turn management and math for you.  It also digitally inserts the actual creatures on top of the cards, so it's like you can see them standing on your play mat (of course, only if you're looking at the TV screen).  It also animates the battles for you, which can look pretty cool.  It's extra satisfying to see the carnage when you're eliminating a creature that's being a thorn in your side.  

Since it's a card game, can it be played without the playstation?  YES!  We managed to get through a game using pen and paper to track the creature health and grid elements.  It wasn't as enjoyable that way.  But one enterprising person put together a printable kit that can be used instead!  http://tylertinsley.com/2007/12/11/eye-of-judgment-printable-tabletop-players-kit/  Just print it out and use the marker tokens to track everything.  I'll be trying that out later for sure!

At $19.99 this was a purchase just to get the playstation camera (which will be used with the upcoming Move wands).  I was pleasantly surprised to discover I enjoyed the bundled card game as well!  I'll mostly be playing it without using the camera though, since it's a hassle to set up and sometimes annoying when a shadow causes it not to recognize a card.