This new free-to-play fairytale card game was designed by former Magic pros

Card game autobattler Storybook Brawl released in Early Access on Steam yesterday, giving you the opportunity to draft "your favourite characters from story and myth", such as the trademark-neutral "Snow Wight", or "Princess Peep and her battle-hardened sheep". Each fairytale character has unique abilities.

With its theming and big, bright UI, Storybook Brawl comes off as the sort of game that's easy to learn, but difficult to master. "The goal was to create a game that anyone can get into and have fun," says designer Matt Place, who was a Magic Pro Tour champion before he turned his hand to game design. "Fairytales give us a huge array of characters with different personalities and attributes to explore, and it allows us to make a very accessible game that is not too complex but has deep strategy for those who want it."

The studio, Good Luck Games, is led by three former professional card game players who have since transitioned to game design, working on projects including Hearthstone and Elder Scrolls: Legends before coming together to work on Storybook Brawl. Having played at such a high level, it's interesting that they would choose explicitly to make such an approachable game. Most reviewers on Steam are already fans of the genre. (There are 33 reviews for Storybook Brawl at the time of writing, with a "positive" average.)

Storybook Brawl is expected to be in Early Access until "late 2021 to early 2022". The core systems and many of the final game objects are already in place (including "1 Ultra Cute Puff Puff"), but players can expect to see features added such as group lobbies, friend chat, and fully-voiced characters.

Storybook Brawl is free to play, and can be downloaded from Steam.