Recs.
Updated
Specs
Pros
Pro Free to Play
Duelyst's card collecting system is very similar to Hearthstone and does not invoke a sense of needing to spend real money to compete. Playing matches, completing quests, and a bonus for winning your first match of the day are examples of ways you earn gold used for purchasing orbs(packs of 5 cards). Each orb contains at least 1 card of greater than common value. You can of course purchase orbs with real money. Every player has access to basic decks for each faction that consist of faction and neutral cards. Gaining experience and levels with a specific faction will also earn more cards for that faction.
Pro Able to complete a game under 10 minutes
Duelyst allows for really short play sessions from 5-10 minutes, this is great for parents or other people who only have a very short amount of spare time scattered throughout the day.
Cons
Con Ugly pixel art
The design of the game is peculiar, it doesn't work for everybody.
Con Difficult free card collecting
Takes a while to get a good deck like any free 2 play card game, but the daily quests are quite generous and so are the card packs through high legendary rate.
In the last expansions you can't get duplicates, so after you've bought all packs of that expansion you get the full set.
If you don't play often and can't complete daily quests it will take a while to get a full collection and to earn the appropriate cards to be competitive.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Con Difficult card collecting
Takes a while to get a good deck, but it is mitigated with a good ranking system. So it may take a time investment in order to earn the appropriate cards to be competitive.
Out of Date Pros + Cons
Con No PvE
(There are boss battles now, as well as daily lethal puzzles)
It's true there is no standing PVE Campaign as with Hex (or the adventures in Hearthstone), there is a good amount of single-player scenarios and there have been numerous free bosses. If you beat the latter, you're rewarded with a free orb (card pack) and essentially a 50% coupon for additional cards/cosmetics. A more accurate description would be "limited PvE," I think.