Hannah and the Ice Caves Expansion Interview

NQL: Could you tell us a little about the set specifics? (i.e.. number of cards, release date, tournament date)

Adam: The set will be, if I remember correctly, 150 cards and it should be out around the middle to the end of October, so pretty soon. As for the tournament date, I know there is going to be one I just haven't got the final date from Wizards yet, when I do know I will put it on the site.

NQL: What new species are we going to see this time around, and which Neopets are coming back from the other expansions?

Adam: Well there will be a new species of Neopet to start with :) They should be added to the site pretty soon. Other than that we have the Gelert, Kyrii, Elephante, Moehog and quite a few more.

NQL: The Mystery Island expansion heavily featured Fire and Water faerie types. Is there a focus on a certain faerie type in this set?

Adam: Actually this set is pretty balanced. Most of the faerie types are well represented, I'll leave it up to you to decide which are the best cards for each element.

NQL: The Base Set gave us the Icy and Stone Snowballs; low bank point values with amazing stat bonuses. When I think of Terror Mountain and the Ice Caves, I think of Snowballs. Are we going to see more in this set? If so, are they sticking to the same formula, or are we going to see any great card effects involving Snowballs?

Adam: Yes there will be snowballs, just a few though, and they are pretty much sticking to the same formula. We kept the exciting effects for the other cards.

NQL: Rumors of a new card type have been running rampant. What are Fates, and how do they work? Could you introduce us to one of your favorites?

Adam: Fates are similar to a "Enchant Creature" in MAGIC. There are two types, Quests (meaning that the Neopet has to do something to complete the card) and Curse (which means something negative happens to the Neopet). You play them directly onto a Neopet in play, much like an equipment, but they can be applied to your opponent's Neopets too. An example of a Curse could be "This Neopet gets -5 to Strength" or "This Neopet can't bank cards" - they can get pretty scary.

NQL: In Return of Dr. Sloth we were given Petpetpets. In Mystery Island we picked up Totems and Codestones. What else is new in the Ice Caves? Are there any mechanics differing greatly from what we’ve already seen?

Adam: The major addition to the set is the Fate cards. We do however have a ton of Petpets in this expansion, lots of wintery-themed Petpets and others too. As far as new mechanics we do have a couple of very interesting Experienced Neopets such as the Baby Elephante and Cybunny Rogue (I wont give their actual mechanics away), but there are no new mechanics that are based on Items.

NQL: So far Foods and Experienced Neopets have been targeted. Mystery Island featured all out board and bank destruction. What’s going to get it this time around?

Adam: Nothing particular is picked upon, but there are a lot of cards that target others. There is one card that targets Curses, one Villains, one Petpets, and so on... you should find something to counter every deck type :)

NQL: As always, Neopets players are curious about you. Do you get a chance to play often? Do you play a specific deck or couple of decks, or do you playtest with all sorts of decks? What is your favorite type of deck to play right now, and what cards from Hannah and the Ice Caves will people see in your deck?

Adam: I don't get a chance to play as much as I would like! Maybe you should e-mail Donna and tell her to play more as then I will have decent opposition! My favourite cards are still from the Space and Mystery Island sets as I like the downright destruction of huge areas of the board... As for cards from Hannah, I would probably be using a lot of the Curse cards, they can allow you to shut down your opponent fast. I am more of a defensive player, so I prefer to take time to build up a winning strategy and slow down the rate at which my opponent banks. I'd sooner remove every card from my opponent's bank than race ahead to 21!

NQL: Neopets and WotC have gotten a lot of grief about the lack of advertising for the game. After the Neopets Mall Tour and the Happy Meal promotion, I think many people will quiet down. The McDonald’s promotion was great, and the Mall Tour was fantastic! Both were loads of fun and great ways to introduce players to the game. Are there any new promotions coming up for the Neopets Trading Card Game?

Adam: Well we think the mall tour went exceedingly well, so who knows, we could do another one, I'm not sure (they don’t tell me these things!) We have the TCG cards in the Australian Happy Meal set at the moment so that should boost awareness down there... apart from that I can't really think of anything major. There will be an organised play tournament for the Hannah set too.

NQL: Everyone knows you’re a busy guy, but the trading card game area of Neopets.com has gone without any new decks, articles, or updates since early on in the game’s history. Many people are wondering if players could possibly submit content for this area of the site. Is this a possibility?

Adam: Yes, I would love to see submitted articles :) I forgot to ask!

NQL: Finally, Hannah and the Pirate Caves is a popular game on the Neopets.com website. The editorials have mentioned a great plot involving Hannah. Are we going to see a new game as well? And are we getting a new Villain or two, or is the criminal mastermind, Dr. Sloth, behind it all once again?

Adam: As for the game, yes there will be one or more new games based on the Hannah plot. I can't really give you more details at the moment though, but thanks for reminding me to remind our game designers :) There will of course be a whole load of villains, so we can finally update our Gallery of Evil!

NQL: Thanks so much for giving us a glimpse into the Hannah and the Ice Caves expansion of the Neopets Trading Card Game.