Trading card game Arena 9 gets HD version and free rank up system

I've been playing CDE Humble Gaming's trading card game Arena 9 since its release, but it's not been reviewed yet as the developers have been tweaking some elements.

The new update brings the freemium game to that state.

It might not seem like much, but the sticking point for me was the way that as well as collecting enough of the game's Arena points to upgrade your rank - Journeyman, Adept and Expert - you also had to pay 99c as an in-app purchase.

The new system still isn't perfect to my mind, but at least there's now a non-payment option to go alongside that 99c buy in.

This is based on Experience points - you're rewarded with Arena and Experience when you play the game, more if you win, and more if you play against other people not the AIs.

Now the options are, to get the Journeyman pass you have to collect 5,000 Arena points and either pay 99c or gain 50,000 Experience points.

An Adept pass requires 25,000 Arena points and 300,000 Experience points (or 99c), while the Expert pass requires 300,000 Arena points and either 3.6 million Experience points or 99c.

Another good move is the release of Arena 9 HD.

The iPad version of the game is free and because it uses OpenFeint, you can share your game and card decks between both devices.

In addition, anyone who has previously paid to gain a rank will receive a special limited edition card for each rank purchased.

Arena 9 is out now and free to play on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.