Beer League Hockey review - Proof that CCGs and sports do not mix

Sports and CCG is not something that sounds like it would work either in theory or practice, but that doesn't mean developers shouldn't try it.

Yet Beer League Hockey, as much as it tries to run with its interesting mashup, is instead an infuriatingly boring take on both CCGs and the game of hockey.

It's poorly designed, difficult to understand, unfair with its card packs, and is ultimately a pointless experience that no one should go through.

Rather than watch players skate around on the ice in Beer League Hockey, you instead witness your deck of player cards do all the moving.

The goal, as in hockey, is to get the ball in the other team's net, which you accomplish by watching your cards move about a bit until they get into a battle with an opponent.

Hammer the pair of cards with your finger and you might win the battle, or go into a fighting mini-game, but most of the time you'll simply lose possession or concede a goal.

You'll also need to tap at the start of each match to take initial possession of the puck, and the fighting mini-game consists of tapping at the right moment to knock your opponent out without them blocking you.

But half the time there doesn't seem to be any point in tapping at all. No matter how rapidly you tap in the initial battles, it's rare you'll win no matter how much effort you put into it.

The main problem appears to be that your starting deck of cards is entirely awful, meaning that you're destined to lose no matter how hard you may try.

You can buy new cards out of packs, although each pack contains just one card, and you need 100 in-game coins to buy each one, a figure that takes a surprising amount of time to reach.

But even if you do get good cards and start to win, it just doesn't feel fun. There's almost no strategy to Beer League Hockey – you mash the screen until you win or lose, and pray that your poor selection of cards will hold off the opponent.

Its only saving grace is a cartoon art style that is charming in its simplicity, but this is a small glint of light in a dark abyss of inadequacy.

All in all, Beer League Hockey is just plain dull. Its gameplay is so simplistic that you may as well not bother playing it, and its card-collecting is weighted so heavily against you that you'll lose almost every time even if you do play.

Which is a shame, really. At its core, it has a solid idea – a sports CCG could well work with a bit more polish, rebalancing, and more cards in card packs.

It's genuinely disappointing, because it could be so much more than it is. But as it stands, there is very, very little to recommend here.