The free Magic: The Gathering game has just launched and it's quite good Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The free Magic: The Gathering game has just launched and it's quite good Does the card work for you. News by Robert Purchese Senior Staff Writer Updated on 27 Sep 2019 18 comments The free-to-play Magic: The Gathering Arena game launches today on PC, and it's rather good. What Arena does marvellously is make sense of an otherwise complex card game. In Magic, for instance, there's a resource-gathering mechanic and card 'tapping', and an unusual block system - at least to my untrained eye. And when it all kicks off, it can be very hard to keep track of, so having a game do the hard work for you, and talk you through it, is very helpful. This was especially obvious to me after playing my first game of Magic: The Gathering with physical cards earlier this week, and then playing it in Arena today. What I really like is how it's exactly the same game, which makes it, I believe, the only online collectible card game out there with a physical counterpart. You can, for instance, brush up your skills in Arena - or try to get any resemblance of skill whatsoever, Bertie - then use it in real-life on your Magic pals. Or when those pals aren't around, Arena gives you something to do - someone to play with. One compliments the other. And when you buy packs of cards in real-life, apparently they have codes you can enter to make them appear in Arena (you can't do it vice versa). Watch on YouTube Arena begins with a tutorial - a handful of successive matches each introducing new concepts of the game to you. Standard stuff, and I got through Arena's in about half-an-hour. Once through, you get five standard decks to play with for real. You can buy more cards if you wish, of course. Arena isn't as handsome as HearthStone or Gwent - it's duller, to my eye - but has energetic animations and effects, and talking heroes, so it's pretty enough. Give it a go! Watch on YouTube The Throne of Eldraine launch coincides with Arena's launch. Here, Johnny - who you might recognise - talks about the fairytales some of the cards are based on. It's Johnny's story time. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 4 Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 11 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store