Playing video games is always fun, whether it be at night when you should be studying, in the morning when you have homework due in a few hours, or just in the afternoon when you have homework due the next day. However, video games have always had a huge problem: they cost money. For this reason I’ll be looking at many games that don’t cost money so you can keep your wallet full (or at least not empty).

MTG Arena is an online strategy game based on the real life card game Magic: The Gathering. It’s often compared to Hearthstone as they play pretty similarly, though  MTG Arena is overall the better experience for people unwilling to pay.

At the opening of both games, there’s already a pretty clear distinction between what the games offer their players: MTG Arena immediately gives new players 5 mediocre decks while Hearthstone offers the choice of one almost viable one. After this, MTG Arena gives 10 more decks below competitive quality though they each have unique strengths and themes.

Later, Hearthstone has players opening packs of 5 cards which usually contain mostly easy-to-obtain cards with a small chance of having a rare, chase card. Arena, on the other hand, puts 15 cards and at least one chase card in every pack, giving players more opportunities to find interesting cards to build around. It also has more ways of using those cards with different modes where different cards are the most powerful.

MTG Arena becomes the better experience for this reason: it giving so many cards encourages trying many different playstyles and makes it easier to create many different decks. The different modes also help with variety, making MTG feel like the more varied and dynamic game for people unwilling to spend money.