One of my favorite pastimes in high school was to play Yu-gi-oh and Magic: The Gathering; I would often spend my weekends playing in tournaments. When I was told of I AM MT and that it was a huge hit in Japan, my interest was piqued.  I often put game on my phone to play while I’m on the go or sitting in a boring class, but usually delete most of the games from boredom or never playing them. Will I be removing I AM MT from my phone any time soon? I do not believe so!

First off, for those who do not know, this game is based off the cartoon, ” I am MT”.  I have not had the chance to watch the show, but might watch some of it soon due to the game. At the beginning of the game you choose between three different characters to start off with. Choices are a druid, a warrior, and a priest. The game will run you through a quick tutorial and the real game will begin. The point of the game is to collect the strongest cards and create a team of five, with one being a leader. Depending on the leader the team will get certain bonuses. A few bonuses are defense to keep your team protected or more strength to allow you to quickly defeat enemies. When you first start the game you can only play your cards in dungeons. Dungeons will allow you to collect new cards, experience points to level yourself up, money, and items to help evolve your cards. After you beat a dungeon, another will unlock; some require you to be at a set level. As for levels the higher the level the more things you can do, such as teaching a leader a new skill to help your team in the Academy mode. Also, when you reach level 35, you can compete against other players in the arena. If you want to level up your cards you must fuse them together with other cards; each card has a set amount of experience points that it will give. After a card has reached its max level, if it can evolve, then you will be able to use the items or loot found in dungeons to help make the card stronger.

I used to play World of Warcraft (WoW), and while I played I AM MT, I started feeling a bit of nostalgia. The cards, the dungeons, and other things remind you of WoW. You can even get a murloc card named Kookie, derived from a WoW dungeon where one of the bosses is a murloc named Captain Kookie. The game has a good default difficulty. Many iOS games allow you to easily and quickly beat them, but this game is different. Once you get to a certain level you have to think more strategically with what cards you want to use. There have been many times that I have found myself using only a four card team, only because I decided to evolve  a card, due to it gaining power and the amount of leadership points that a card needs to be on the team. The leadership limit can only be increased through leveling up the player, not the cards. One thing about the game was a double edged sword: you are not able to play the game offline, but due to it being online you can get a sixth card for your team, by using a friend’s leader as a borrowed card. Borrowing the card will not affect your friend’s game except giving them a few points to spend later.

The game graphics are good for what they are, but the battles are just cards getting hit by an attack or healed. The music reminds me of something like Pokemon Stadium, which I loved; it is also very clear and crisp. As for the sound, they are simple and not in a large variety thus keeping the game simple on graphics, music, and sound. This is not necessarily bad, on the contrary I seen it as the developers way of focusing on other parts of the game. Since the game is used on a touch screen all the movements are simple, you only have to touch what you want. I was happy that during the battle runs, you are able to speed up the process by tapping the (x1) that is on the bottom left corner for iPhones (might be different for other phones).

One thing I would like to see changed about the game is if you lose in the dungeons, you still receive experience points and the items you find. There have been many times that I gain a load of loot in the dungeons only to have it ripped away from being defeated by the boss. I believe that since I have killed a few monsters for the loot, I should be able to keep it. There is on the other hand three exceptional things that the game developers do that I love. First, every day you login you will receive a few gifts. The gifts can range from coins to a card. Second, every so often an event takes place that allows you to do a rare dungeon and find different quality items or cards. Finally, once the game was in the top apps, the developers changed the price of the game to free. I do not have an idea if or when they will change the price back to normal. I find it extraordinary for the developers to be willing to relinquish a game for free, when it was selling so easily; this shows me that they care for their players.

Overall, the game is great. I will not be deleting this game from my phone any time soon. I hope to reach a max level.