Developer Mojang is always busy improving its block-building phenom Minecraft, but it also has a few teams working on other projects. That includes the hex-based collectible-card game Scrolls, which it’s preparing to release in open beta next week.
Mojang announced that Scrolls will be available for $20 on PC and Mac beginning June 3. It will then follow a similar release schedule to Minecraft, in which Mojang will continuously improve the title. Those who get in now at $20 will automatically receive all future updates for free.
Scrolls is a digital card battler with board-game elements. Two players face off against one another on a chess-like hexagon grid and use fantasy characters and weapons to come out on top. Unlike most other recent digital card games, like Blizzard’s Hearthstone, Mojang is forgoing a free-to-play business model in favor of the $20 premium price.
The Minecraft studio has a dedicated audience, so many are likely to give Scrolls a chance. Still, it’ll be interesting to see how well a game like this does against so much free-to-play competition.