Topps has continued their domination of the trading card market by releasing the BUNT app for the 2014 MLB season. BUNT is an iOS app that allows users to collect digital cards for free. The app also lets users trade with one another and rates your collection.
I played around with the app today, and it’s pretty cool. You buy your packs of cards with coins (that you can buy with US currency, in case you’re into microtransactions), which can be earned through performing various tasks within the app. But the main feature of bunt isn’t the collection part, it’s the ability to play cards and earn points based on player performance in MLB games.
It adds an RPG-style element to the app that we’ve been seeing more and more with TV-based apps like Viggle. You have a limited number of slots to insert players into, and a limited number of substitutions to make each day. You earn or lose points based on how well a player plays, and the more points you get enable you to earn more coins and buy more packs.
There are five different rarities for each player’s card, and each different one provides a different point multiplier for in-game points. There are several different types of packs you can buy, with different odds of getting each rarity. What I’ve noticed playing around with the app so far is that just like when buying real cards, collation appears prevalent – in the few packs I’ve bought so far, I’ve gotten six Hisashi Iwakuma cards (in three rarities), eight Manny Machado cards (ironically, in every rarity but the most common), six Jarrod Cosart cards (in three rarities), and four Josh Donaldson cards (three of which were of the “rare” variety).
I think the app has promise, and could be a lot of fun, but I won’t know for sure until Monday, when points are able to be earned during games. Click here to be redirected to the App Store to download BUNT.
[Topps]
