Etherlords was the gaming equivalent of an European art-house film. You could understand what was going on, even appreciate it and get into the spirit of the collectible-card-game (CCG) fun for a while, but the whole experience was so different from every other strategy game on the market that most players didn't quite know how to take it. This was a real handicap, even with a lot of recognizable elements and nifty combat design that incorporated many of the things that made Magic: The Gathering the biggest geek sensation since Gary Gygax discovered the fun to be had with 20-sided dice.