The high quality Shadow Era artwork and ease of gameplay is winning over players across Brazil. Having Portuguese as the official language of the country hasn't stopped players from picking up both the physical and digital game of Shadow Era. In fact, it's brought a tightknit group together to play and discuss the game in their native language.

"Boa tarde, alguém pode me dizer como eu pego o Heroi Shadow Vess Swifthtandss?," Rafael asks. "Poderiam me ajudar em relaçao a os decks de twinlight e humunclo?" requests Bruno. The friendly 200-plus member Shadow Era Brazil Facebook group is ready to answer questions and discuss strategies in Portuguese. While there is a Portuguese section of Shadow Era forum, it’s this Facebook group that is used most often. It's here that our Portuguese players exchange information, set up games, organize tournaments, and make new friends.

Having a spot where Brazilians can discuss Shadow Era in their native language has been helpful to master the basics of the English game. Lucas at Gamer Sith, a popular Portuguese gamer review site, still tweets and gets views of his walkthrough of Shadow Era in Portuguese. "I'm a big fan of the game and even bought physical cards," he says. Lucas explains further that once you get the basics of the game, it's something you can pick up quickly even with limited English. This has made his basic walk-through post very popular with new Portuguese players and it's still shared on social media frequently. Given the popularity of this walk-through article, his upcoming interview with the creator of Shadow Era will give his readers more insight into the game.

"We have a great and active Shadow Era fanbase,” says Kyle Poole of Wulven Game Studios. "It's very difficult for an indy game publisher to break into new markets, especially in foreign countries. But thanks to our Champions program, we're starting a grassroots effort to promote the game, led by our fans who want to help make it a success." In Brazil, our Champion Jorge is sharing his passion for the physical game with others by demoing the game and overseeing local tournaments. "I have been playing since the release of Call of the Crystals for Android and I have followed all the expansions, the game really fascinated me," says Jorge. "I am a long time player of various TCGs like Yugioh, MTG, and Pokémon. I was a local Yogioh champion several times... but now I play mostly Shadow Era. What attracted me to the game was the possibility to have several strategies in one deck, the gameplay, the art of the cards, the balance between the classes and the ability to play online or have physical game play." In between taking care of his newborn son, Jorge is enjoying squeezing in some digital and physical Shadow Era gameplay. Jorge invites Brazilian players to join the Facebook group to learn about local meet-ups and tournaments and for Brazil stores to email him about setting up a demo at their store. The local Shadow Era events he organizes are not only for our physical players but can provide our digital players a fun opportunity to discuss strategy in-person. "I want to hold big events that unite everyone," says Jorge.

Bruno, owner of Imperio Nerd, notes that physical trading and collectible card games are catching on in Brazil. Having played the digital game before, he was very impressed when he first demoed the physical version of Shadow Era. "It has gorgeous card art, a lot of strategy and it's easy to learn." Seeing the potential for it to take off at his store, he started carrying it... and sold out of product before they could even host their first tournament! "Our local players really like the game and were asking daily about getting more," he explained. Our Brazilian players are also excited to see Shadow Era being offered not only in their physical store for local players but also on their online store, which helps with shipping costs and customs delays. Join Imperio Nerd on Twitter or Facebook to keep up with local tournaments and gameplay nights.

Another store carrying Shadow Era in Brazil is Vicious Games and Hobbies. Without even playing the digital game, Andre, the owner, had an eye to spot a good seller for his store. "I found Shadow Era to be a very good and interesting trading card game. I liked the fact that it played consistently well and it's hard to start with a bad hand as it mends quickly when you draw more cards." The players at the store picked up the game quickly and "they invested in decks and booster pack, bought some full booster boxes even to get the best cards." Constructed deck tournaments are held at his store, so come with your best deck to battle it out! If you're new to the game, sealed events such as Meltdown Tournaments are also held to introduce new players to Shadow Era and help to start build their collection. Come down to the store or join the Vicious Facebook page for upcoming Shadow Era events.

Divirta-se e batalha forte, Brazilian Shadow Era payers!

Want your local Shadow Era community to feature? Have an interesting Shadow Era story to tell? Contact us to be featured in a Wulven Spotlight article: muriah@wulven.com