Elder Scrolls fans are bringing the card game back from digital oblivion

The Elder Scrolls Legends was a mainstay of our list of the best card games that aren't Hearthstone, but sadly it wasn't the hit Bethesda wanted it to be. Development was halted in 2019, and in 2024 it was permanently shut down and rendered unplayable.

But, like players of Warhammer Online and Star Wars Galaxies before them, players of The Elder Scrolls Legends have refused to let it lie easy in its grave. Under the label The Elder Scrolls Legends Reborn, they've begun work on a server emulator that will let players experience the singleplayer campaigns and, as the latest update video shows, play multiplayer matches against each other.

The Reborn project isn't quite ready for public consumption just yet, with the computer essentially playing cards at random, players not able to build their own decks, and an incomplete selection of cards available. It's an impressive amount of progress nonetheless, with card mechanics working as they should and even the flashy animations for cards like Odahviing's fire. I can't wait for the full thing to return.

While The Elder Scrolls Legends Reborn may not be playable yet, in the words of Yoda, there is another. TESL Browser Project is, as the name suggests, an attempt to get The Elder Scrolls Legends running as a browser game. Its alpha has just hit version 0.4 and you can play it solo at tesl.online right now.

While a less visually impressive rendition, without the animations of the original game, the fact it's up and running is pretty sweet. It even plays the sound files for creatures as they're summoned, so you can hear the Skilled Blacksmith say, "Looks like it is time for the muscle!" as you drop him on the board.

Given how chill Bethesda has been about the Skyblivion project, even inviting the team to visit Bethesda HQ, hopefully the same relaxed attitude will apply to the folks bringing back Legends.