Blockbuster Gaming – Druid’s Duel
Occasionally here at Player2.net.au we will play something that deserves your attention but probably doesn’t need a full review written for it. Be it DLC for the latest AAA title, a little indie game or even an Android/iOS title. We play these titles for the same length as the average blockbuster movie (about 2 hours) and report back to you the reader on what we found. So grab your popcorn and settle in for the latest episode of Blockbuster Gaming.
Druid’s Duel
Steam
Well talk about pleasant surprises. Druid’s Duel is a nice little indie title that came out of nowhere to rock my world. I seriously count my lucky stars that I was fortunate enough to stumble across this little gem. Druid’s Duel is turn based strategy game from Thoughtshelter games and it involves groups of druids waging turn based war across the skies for the hearts and minds of…. well I’m not quite sure but that doesn’t matter.
Let me see if I can explain the game. When playing I have four different units at my disposal, a soldier, druid, archer and warrior. Each has different abilities that it can access. Druids can remove or add tiles, warriors can attack further, archers can attack at distance etc. But what really makes these units unique is their secondary ability or animal transformation. The warrior can transform into a bear that can rampage across 3 tiles removing obstacles or enemies with ease, the archer can transform into an eagle and attack from anywhere on the level, the soldier turns into a wolf that can cross up to for tiles and the druid transforms into a turtle that protects it from all harm.
The catch is that each move, attack or transformation costs mana which is earned by capturing tiles. To capture a tile a unit simply has to cross it so it meant that my enemy could quite easily steal back any tiles I had gained with a few choice moves. Mana is also used to purchase new units which I could then place on any captured tile, the catch being I had to wait one turn before I could use them. All of this adds up to a wonderfully thoughtful and addictive game that ebbs and flows quite naturally as teams compete.
This is without doubt a great game and one any turn based fan should check out. The graphics are simple yet appealing, the level design is interesting and while the sound is on the basic side of things it certainly does the job. I hope this game is ported to iOS and Android because I can see it working perfectly on these platforms. Druid’s Duel is about $10 USD on steam right now and I can’t recommend it enough. It had me saying “just one more turn” more than once and I am sure it will have you doing the same.
Matt Hewson
