A Druid's Duel

Subtle strategy meets simple rules for a deceptively complex game. If you're a fan of non-random turn based strategy games (no dice rolling folks!) then this is a game you can't pass up. Think of it like this: Imagine a game of chess where each unit has a simple set of rules. Then add in the ability to conquer tiles on the board, create new tiles and paths, and destroy others (sometimes with enemies on them!). Then add in the ability to collect resources (mana) and buy new units. You now have an idea of A Druid's Duel. It features Async multiplayer for those of us who can't always dedicate large amounts of time at once and a pretty huge and EXTREMELY challenging campaign. While on the easiest difficulty it can easy be a gateway for a newcomer to strategy games, on the higher difficulty this game will challenge the very best strategy players among us. Well worth the price of admission!

[h1]Gameplay[/h1] [i]A Druid's Duel[/i] is a turn-based strategy game that plays like a board game. You can play [i]A Druid's Duel[/i] single-player and multiplayer but I have only played the single-player campaign. Each turn, you move your pieces around the board and then the opponent does the same. The pieces are druids that come in four varieties. Each type of druid has a different set of rules for moving across the board and for attacking opponents. Also, each type of druid can change into an animal. In animal form, the druid can perform powerful abilities. Changing into an animal and performing abilities costs mana. Your mana pool refreshes each turn. The amount of mana you get depends on the amount of tiles of the board you own at the beginning of that turn. The various rule sets for the druids and their animal form are well thought out. The game really is strategic and requires a tactical playstyle. On the first attempt I usually failed miserably but when I tried again and took a completely different approach, I won the map. This had nothing to do with luck as the AI's strategy is pretty consistent, so I think this shows that the game's basic premise is solid. However, I ran into two mental obstacles that made me think I'm done with this game after only a few hours: [list] [*] [i]A Druid's Duel[/i] gets very difficult quite soon. [*] The game becomes very repetitive, adding nothing new - ever! [/list] Like I said, I didn't mind restarting a level a couple of times to try a different approach. But the only increase in difficulty results from the opponent getting more and better units than you at the beginning of each map, which gets old quickly. In the level after the first boss I thought the opponent got too nice a head start, and I couldn't be bothered anymore, really. What I can't wrap my head around is that I hit this difficulty wall even though I chose the easiest of the four difficulties at the start of the campaign! Something seems off here... So at the start of each level, it's a matter of taking the correct actions in the first few turns to undo the opponent's advantage and then finish the map using the same tactics that proved to work before. This gets very repetitive as only the first few moves really matter. When you find a correct approach, you just need to clear the remaining 80% of the map the same way you did the previous levels. Also, nothing new gets added after the first level. You know all the units and tactics, and that's all there is to the game. What this game lacks is some feeling of progress. Some sort of mechanic to upgrade your units, for example. Or gradually introducing new tactical elements to the game. [h1]Graphics and sound[/h1] The graphics are very simple and basic but vibrant enough to be easy on the eye. The music fits the game. With games like this, any music will get repetitive after a while but the tune you keep hearing while playing [i]A Druid's Duel[/i] manages to not be annoying and merely 'neutral'. So that's okay. [i]A Druid's Duel[/i] doesn't have a lot of sound effects but they do sound clear and sharp. [h1]Verdict[/h1] All in all, there certainly is a base for fun to be had in [i]A Druid's Duel[/i], but I found the game too difficult and too repetitive to play for a long time, so I can't recommend it. But if you do a bit of research and still think [i]A Druid's Duel[/i] may be your cup of tea, and if you can pick it up cheap, by all means give it a try. I'm not saying it's complete rubbish, after all. Or maybe you want to buy the game to play it online with a friend. Like I said, I didn't play online so I can't render a verdict there. One thing's for sure, online you won't encounter the artificial increase in difficulty because the opponent just gets increasingly more and better units than you at the start of each level. [h1]On Steam's extra features[/h1] [i]A Druid's Duel[/i] has 7 Steam Trading Cards. You'll get 4 while running the game. The game has 49 Steam Achievements. 20 of those, that's a whopping 40%!, can only be attained by playing online. Of the remaining 29, there are 8 achievements for reaching certain goals in the single-player campaign. The other achievements are granted for performing specific moves while playing, some menial and some challenging.

If you're looking for a fun little game, this isn't bad. If you're looking for a strategy game, it still needs quite a bit of improvement. Every multiplayer map suffers from severe First Move Advantage, and One on One is the way I wanted to play a strategy game like this (since I found it reminiscent of chess), but this game is currently not designed for that. Single Player is just an excercise in manipulating the enemy AI to fight each other and not you. Not too much different than most other single player strategy game ecperiences, but it includes "False Path" maps that are really frustrating and can add hours onto your play time by forcing you to replay levels you already beat. Levels are small and there's no expandability or map maker. For $10 I can't really recommend it at this point in time. Wait for it to go on sale and it's a cool little diversion, or wait for the next version and we'll see if it fixes some of these problems.

I am constantly impressed by the game and the development team. In my opinion, if you enjoy tactical grid-based strategy games, you should definitely give this a try! Gameplay: In this game, you grab land to generate mana, which can be used to summon four different classes of druids or transform the druids into animals to gain special power. The game plays a bit like chess in a sense that you always kill your opponent in one hit. Campaign and Multiplayer: In my opinion, the campaign is worth the full price of the game, but the multi player is probably the bigger selling point! The lengthy single player mode takes 6+ hours to finish. It doesn't really have a story, and can get a bit repetitive towards the end. Nevertheless, I still find it really fun and enjoyable. The multiplayer is where the game really shines. It has two different modes: a play-by-email mode, and a live mode, which was added after a patch (v1.05). The action can get really crazy considering that you may have a 4-player free-for-all games! Excellent Development: I find the dev team to be one of the very best that I have seen on Steam. Despite the game being bug-free, they are still constantly on the forum answering questions and rolling out patches to improve the game!

UPDATE: The developer, Kris, has been very active on the forums. He's taken all the feedback we've given and in a short month, been able to add multiple features such as a tournament settings mode, a live mutliplayer mode (not async-only anymore), live chat, campaign changes etc. There's more in the patch. Very surprised at the level of dedication and involvement from the developer. Check out the game! Interesting tactical game. The gameplay mechanics and unit classes are very fun. There is a singleplayer campaign, but I bought it mainly for the multiplayer, because there are several game modes (1v1, 3-player 1v1v1 and even 4-players versus each other, with 20+ maps). Downside is that it is asynchronous unless your opponents are present and playing automatically. Developer has shown interest in improving and making quicker games, hope they add a live game mode option (or shorter time-to-take-turn). Nice little game to pass time. I would reccommend if: 1) you dont mind asynchronous game, 2) you enjoy and support tactical turn-based games. I mainly bought it bc I support this genre and these turn-based pvp games come too few and far between. With that said, I am not sure how big the multiplayer base will be, and it is a one-man-developer team so there are some inevitable limitations that come with that. There are several updates planned to be released, so definitely a game to look out for. If you're buying for multiplayer, I'd recommend waiting to see how the MP updates turn out.

Very cool entry into the turn-based strategy genre. All the combat is one-hit kills so it's all strategy- no luck involved. Your task is to secure every enemy-held tile on the board. Each tile acquisition increases your mana which is used to spawn more units or use special abilities to increase movement/attack range and create or destroy tiles and obstacles. There are only 4 different classes so the options are limited to that but there is enough there to have very fun and tactical games. There are a few things to be aware of, though. First, there is only campaign and multiplayer at this point. The devs have mentioned an interest in adding a versus AI mode but it isn't there yet. The multiplayer could also be improved. As of now, unless you are playing with a friend, you will likely be playing games 1 turn per day at a time, similar to the old PBeM games. This is great to have as a feature, but as of now it is the only option. There is no chat or lobby to see if anyone is active. There IS local hotseat multiplayer though, up to 4 players, so that's nice. All in all, I do recommend especially if you are a fan of the genre. The devs are very friendly and seem sincere in wanting to improve the game if they have the resources to do it. As it stands the campaign is very engaging and I look forward to playing multiplayer with friends. 9/10

一款挺新奇的回合制策略游戏，可以看做一种战棋游戏 基础玩法是占领领地，每回合开始时根据领地的数量恢复魔法，魔法可以用来召唤多种形态的德鲁伊，不同形态的德鲁伊有不同的攻击距离&移动距离，并且他们也可以花费魔法变成动物形态已达到特殊的效果。胜利条件是对手拾取所有土地，不过如果对方只是损失所有单位的话并不会失败，因为下一回合他可以依靠恢复的魔法再次召唤单位出来 四种形态的德鲁伊： Guardian，5魔法召唤；10魔法变身、变身效果是狼形态，可以移动4个回合，只能移动不能攻击 Wind Rider，10魔法召唤；正常形态可以攻击距离为2的单位、但无法攻击近身的单位；10魔法变身、变身效果是鹰形态，可以瞬移到一段距离外的任意地点，如果目标地点有敌人则可以杀死它 Snarlclaw，15魔法召唤；正常形态可以移动2回合；10魔法变身、变身效果是熊形态，可以移动3回合，每回合一格但可以攻击格子里的敌人 Waywalker，20魔法召唤；正常形态可以移动3回合，无法直接攻击杀死敌人，但缺可以花费魔法释放魔法，比如直接摧毁/生成一块土地（3魔法）、生成一个障碍（2魔法）、偷取对方的一块土地（3魔法）；5魔法变身，变身效果是乌龟形态，免疫下一回合受到的所有伤害（自己也无法移动） 地图上会存在一些特殊效果的地形，比如会刷新出一些精灵，走上去后可以随机获得一定魔法；水晶柱，占领后每回合增加额外的魔法；以及一些其他的障碍，阻挡你的移动（但可以花费一次攻击去摧毁它们）

[b] Target Audience: [/b] [I] Strategy Players [/i] [b] Summary: [/b] A Druid's Duel is a very simple Strategy game on the surface: but that's only on the surface. What's underneath is a chess match that is pretty excellent: with the ebb and flow of the mana pool being the resource you need to take control of the match, and the different use of tactics with each of the 4 units strengths helping to really bring out your A game in terms of luring your enemy, and tactically taking regions. It's not a game where you're going to make an epic comeback on, as at a certain point the game goes down hill for the team with the mana deficiency, but overall if you're looking for a cheap and interesting strategy game, this is it. Easy to learn: hard to master. [b]Gameplay Footage and Video Review: http://youtu.be/whCOe-IHamk[/b] [u] Lists: [/u] [b]Positives:[/b] [list] [*] Simple 4 Units and skill design make for a lot of tactics despite the lack of overall variety. [*] Emphasis on land control and mana collection and how mana is collected makes a great pull-push nature to gameplay. [*] Art design and sound design make for a relaxing experience but does the job. [*] Building land and those mechanics help add to defensive play and does open the board as a whole. [*] Quantity versus Quality of units makes a huge difference in strategies and attack plans: reacting to opponents layout is key. [/list] [b]Negatives:[/b] [list] [*] Lack of options to view range/enemy unit range, which could have helped in strategy elements. [*] Learning mechanics could be better for medium/high level tactics. [*] Archers seem a tiny bit overpowered in some senses. [/list] [b] If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6861768/]Dragnix Curator [/url][/b]

The game itself is a very fun and simple strategy concept with quick rounds and decent amounts of depth considering the easy rules. I'd recommend it if you intend on playing it single player. The online multiplayer, however, is an absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. I bought the 2 pack to play with a friend, and in the duration of one ~half hour session, we experienced the following: - Whether we were able to join each other seemed like a complete dice roll; we just had to keep making new games until one finally became visible in the games list. There's no invitation system. - Upon joining me one time, friend's game did not load the board or characters and they had to quit. - Said game then became invisible forever, despite both of us attempting restarts/rejoins. - Seemingly random server disconnects that cause your turn to be reset to the beginning. - Friend's "end turn" button completely broke; when pressed, nothing happened on my end, it only affected fairies on their end. In addition, you also have to sign up for an account JUST for this game and use their friends list system on their website if you want to play online. The online interface in general is terrible as well; there's not even any way to see who you're playing against while you're ingame, and there's no local chat (only global). Note that this was with cross-platform Windows/Linux play. I don't know if that makes it more likely to break, but broken is broken. Again, the core game is fine. This review takes into account that I bought this entirely for the online component.

This game started out very well but about an hour in you will realize that its the same thing over and over. Theres no progression, there are no levels, there is a very thin story that holds 0 interest, there is one tile set and the characters you have at the start are going to be the same to the end. The game has 0 variety while lasting way to long. I got through the second chapter in about 2 hours or so and there are 4 more which would make the game roughly 6-7 hours long. Theres just no way I could finish this game knowing its going to be the same thing for 5 more hours.