Anthropomorphic Dinosaurs Battle for Survival on an Abandoned Alien World!
As a furry and a sci-fi fan, the premise of Dino Mercs alone is enough to get me excited. This is the perspective I came in from, as someone who is otherwise new to the Deckbuilder genre.
The tutorial of Dino Mercs has a lot of information that breaks down the stats and the battle screens, but it's more of a reference guide than a step-by-step tutorial that walks the player through a gameplay example in real time. For me, I like to have my hand held a bit when learning a new system, and tend to get intimidated by lots of text. So, admittedly, I didn't read it all.... THAT SAID, I figured out the basics of the game pretty quick by just jumping right into a mission:
You start on a map screen, where you choose between three randomized encounters, which can be any of the following: a Scavenging encounter where you can get supplies (used to purchase new cards) at a mild risk, Hot Zones with greater risk/reward, or--the real meat of the game--a Firefight, which sometimes includes special conditions that change aspects of the battle (such as extreme heat adding "Overheated" cards to your deck that can give stat debuffs).
The battle system is unique, involving arranging both your own and your opponent's cards on the board for the most favorable outcome to your character, being mindful of the board's positive and negative modifiers (as well as deciding one card per turn which must go into the center of the board, negating that card's effect entirely). While it seems like a lot to keep track of at a glance (and without having read the whole tutorial), after a few rounds, I pretty much got the hang of it!
It definitely helps that the starting character, a handsome allosaurus named Strykr, is well-balanced and doesn't require a specific strategy to succeed. For a little more complexity, the three unlockable characters add even more fun challenge to the mix. My favorite is Birtie-Rae the T. rex, a HUGE melee character with robot arms, who can absolutely destroy enemies if you set her up with Strength-boosting cards early on (just beware of her slow speed and low defense). The other characters are a tanky Triceratops who relies on keeping his shield charged to do big damage, and a very fluffy Utahraptor who uses the Stealth mechanic in a way that results in slower, but much more strategic battles. A lot of it also comes down to your luck with card pulls at the end of each fight, giving that thrill of suspense in seeing what the RNG blesses (or curses) you with.
The further you progress through the game's increasingly difficult sectors, and the more battles you survive, the higher your score becomes. To be honest, though, my main motivation for getting further in the game was to see more of those INCREDIBLE dino designs. Robot carnotaurus fascists with black metal bodies and glowing red eyes, hulking diabloceratops hefting enormous flamethrowers, kentrosauruses so decked out in futuristic suits of armor that only their plates and spines are visible between, are just a few of the potential encounters. The dinosaurs are all colored in a gritty art style, with bodies patterned in spots, stripes, and scars that make them an absolute joy to look at while they're blasting each other. Pair that with the hardcore synth/rock soundtrack that would be right at home in an 80's action movie, and the vibe is just PERFECTION. Who knew a card game could be so badass?
There ARE a few notable bugs (the music doesn't always play on the map screen or during Merc Killer/Boss fights, for example), but nothing especially game breaking. The solo dev of Dino Mercs does an excellent job addressing issues and suggestions, actively working to improve the experience based on player feedback. The commitment to making Dino Mercs the best it can be gives me a ton of confidence in supporting the game!
All in all, I really recommend this one.
