Princess Covenant

Note: Received this game for free as part of curator connect. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45773453/] My curator group! [/url] [h2] Intro [/h2] Princess Covenant is a pretty good game for the low price, and you'll definitely get your money's worth from it as a roguelike deckbuilder fan due to the variation involved, the different battlers to play around with, and the roguelike element! I can easily see myself spending more than 3 hours on the game. However, it could do with more quality of life fixes along with UI changes to make it more welcoming along with having some kind of draw to differentiate it from other games in the genre. [h2] Pros [/h2] [list] [*] The game has a very cute artstyle, good writing, and nice little blurbs of information on the cards to allow you to quickly learn what they do. [*] Very easy to pick up and play, with fast gameplay and short areas that you can easily burn through. [*] Good tutorial that allows you to get into the game quickly! [*] Fairly difficult, had to use my brain a few times to figure out a good strategy. [/list] [h2] Cons [/h2] [list] [*] Extremely poor choice of font. A roguelike deckbuilder, or any card game, really, needs to have a very good font due to the player needing to sit there and read for quite awhile. I had to stop playing due to my eyes beginning to hurt from reading the character dialogue whilst trying to decipher the fantasy-esque font. It fits the artstyle well, but an option like other games to make the font more readable could definitely do well. [*] It needs some UI fixes to waste less of the player's time. For instance, when 'swapping battlers' after an area, you can't actually read what the new battler does. You just need to go back to your town and into your armory to view them there. [*] QoL fixes. I don't need to watch the coin toss every time, I shouldn't need to click fast-forward every time. These could be toggles to help players who like to blitz their roguelike deckbuilders a ton. [*] Some battles feel like foregone conclusions in the early game/second area, especially when you get a few bad draws due to not having enough cards to build a proper deck yet. That snowballs it into defeat quickly, especially if you get unlucky with which of your cards get turned to souls. [*] The second player definitely has the advantage most of the time, due to being able to attack the enemy's unit first whilst having more energy to work with in the case of a bad draw. [*] Swarming the battlefield is most definitely the best strategy at the moment to shove out a quick win/counter the enemy swarms, which makes bad draws even more damaging. [*] The game just kind of feels like an autobattler sometimes, especially when you just... have nothing good and only gain 2 energy per turn. Your deck bricks entirely at the first sign of a bad draw, especially due to drawing cards needing all of your energy economy. It's quite unforgiving in that sense, and not in an enjoyable way. [/list] [h2] Conclusion [/h2] Despite all the cons, for a solo(?) dev's first game, this is excellent! Greatly priced, well-written, and a nice little experiment that is definitely charming. Will definitely play it more on my own, and I thank Curator Connect for bringing awareness of this game to me. Now I'll repay the favour.

This game was really great! Well designed gameplay loop, amazing pixel art, fun and interesting story and setting. Just all around a great bite sized experience. I kind of wish it wasn't a silent and nameless protagonist, I just think if you're gonna go do all the world building, it would be nice to be a protag with some personality. I get the self-insert aspect, but I just don't think I needed to be self inserted into this. But a lot of great design choices with your army, or party members, having names and getting to keep their souls after they die. It was frustrating to have a random card die after I lose a run, but it did encourage me to try out new cards. I like that the non-soldier cards don't take up deck space. I do kind of wish you could choose what card got replaced for a reward. Sometimes it didn't feel like a reward because a card got swapped that I liked. Also the little hamster dude Arlo is absolutely broken. I didn't even know I could use him at first, so I kept dying and trying to farm to upgrade my cards, but ya the 5 units placed full heal is kind of op. But it was really cool knowing the names of my cards and upgrading them into a Pixie or Priestess or Lancer or Paladin. Tess the Priestess, Ada the Arbalist, and Rhys the Chief were easily my best cards. Oh and the enemy curse to just turn my best card into a skeleton was incredibly frustrating, but in a good way. It made me have to react in the moment for sure. I do wish you could buy those non-soldier cards in the shop. They are really good, so I do kind of get just having them as a reward, but they are so good that I wish I got more. But maybe I just talked myself into agreeing you shouldn't be able to buy them. Also the base game speed is maybe a tad too low. Once I got the hang of the game I felt it was a necessity to have the faster speed on, but you have to wait the first 10 seconds of every fight before you can turn the faster game speed on. Maybe my adhd was just really bad today, but I kind of wish the game speed adjustment was in the settings instead. But yeah just a fantastic $2 experience

Ламповый карточный баттлер в пиксельной ретро-графике, где нам в подчинение даются карты разнообразных бойцов, коих мы нанимаем, апгрейдим, но и теряем в проигранных боях (особо жаль прокачанных бойцов). Бои проходят 5x5, плюс надо учитывать расстановку мили и бойцов дальнего боя. Тут у нас есть и сюжет, и милые персонажи, и глобальная карта. Советую, смешная цена за удовольствие от процесса.

Fantastic value for two dollars. Excellent sprite work and some interesting classes and upgrades. Difficult, but fun.

This game is 100% a hidden gem. its super cheap, amazing art and the gameplay while simple is fun and interesting.

Great gameplay, somewhat ruined by major balance and grind/difficulty issues and leveling/economy problems. Overall I wouldn't recommend it, but you should check out the Ogre Battle or Fire Emblem series for something similar and much more polished/accessible. +Art style +Music +Turn-based card battles +Recruit new units/cards +Variety of classes, upgrades for units +Variety of races/ unit types +Amount of content for price -Low res visuals -No voice -Barebones story -No difficulty settings -Can't access menu during dialog or battles -No undo button -Text-heavy tutorial -Autosave only, unclear saving -Area difficulty increases after victory -Can't replay areas at lower difficulty -Major balance issues -Repetitive battles -Some 'rewards' punish/replace units with weaker -Can't rename units -No reward unless entire area 3-4 battles completed -Every loss loses a card and all upgrades -Compounding losses can create unwinnable campaign -Can't easily replace resources lost -Easy to deadlock vs some enemies -Speed setting is reset after every battle

There were once two warring sides, the Immortals and the Forsaken, who finally decided to make peace. The result was a world with two realms: one in which living things would live in harmony, and another where they would go to rest after their lives were over. Souls were not allowed to switch realms, and a castle was built to protect the balance. But then it was destroyed. The game takes place several years later and puts you in the role of a princess destined to set things right. You start in a base that offers several options. Besides managing your deck, you can buy new units and upgrade existing ones, both of which require various materials gained from winning battles. New units appear randomly each day, which is after each battle, and you can pick from three different types. But the more interesting part is upgrading. You can choose either to increase a unit’s level or to change its profession. The weakest job is a level C Novice, but you can upgrade one into a level B Squire, Priest, or Archer. Each of these three professions can then advance into three different level A professions, which is the highest tier. You already begin with a nicely varied squad, so you don’t have to start entirely from scratch. Once you’re satisfied, you can start a battle on the map. There are only a few battles, but each contains several rounds, and you won’t unlock the next one unless you win the current fight. Gameplay is similar to most card games but more straightforward, and you don’t need to learn hundreds of cards. In battle, you first click the draw button to pull random cards into your hand. Then you drag the card you want onto one of the five slots on your side of the battlefield. Some slots are “rear,” which increase defense but lower attack for melee units while boosting ranged units’ damage. Others are “front,” which make ranged units more vulnerable but increase melee damage. You can switch between front and rear slot layouts back at the base, but since enemy formations are random, it’s usually best to maintain balance. Both drawing and playing cards cost crystals, and you gain two after each round. Some cards cost more to play, and this is shown by the crystal icon on them. Cards also include three key stats: health, attack, and defense. However, cards don’t visibly indicate whether they’re ranged or melee, so you must hover over the “i” icon to see that information. This also affects unit perks. For example, some units heal instead of attack, or deal extra damage to certain types. At the end of each round, all units will attack the unit in the opposite slot, and vice versa. If an enemy unit is present, it takes damage, loses health, and either disappears or survives into the next round. Defense reduces incoming damage and can even block it entirely if high enough. But if the opposite slot is empty, that damage goes directly to your princess or the enemy general. However, battles are not fair, because the enemy always has the advantage. You must spend crystals to draw cards, leaving you without any crystals to play units in the same round. The enemy, on the other hand, can draw and place cards simultaneously. This means you will always be outnumbered: the enemy will fill all its slots, eliminate your units, and leave you unable to do anything the following round except draw more cards. The game attempts to compensate for this by giving you a mouse hero that you can place on the field after deploying five units. But reaching that point is already difficult, and you’ll often die before you get the chance. This becomes incredibly punishing because losing a battle turns one of your units into a soul. Although that soul can still be used in battle, it has only basic stats and loses all its original perks. Each defeat makes the game harder, and after a few losses, you’ll be left with a squad full of weakened souls. To make matters worse, you earn no resources from losing, so you become effectively stuck and may have no choice but to start a new game. However, if you strengthen your units early on and get past the first stage, you can replay stages for additional resources, which shouldn’t be too hard since you’ve already beaten them once. This allows you to grind and upgrade all your units, though it takes time—especially if you happen to upgrade and then lose a strong unit. This imbalance might be the reason for the game’s low price.

[code] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/36948155-Card-Game-KING/] FOR MORE CARD AND BOARD GAMES FOLLOW US [b]CARD GAME KING [/b][/url] [/code] Yes, it's a small game, but there is more than enough punch for the price. The gameplay revolves around building a deck of troops, upgrading and evolving them to beat a series of battles. The story is short but interesting and the aesthetics are eye candy. The game plays well and it's fun to figure out what troops are worth upgrading and deploying into which battle. The troops are then placed into a deck to draw from, so this is where the card game part comes from. That said, if you make mistakes in how you spend your resources, the game can drag on. I've managed to beat every dungeon rather easily, but then hit a battle near the end that just suddenly overwhelmed me (this can also happen due to bad draw, not just bad deck). So I went back to previous battles to gather more resources to strengthen my army, and the experience was honestly tedious. There are way to many battles in an area to go through. And if you manage to lose a single battle you are not only left without any resources but you may also lose a key unit leading to even more grind. This was what led me to stop playing. The game could really benefit by having one less battle per dungeon and probably some balance adjustments for later fights. Other than that, it plays quite well and it's fun unless you hit a wall and need to repeat battles. [h1][b]The positive[/b] [/h1] + Good gameplay loop + Very worth the price + Nice visuals/UI/music + Upgrading/evolving units is fun [h1][b]The neutral[/b][/h1] * Faster speed setting should persist between fights * Personally was not a fan of the draw mechanic as it didn't add any worthwhile strategic aspect to it and just forces extra clicks (you need to pay energy to draw) [h1][b]The negative[/b][/h1] - To many battles per dungeon, especially if you need to repeat them - Losing an important unit can lead to even more grinding - Spells feel underwhelming or expensive [h1][b]Conclusion:[/b] [/h1] Small game but with substance. Building a deck of units, upgrading and evolving them is fun. Unfortunately, it can get grindy if you start losing battles. Recommended, 7/10.

Fantastic value, challenging puzzle of combat. Gonna shelve this until my brain is working better, but looking forward to really exploring it!

This was really well made! I enjoyed the story and the battles were pretty challenging at times if you weren't paying attention. My only qualm about it is I wish it could've been longer. I feel there was opportunity to put maybe one or two maps extra and expand on the story to just flesh it out a smidge. Maybe give the player a chance to enjoy the characters they upgrade or give specialties to just a little bit longer. Overall, a good game that has the potentional to have more or maybe even have a sequel.