Runespell: Overture

This is more of a card-battler style of game than it is a mostly casual deck building game, though there are elements of selecting cards to boost your abilities in the games. It is an interesting mix of solitaire style card layout for you and your opponent, yet you must mix and match cards to create a poker hand in order to do deal damage. If there is a chest, you need to create the hand it asks for in order to open it an gain access to different types of cards; each type either does a different kind of damage or provides you with a different type of defence. There are a few levels to the cards, so you have stronger capabilities as the game progresses and the enemies get tougher to fight. It is simple enough mechanically, though there is a little luck as it all depends on what cards are turned over and what cards the enemy will select. As with poker the higher scoring hands take more time and patience to set up, though being able to take unmatched cards from your opponent's board helps a little. The casual side of play drops off a little as you need to keep track of cards a little for when you are setting up for a hand, which may mean putting in a bit more thinking than your were wanting to do in a more laid back game. Taking damage build up your 'rage' pool, another name for mana, which grants you the ability to cast any of the spells you have gained access to either though allies or acquiring the card. You gain these cards by winning battles or spending the limited silver you get at a merchant; it is good you can customise your combat to your play style somewhat, however the computer tends to be on the more aggressive side which means you can end up in a race to deal damage rather than bother defending. The story is simple enough; you are an unnamed being who has no idea how they arrived in the area or why they are there, only they have a destiny to fulfil. Don't let the simplicity fool you, there has been a lot of effort to ground the story in history and has used the tale of Beowolf for inspiration. Gives the story some way to stand out from the rest of the casual games. Visually a lot of thought has gone into the design of the map, characters and cut scenes in order to create a blizzard wrought land and yet have enough of a colour palette to distinguish all the elements from a bleak winter setting. It is mostly a 2D game, though there are some basic 3D models during the combat, which is where the charm of this game lies - I could leave the 3D models. The sound choices are gorgeous and fit with the mystical vibe of the setting; they are mostly calming and ethereal, though are played on a loop when in the map. It can get a bit repetitive after a while, mostly during combat, where most of the game play takes place. The repetitiveness is why I have given a thumbs down due to how much time is spent in combat and mostly making the same poker hands. As much as I liked this game, it is rather easy to want some variety after a while. I wish there was a neutral option as I am sure some people might no have as much of a problem with the repetitiveness as I did. In addition, I am going to have to not recommend based on how much grinding you need to do in order to get some achievements. It doesn't feel like the right game to have grinding, though I do understand the game needs some way to have progression, so sits in a weird spot of not completely casual but a bit too casual to require the time investment you might need to get all the achievements.