Triplicity, as you might have guessed, is a CCG based around threes. Three cards in your hand. Three spaces on the board. Three mana each turn. Three puzzles in between matches...wait, puzzles? Yep, it's a CCG/puzzle hybrid, and after spending some time with it, I'm convinced it's the "best indie game no one's playing" right now.
The card-battling portion of the game is similar, at first glance, to something like Magic or Hearthstone: you and your opponent each start with 30 life, and you're taking turns playing creatures and attacking to try and get your opponent's life down to 0. However, it's got some significant differences from other CCGs that really set it apart. You always have three mana to work with each turn, and all of the cards cost either 1, 2, or 3 mana to play. This eliminates the typical "curve" found in other CCGs, and makes the matches exciting right from the start. Want to throw down a single huge dude on your first turn? Go for it. You'd rather fill the board with smaller guys instead? Knock yourself out. The fact that you always draw back up to three cards each turn, and everything essentially has "trample" (to borrow a Magic term), rewards aggressive play over miserly eking out card advantage. It's a system that's clever in its simplicity, and it leads to snappy, back-and-forth games that usually last no more than 5-10 minutes.
I'm not personally much of a puzzle game player, so I can't really compare this portion of the game, but the puzzles seemed well-crafted with varied mechanics, and ramped up nicely in difficulty as the game went along. The puzzles themselves don't really have any connection to the CCG, and it does feel a little like taking turns playing two different types of games. But hey, I could say the same thing about the Gwent / walking simulator mashup that my Witcher playthrough turned into, so why not? The puzzles are a nice break from the card battles, and the cards hidden throughout the puzzle worlds (three on each level, naturally) provide good incentive to push forward.
I'd also be doing a disservice to not mention the artstyle and general polish of the game. The chunky, minimal aesthetic (with music to match) gives the game a very relaxing vibe that makes it perfect for winding down with. The card art - incredibly, all done by a single artist - is a pretty unique style that feels like a cross between early Magic card art, back when it was more "raw", and...like, some sort of weird fever dream, or something. It's probably not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I like it. Props to the clean, functional UI as well; you won't even notice it, which is the mark of a great UI.
A few other things to consider:
- The game is entirely single-player, so don't come in expecting seasonal ladders to climb, or anything like that. The upside is you're never waiting for a match, or for your opponent to act, and you can walk away for a break even mid-match. The AI is decent, but not amazing; you'll definitely notice the occasional misplay, but it (mostly) puts up a good fight.
- Balance seems a little wonky, especially at first. With only three mana costs, the power of the cards isn't as granular as in other CCGs, so there are quite a few instances of higher-rarity cards being "strictly better" versions of more common cards. Effectively, this means your boring early-game deck full of vanilla creatures doesn't stand a chance in the practice/tournament hall (a side area with unlimited matches against random opponents), but the campaign itself is balanced with this in mind. Just be aware that the first hour or two might feel like a bit of a slog, but you get new cards rapidly and almost everything is an upgrade early on. The game really hits its stride once your deck starts tangibly improving.
- On that note: upgraded cards. Every single card in the game has a rare chance of spawning as a gold-bordered, "upgraded" version that has either a stat boost or one of many different abilities randomly added on. So you might have several upgraded versions of the same card, but one with flying, one with double strike, one that does direct damage when it hits the board, and so on. It's possibly the greatest innovation in the whole game, as it leads to a [i]ton[/i] of variance in the card pool, and you could be chasing down different upgrades virtually indefinitely.
- Length and replay value: I'd say the campaign took me about 8-10 hours to reach the end of. Not [i]beat[/i], mind you, because the final boss is insanely difficult, in the best possible way. Improving my deck enough to beat it is now giving me a welcome goal while doing tournaments (both standard and draft) and collecting new cards. There's plenty of longevity here, although obsessive card collectors might be disappointed by the lack of a card album to complete. I'm not sure how that would work with the random upgraded cards, though.
- Special mention to the dev (yes, it's just one guy) for being awesome. He's active on the discussion boards, and when I posted a bug report, he released a fix within the hour. You know the ideal of the indie game with a passionate, dedicated dev who really listens to the players? This is that game.
So does this hidden indie curiosity deserve your time and money? If you're into CCGs: yes, without a doubt. It's cleverly designed and very addictive, once it finds its groove, with a very real danger of "just one more game...oh, hey, it's 3am." If you're into puzzle games: possibly. Unlike the CCG aspect, the puzzles are finite, but they're well-done. And you might decide you like the mini-"puzzle" that is each turn in a CCG, especially one as good as this one!
[i]Note: review copy provided by the developer, without consideration for review content. The opinions presented here are my own.[/i]
