VEmpire - The Kings of Darkness

Card game? Check. Monarchy? Check. Sisi?! Check. Local "german" developers? Check. Recommendation? Check! I like it, its great for small sessions and provides a lot of tactical depth. At first i thought this was a CCG (like Hearthstone and Faeria), but its not, from what i see. You have all the cards available, but you start your game with only some of them which you then use to "buy" more. The bought cards get added to your deck and can be used to buy even more cards. If youve played War of Omens you know how this works. Things that were not perfect: The tutorial is really confusing, but after 1 game vs AI everything became clear. There is no story-mode (yet), but its EA and the devs are active. The game lacks a bit diversity, especially in the last turns where all cards are bought. Maybe force the game to end in the next few turns after all cards are bought? Or let the player reuse all discarded cards for infinite combos? Anyways, i think its worth 15€ and i recommend it.

Eh. Not really my cup of deckbuilder. There's only really 4-5 different types of cards and none of them do anything especially worth notice. " -Goes in your hand when you buy it -Draw cards -Negate damage -Deal damage -Hold a card And that's about it. Not to mention that 2 slots of the buy row are blocked out from you, so you have a pretty sparse option as to what's open in the middle row. I feel this game would flow and play much better if the core Deck was varied and colorful, lke Ascension and/or Star Realms, rather than being limited to which 2 characters you happened to pick. This limits the game and makes it feel more like Dominion, which I am starkly not a fan of. Having a solid core deck with a open buy row with each "Head Vampire" having some sort of special gimmick to them (a la the Heroes in DC Deckbuilding) would open up a lot more options. As it stands now, you're basically in a race to buy up your own faction's cards and largely ignore the middle zone unless a +Draw comes up, or you simply don't have enough cash to buy anything else. As it stands, there's way too many cards that do the exact same thing with the exact same buy cost, just the art and card name is different.

[quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: [b]IndieGems[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url][/quote] [i]VEmpire - The Kings of Darkness[/i] is a deck-building card game that just released out of Early Access after about 2 years. Like many other card games, the goal is to out-compete your opponent. You start a new game with a choice of 10, 17, or 25 points, and you primary objective is to bring your opponent's points down to zero. If you get whittled down to zero, then you will lose. The game has a built-in tutorial that you definitely work through before getting into the game. It is not very long but it does cover most of the basic features very well, so that you will not be prepared to play the main game. You can play against AI or against other players. For this review I only played a few single-player games. They typically last between 15 and 45 minutes each. In single-player mode, you will have 3 difficulty levels to choose from, Easy, Medium, and Hard. In the beginning, you have a choice from among four characters, each with their own unique cards. Whoever starts will have the option to buy cards first. The starter draws 5 cards each turn. The player going second draws an additional card, and so he/she will get 6 cards each turn. Like most deck-building games you want to build the best deck, so accumulating stronger cards and getting rid of weaker cards as fast as possible is key. Guldens represent the gold/currency in this game. You obtain them by spending cards from your hand. If you have enough guldens at the beginning of your turn, you can buy more cards. When looking to buy cards, there will be 7 total displayed, the two on the left are only ones you can buy, whereas the ones on the right are only for your opponent. The three in the middle can be purchased by both. If you don't wish to spend your cards, you can also "empire" them, meaning that you will gain more lives but your cards will also disappear from the game. You can also use some cards to attack. The entire strategy boils down to making the right decisions in your turn to spend cards and thus obtaining new and hopefully better cards, to empire cards to get more lives, or to attack your opponent so they will lose lives. Do pay attention to your opponent's moves, because they will directly affect you and your strategies. [h1]Graphics[/h1] The graphics look great, and the cards are easily legible. [h1]Music and Sounds[/h1] In my opinion, the soundtrack is outstanding. [h1]Controls[/h1] You can play the whole game with a mouse. [h1]Pricing[/h1] Perhaps the price is a little high compared to other similar games. It's also not too high. If you are on the fence, it is totally reasonable to wait for a sale. [h1]Verdict[/h1] [i]VEmpire - The Kings of Darkness[/i] is a very enjoyable deck-building strategy card game. It is not hard to learn and the strategy part is rather fun. The games are not long, so you can easily play it in short bursts. You are able to play it in multiplayer mode against friends, which is always nice. For the single-player game, it would be nice to have achievements, so that players can use them as goals for playing the game. The developer has plans to add them in the next update, which is nice. I am enjoying the single-player game quite a bit, and if you have people to play together, it might be even better. For my review of playing this in single-player mode only so far, I would give it a 7/10. [quote]I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.[/quote]

VEmpire is a strategic deck builder set around a vampire theme, with various historical leaders from the Habsburg dynasty as its setting. Like other deck builders you start with a predetermined deck and you build your deck as you play by getting cards in the game itself. Everyone is therefore on the same footing, you cannot get an advantage by spending real money for 'better cards'. It has four different decks to play which give it different playstyles, some are more based on dealing a lot of damage fast, others are based on building a slow defence, etc. There is an AI to play against with three difficulty levels, as well as online play. The AI is really well made and is not easy to defeat on the higher levels. Some downsides in the current EA version: -the tutorial isn't comprehensive. It will teach you the basics of the game, but you need to play a lot of matches before you learn the details of the game. -there is no campaign yet so you can only play against the AI or other players -the online player base is still small and it's hard to get a game -it can be hard to tell some cards apart from others with a too similar name - Do I recommend it? If you like other deck builders like Star Realms or Dominion, you're getting a deep strategic entry with a cool theme here. If you're new to deck builders or have never played one, this game isn't the best to start with right now. Wait until it's further along in development or try your hand with another deck builder firsts. If you /love/ deck builders as well as the gothic, historical theme... get it now.

I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys card games. Both the art and music are beautiful, and the basis of the game is very unique. The developer is very open, honest, and passionate about making the game all it can be. To him, it isn't just about creating a game, it is about a creating a friendly, helpful community around the game. A HUGE plus is once purchased, you own everything, there are no in-game microtransactions. Though some may not mind them, paying real money for virtual items just seems foolish to me, especially as they can add up fast. That is simply my own opinion, but I'm a casual gamer to begin with. When I see microtransactions, I think "another way to milk money out of customers". Wolfgang is VERY animate that such a model will never be a part of this game, and given his straightforward nature, I have no doubt that is the truth. Having purchased many Early Access games, I know what a gamble they can be. However, in this particular situation, I believe the odds are very much in favor of success. Even in its current state, the game feels well designed and stable. This game is a far cry from some very pre-alpha games on Steam that I can safely say, will almost certainly end up abandoned. Development is very active and I am very eager to see this game evolve into something the just blows me away even more! In addition to all the above, the price is extremely reasonable for what one is receiving. Though I am not even close to mastering the game mechanics yet, I'm very excited about this game, the developer's mindset, and the final product! Once again, I highly recommend purchasing this game in its current state, and being a part of helping Wolfgang reach his goal of creating something truly unique and enjoyable!

I love deckbuilding games, I played a lot in board games or video games adaptations. But this is the first time I see a deckbuilding game with REAL choices to do, with a long-term strategy to beat the opponent. So I recommend. Moreover, the cards are gorgeous and it has online play! (I played a lot to it during closed beta)

Oh how I dislike to review EA titles, but alas, those little kids who love to play critic, while not even having spent an hour to play this game, kinda force me to. I´ve played tons of different TCG´s and CCG´s over the last 25 years (Dune, MTG, Star Wars, Battletech, Shadowrun, Illuminati, Jyhad, Mythos, Aliens/Predator, Kult and maybe 1-2 I´ve forgotten). VEmpire doesn´t fall short of those at all. It´s a solid game, although still in EA, that will receive some further polishing and improvements, but is absolutely enjoyable and fun as it is now. The tutorial doesn´t give you the whole picture, unfortunately, that´s the only thing I could critizise. But after the 3rd or 4th match against the surprisingly good AI, you get the idea. That´s when the fun really begins. There are 4 different epochs/leaders and they distinguish themselves by pace and focus. Besides that diversity, games never get boring in terms of "sure bets", almost every match is quite tense and challenging.

Un jeu de cartes de combat, sur le thème des vampires, avec des mécaniques de jeu intéressantes. On y fait fructifier son empire de vampires, dans un univers inspiré par les personnages, lieux et événements historiques de la région Autriche, plus ou moins quelques déplacements de frontières au fil des siècles. Il ne s’agit pas d’un jeu de cartes à collectionner, il n’y a de paquets à acheter avec de la monnaie ni réelle ni virtuelle. Il s’agit plutôt d’un jeu de cartes/plateau, où l’intérêt réside dans le bon usage des cartes disponibles, et des choix stratégiques et tactiques du joueur pendant la partie. J'ai fait une vidéo, certes un peu longue (30 minutes) présentant le jeu : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxymK9aYU-8

Don't let the amount of hours fool you, I've owned this game on IOS and played it on there quite a bit. I'm one of the unfortunate people to have lost access to said game due to Apple pulling the game from purchase histories. I sent Wulf an email after I got a newsletter about funding for the Steam version mentioning that this didn't feel good with me and Wulf was kind enough to explain what happened, to understand my concerns and feelings and he then provided me with a Steam key for the game. For that, I thank you Wulf. His announcement on this: https://steamcommunity.com/app/619230/eventcomments/1634166237645896866 I enjoy this game, it's a deckbuilder with a small twist. Most of the cards provide you options, either they can be used as purchase points or they can be used for attacking/defending. When you use them for defending, called empiring in the game, they become static cards which won't circulate in the deck, but stay out. Empiring also means a better way to get rid of the starter cards, so it's easier to keep your deck lean. This is necessary, as your opponent does the same. This also brings more power to cards with effects like a draw card. In contrast with other deckbuilders you can't purchase all cards in the middle row. On both sides there are two piles which belong to the deck of the chosen leader which can only be acquired by said leader. Effectively this means that you have two piles just for you and that there are 2 piles you can't get. Inbetween are the shared piles with locations, offensive and defensive spells. There are 4 leaders in the game, which have a different vibe to the gameplay. Goal of the game is to get your opponent to 0 and games can be relatively short if you're unlucky or choose to start with 10 health (other choices are 17 and I believe 22, I usually leave it on 17). The PC version is good, I haven't noticed any issues compared to how it was on my iPad. I do hope in the future we get more leaders with decks. All in all a good game, which I mostly like to play as an inbetweener where I play 1 or 2 games. To be fair, that is how I treat games like Star Realms, Ascension and other deckbuilders I have on my iPad/Steam in general.

Мне не понравилось, авторы пытались придумать что-то совсем необычное, у них получилось, в какой-то мере, но играть неинтересно. Очень мало карт, одинаковые партии со скучным концом - бросай атакующие карты пока у кого-нибудь не кончится здоровье. В то же время, не похоже что делали чтобы просто срубить бабла, какая-то душа чувствуется, выглядит стильно, арт великолепен. Вернул рубасы, но за игрой еще послежу. PS. Лучше обратите внимание на эту игру: Z. Year One