wow thank you so much! you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that it doesn't feel like another STS-style game. I really like STS of course but yeah, hard not to be compared to it and trying my best to do something fresh
"will there be a 'fast mode'?" Yes! The options menu is coming soon but this feature is already done. I'm even planning to increase the default combat speed by 20% at some point.
"can you respec your class?" Yah absolutely, this is coming soon too. There's a town upgrade system that's in the game but just not in this demo...respecs are something you get access to by upgrading the guildhall, but they're a bit limited. You can only re-spend one stat point for each upgrade tier of your guildhall up to a max of 3 stat points, and respecs cost a special currency called renown (used for buying talents, duplicating cards, ...also not in this demo). If people want unlimited respecs I'm open to that, but my current thinking is I don't want it to feel too "free" and kill any replay value.
"were any of the card names inspired by STS?" Not intentionally, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few verbatim references on accident! I know for sure some of the names have to be the same. It might be fun to do some more deliberate card game references if you have any ideas.
I've put more hours into MTG and Hearthstone than any other card games at this point (though it feels like I've played them all). Megacrit mentioned that Magic Shandalar was a big influence, so depending on the card you're thinking of we could both just be channeling MTG :D
For someone who's never been interested in deck builders, this was surprisingly fun. The only gripe I have with the demo is the lack of explanation given to the in-battle mechanics. Specifically the timer, momentum and and such incrementing numbers. That or I'm just getting to know these kind of games lol.
I'll be sure to share the game in any way I can and support you as well. Please keep it up!!!
You're right that the timer is barely explained, I will be adding a section to the library where you can read about all the mechanics at some point.
Basically, the timer shows you the turn order: whoever's timer will hit 0 first goes next! Most card games do not have a timer like this, although Wildfrost is a notable exception (I highly recommend it).
For example, if it's Fer's turn and Dari has 5 timer but the enemy has 2, that means the enemy goes next (unless Fer plays a card that makes Dari faster by -3 timer or slows the enemy down +3 timer).
After your turn ends, your timer goes up by a number based on your speed. A slow character might gain +12 timer, a fast character might only gain +6 (that means the faster character in this example takes twice as many turns).
Wow, this is a really polished demo, I enjoyed it a lot! I'll look forward to the full version in the future.
EDT: I also want to mention how much I enjoyed the dialogue and appreciated the down-to-earth reasons for why things are happening in the game. Fer is much more relatable than some other PCs I could name. :)
Will you be adding an option to manage allies' cards in the future?
so you should be able to edit everyone on your team's deck already, but they do come with a starter deck. If you go back to town there's an "edit deck" button in the library or the guildhall (I know the UI for the guildhall is busted right now, there's a new version for the next major release)
oh, ok! I didn't realize I could switch between profiles when I first got Dari. It makes sense on a replay tho. Maybe add a flashing pointer when she joins up for clarification?
One thing I noticed, and I'm not sure if this is a glitch or not; sometimes when I went to target enemies the screen went totally grayscale. It didn't affect any gameplay mechanics, but it was a little annoying, especially because it didn't happen every time. Small thing, but I thought I'd point it out.
the grayscale thing you noticed is not a glitch, it's actually used to show you who the enemy is going to attack when you mouse over them (everyone but the enemy's target will be grayscale, there's also a pulsing target icon too)
when picking a target for one of your cards, some cards can only target specific characters, so similarly in that case only the valid targets will be in color and everything else is grayscale - maybe I gotta find a better way to show this though 😅
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Game is fun. Kunai are very good. Placeholder graphics are funny.
I played a bit, looks interesting and I like vibe of the graphics.
probably the best deck-building roguelike i've ever played on itch, which is saying a lot considering how many slay the spire clones are out there
a few things to ask about the full game:
really cool, got a follow from me! will be looking forward to more :3
wow thank you so much! you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that it doesn't feel like another STS-style game. I really like STS of course but yeah, hard not to be compared to it and trying my best to do something fresh
"will there be a 'fast mode'?"
Yes! The options menu is coming soon but this feature is already done. I'm even planning to increase the default combat speed by 20% at some point.
"can you respec your class?"
Yah absolutely, this is coming soon too. There's a town upgrade system that's in the game but just not in this demo...respecs are something you get access to by upgrading the guildhall, but they're a bit limited. You can only re-spend one stat point for each upgrade tier of your guildhall up to a max of 3 stat points, and respecs cost a special currency called renown (used for buying talents, duplicating cards, ...also not in this demo). If people want unlimited respecs I'm open to that, but my current thinking is I don't want it to feel too "free" and kill any replay value.
"were any of the card names inspired by STS?"
Not intentionally, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few verbatim references on accident! I know for sure some of the names have to be the same. It might be fun to do some more deliberate card game references if you have any ideas.
I've put more hours into MTG and Hearthstone than any other card games at this point (though it feels like I've played them all). Megacrit mentioned that Magic Shandalar was a big influence, so depending on the card you're thinking of we could both just be channeling MTG :D
That was such a cool introduction to the game. Well done.
This game is goated
For someone who's never been interested in deck builders, this was surprisingly fun. The only gripe I have with the demo is the lack of explanation given to the in-battle mechanics. Specifically the timer, momentum and and such incrementing numbers. That or I'm just getting to know these kind of games lol.
I'll be sure to share the game in any way I can and support you as well. Please keep it up!!!
Thank you so much!!!
You're right that the timer is barely explained, I will be adding a section to the library where you can read about all the mechanics at some point.
Basically, the timer shows you the turn order: whoever's timer will hit 0 first goes next! Most card games do not have a timer like this, although Wildfrost is a notable exception (I highly recommend it).
For example, if it's Fer's turn and Dari has 5 timer but the enemy has 2, that means the enemy goes next (unless Fer plays a card that makes Dari faster by -3 timer or slows the enemy down +3 timer).
After your turn ends, your timer goes up by a number based on your speed. A slow character might gain +12 timer, a fast character might only gain +6 (that means the faster character in this example takes twice as many turns).
Wow, this is a really polished demo, I enjoyed it a lot! I'll look forward to the full version in the future.
EDT: I also want to mention how much I enjoyed the dialogue and appreciated the down-to-earth reasons for why things are happening in the game. Fer is much more relatable than some other PCs I could name. :)
Will you be adding an option to manage allies' cards in the future?
whoa thanks so much for the kind words!
so you should be able to edit everyone on your team's deck already, but they do come with a starter deck. If you go back to town there's an "edit deck" button in the library or the guildhall (I know the UI for the guildhall is busted right now, there's a new version for the next major release)
oh, ok! I didn't realize I could switch between profiles when I first got Dari. It makes sense on a replay tho. Maybe add a flashing pointer when she joins up for clarification?
One thing I noticed, and I'm not sure if this is a glitch or not; sometimes when I went to target enemies the screen went totally grayscale. It didn't affect any gameplay mechanics, but it was a
little annoying, especially because it didn't happen every time. Small thing,
but I thought I'd point it out.
Thank you again for the great game!
ty, will do!
the grayscale thing you noticed is not a glitch, it's actually used to show you who the enemy is going to attack when you mouse over them (everyone but the enemy's target will be grayscale, there's also a pulsing target icon too)
when picking a target for one of your cards, some cards can only target specific characters, so similarly in that case only the valid targets will be in color and everything else is grayscale - maybe I gotta find a better way to show this though 😅
Really well done. Good mechanics, dialog, and good introduction / tutorial. I'd like to see more.
ty! will be adding new demos here for sure
I'd love to see a full version!
working on it! thanks for playing :D
This game is great.
🙏