A Druid’s Duel is another lovely success story thanks to Kickstarter. The game is indie developers Thoughtshelter Games take on turn based strategy. The crowd funding campaign was launched on the 11th of March, 201 A, raising $7,780 for further development and production, with a final product hitting Mac, Windows, iOS and Linux as of the 25th of February, 2015 It definitely looked like a super advanced version of chess, but plays out quite differently with a lovely professionally composed and recorded soundtrack and simple yet elegant artistic style. I expect this game to keep players engaged for hours on end.
You play as Warren, a young druid fresh from his Esoteric Training with The Druids of the Esoteric Orders. Recently, The Realm of Six Seasons has discovered someone or something has disturbed the delicate balance of seasons which has cycled constantly since time began - this is likely to be disastrous to the fertile but delicate landscapes. You must find the six season stones and restore balance to the realm! Are you game enough?
Each level plays out on a game board (which looks stunning by the way), however the board is malleable for players and if used with the right units becomes a sandbox and tactical gold mine. The aim of each level is to conquer all enemy tiles. Each tile increases the amount of mana you have to spend to spawn additional units, or use special abilities, each turn. The combat is simple (one hit kills), meaning that this is an all strategy, no luck game. A game all strategists will love to indulge in.
There are 4 different classes available to choose from, each with varying mana costs ranging from 5 to 20 mana a piece. The Guardians are simple melee units, with their true strength lying in numbers and with their animal form, the wolf. The wolf can traverse large distances on the board at the cost of losing their attack that turn. Wind Riders are in my opinion one of the handiest units in the game. Being ranged units, they are completely useless in close quarters, however it make up for this with it's eagle form. An amazingly versatile animal form, the Eagle can pierce right into the middle of enemy territory, disconnected land masses and even attack otherwise unreachable units. The Wind Rider/Eagle can also be a good way to get rid of powerful foes.
On the higher end of the mana scale we have the Snardaw Druid. These are the juggernaughts of the game. If we were to compare them to a chess piece, these are your tower pieces. The Snardaw, when in Bear form, can cover great distances and even take two attacks a turn. This unit is an absolute killing machine! I would definitely recommend these when in need to take out several enemy units, or deliver a crippling blow to their forces. Finally, topping the mana chart (and consequently the most versatile unit), we have the Waywalker. The Waywalker is easily the equivalent of the Queen in chess. Waywalkers rely heavily on mana so are usually a late game choice, but they have an amazing and unique ability in this game, they can change the board at will. Within a certain range this unit can add and remove board pieces, obstacles and even steal enemy tiles. This is at a cost of course, so be wary and use them wisely.
The game may not have a lot of different units to choose from, but your preference impacts the mechanics of the game fundamentally, giving you countless options to choose from - the only problem is making the right choice. As mentioned earlier, the art and style of the game is enticingly beautiful. It is very ’calm", not taking too much attention from the game itself and is accompanied by a pleasant soundtrack and music. The single player/story mode spans over more than 130 levels and includes local play for LAN's as well as the opportunity for online play The online play is somewhat lacking but is being worked and improved on by the developers.
The game also offers different difficulties, which, on the lower end, are a very good introduction to strategy gaming. On the higher end however, be prepared to stare at a screen for minutes at a time calculating the best move, or pressing the restart turn button over and over again (I did find it somewhat of an issue to judge the difficulty scale in the game and would recommend new strategists start on the low end).
With plenty of variety for new and experienced strategists and players I rate the game highly and can't wait to play it with friends. It is appealing to the eyes and ears, and can range in difficulty from being a casual play to a noodle scratcher. I do hope the multiplayer interface itself gets the improvement it needs.