It’s sadly pretty common that we’ll see a really cool game in development while at a conference like GDC or PAX, but that game for whatever reason never sees the light of day. One game that we checked out at GDC last year was Void Tyrant from developers Quite Fresh and Armor Games, and it was one of my favorite games I saw that week. The concept was simple but really fresh. Unfortunately we didn’t hear a peep about Void Tyrant after that demo at GDC, and I feared it might be one of those games that just wasn’t destined to reach the finish line. I’m very happy to announce that I was very wrong about that, and Void Tyrant isn’t just still alive and well, but it’s all finished up and ready to release this Thursday.
That simple but fresh concept I mentioned has you battling against a variety of enemies using a system inspired by Blackjack. You and your opponent have a deck of cards that are numbered from 1-6, and you take turns drawing cards and the number on each one adds to an Attack Gauge. The goal of the Attack Gauge is to get as close to 12 as possible without going over. You have the choice to stand at any time, but your enemy will keep drawing cards until they reach at least 9 and then they’ll automatically stand. The one who wins the round attacks the other with the difference of the Attack Gauges. So say you got your gauge to 11 and your opponent got theirs to 9, you’d win the round and attack twice because 11 minus 9 is 2.
It sounds more complicated than it is, and it’s actually a very interesting battling mechanic. In addition to a numbered deck each character has their own separate deck of special cards that do a variety of things. Each of these cards costs mana to play, which is tracked in a gauge right below your health, and will either trigger an immediate action or a passive ability. While there’s plenty of fun working your way through each of the game’s levels and doing some extremely light dungeon crawling and looting, the heart and soul of Void Tyrant is in its combat and battling, and I can confirm that it’s a total blast. There’s a lot more to Void Tyrant that I haven’t even covered, but you’ll have a chance to experience it for yourself when the game arrives this Thursday.
