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.
If it's premium, or at least not an ad laden mess, I'll happily check it out.
I wish we would get a new King Cashing or Sword & Poker game at some point.
Unfortunately it’s free to play, I would kill to have a premium version of this hit the App Store. I’m becoming more and more addicted to roguelite/roguelike games, they cut in my play style and don’t foist fast paced gaming while still providing a lot to look forward to.
Slay the spire is my current obsession on the switch with Cadence of Hyrule coming in a close second.
Watching the video for this I was immediately intrigued and I desperately wanted to play it, but for these kinds of games adding on F2P CAN be a real issue, one I’m incredibly concerned with. My biggest worry isn’t just that it’s F2P, games like Fortnite handle it well, but for a style of game like this, if there’s too much pay to win it absolutely sinks the excitement for me.
I know Jared tends to be a lot more forgiving about F2P games than I am, but I also respect his opinion HEAVILY so will I be loading this up Wednesday evening the second it’s available? HECK YEAH. Will I be immediately deleting it if it’s chock full of F2P garbage? You betcha!
Now if only Slay the Spire would make its way to mobile. At that point every other game can take a seat in a backlog pile that won’t get touched for eons. If that was the only game on my switch I think I’d be thrilled. Speaking of, tonight that’s gonna be in my gaming belly, it’s been too long.
It's pretty mellow, the most annoying part of the f2p is the ads. But you can just buy a premium unlock for $5 and it gets rid of everything that could be perceived as offensive.
That’s well more than a fair price. That answers any concerns I have, I will admit I’m not a HUGE fan of the premium unlock model as I’ve gotten used to the family sharing, but I think I might be the only one who would jump on this one.
I’m a bit more disappointed about Forgotton Anne and Dream Daddy, I would have much preferred a premium unlock. But no matter. That’s those games. This is just in desperate need to hit the damn App Store.
I've been working through my backlog of Switch games, but I'll be sure to add Slay the Spire to my wishlist.
I agree completely. The first two Sword and Poker games were incredible before the FTP debacle. King Cashing was an all-time classic hybrid. BattleJack was an interesting concept but the FTP mechanics ruined it for me after a while.
I stumbled across Battlejack when making sure I had Sword & Poker’s name right and started playing it this morning. I can already see the paywall in regards to opening chests. It’s a shame. Something premium or less mercenary would have had my support, but I won’t tolerate timers.
Sword and Poker is my favorite mobile card game ever. Ugh.. The new f2p style on the sequel totally ruined it for me. Are there any recommendations for an offline game that's similar to that and not heavy on the f2p? I've always been looking for a replacement.
None that I'm aware of. F2P rules those kinds of games, it seems. If you find one, please let me know.
I probably messed up by not really mentioning it but there's a premium unlock option, and even the normal f2p system is very mild for people who don't want to pay anything.
These are the best kinds of unlocks. I am seriously stoked to get this game. This is a ROUGH week!
Good to hear. I'll certainly give it a shot.
king cashing?
Yep. You can find a gameplay video made by TA of King Cashing 2 on YouTube. For some reason it's not letting me post a link directly to the video.