A Druid's Duel
- February 24, 2015
- Thoughtshelter Games
Get on Steam"A Druid's Duel" is a strategy game set in the Realm of Six Seasons, where the cycle of seasons is disrupted. Players control druids who must restore the natural order across 130 levels, battling on a game board that dynamically changes based on actions. With local or online multiplayer for up to 4 players, each druid unit has unique animal abilities, requiring focus and strategic thinking.
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Reviews
- The game offers a unique blend of strategy and simplicity, making it easy to learn yet challenging to master.
- Matches are short and memorable, providing a lot of enjoyment in a little time, with a well-designed campaign mode.
- The art style and music are charming, contributing to an overall pleasant gaming experience.
- The AI is often unbalanced, making the game frustrating as it can cheat or overwhelm players rather than providing a fair challenge.
- The gameplay can become repetitive quickly, with little variety in units or maps as the game progresses.
- Multiplayer functionality is poorly implemented, with issues in connectivity and a lack of active players, making it difficult to enjoy that aspect of the game.
- gameplay24 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by unique mechanics and solid tactical elements, making it easy to pick up and enjoyable to play. However, some players find the campaign mode repetitive and lacking in new gameplay features, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, the game is praised for its beautiful aesthetics and well-designed mechanics.
“The campaign mode perfectly carries this concept with some light narration, but leaves all the spotlight on the actual gameplay and increasingly harsh challenges, which you may want to revisit as there is a simple 3-star grading system for your results and great map design.”
“The gameplay mechanics and unit classes are very fun.”
“Overall, a mechanically great game with a cool art style!”
“Fun little 'chess'-like game, but in my personal opinion way too repetitive in the campaign, which I didn't even complete the first world in, because there are no new gameplay elements introduced really.”
“Easy to pick up and play, short and simplistic gameplay.”
“The campaign mode perfectly carries this concept with some light narration, but leaving all the spotlight on the actual gameplay and increasingly harsh challenges, and great map design.”
- graphics10 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are praised for their charming, hand-drawn art style and consistent nature-themed aesthetics, complemented by relaxing sounds and good music. Overall, players find the visuals to be adorable and a significant highlight of the gaming experience.
“This game has beautifully drawn graphics and relaxing sounds.”
“Overall, a mechanically great game with a cool art style!”
“I enjoy the graphics and the style of the game as well.”
- music8 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -12 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its quality, fitting well with the themes of nature and druids, and contributing to an immersive experience. However, some players feel that the music can become repetitive over time. Overall, the soundtrack enhances the gameplay, preventing it from feeling like a mere minigame.
“The game also has a good soundtrack, so you will never feel like the game is a minigame.”
“Good music, sound, graphics, and a consistent theme of nature and druids.”
“The music is really good.”
“The music gets old after a short while.”
“The music gets repetitive and loses its charm quickly.”
“The soundtrack lacks variety and becomes monotonous.”
- story6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The story is criticized for its lack of depth and progression, featuring a thin narrative that fails to engage players. Reviewers note the absence of character development and levels, with a single tile set throughout the game, leaving the overall experience feeling stagnant and uninteresting. While there are numerous maps, the storyline does not provide sufficient context or motivation for the gameplay.
“There's no progression, there are no levels, there is a very thin story that holds zero interest, there is one tile set, and the characters you have at the start are going to be the same until the end.”
“If the unfairness was for a plot reason, some explanation sure would have helped.”
“I cannot say much about the campaign/storyline so far, but it looks like there are a good number of maps you have available.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Replayability is noted to be higher when playing with friends, as the game offers a more engaging experience compared to traditional chess. However, the lack of an active online community limits opportunities for varied gameplay.
“The game offers a more interesting version of chess with significant replay value, especially when played with friends.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is generally well-received, with users reporting no significant issues. However, there are concerns regarding mouse optimization, particularly with the point-and-click system, which can lead to inaccuracies in selecting tiles.
“I have yet to encounter problems with it, apart from the mouse optimization where the point-and-click system is not 100% accurate, leading you to click the wrong tile.”
