Guild Commander
- January 23, 2015
- GTGD
- 7h median play time
Get on Steam"Guild Commander" is a resource management game where you build rooms, charge up guild members, and deploy them to provinces to improve security and lift calamities. Establish trade guilds to earn gold, make equipment to strengthen your members, and prepare for the Necro Lord's onslaught. The game is polished, bug-tested, and offers various features such as customizable key bindings, video tutorials, and steam achievements. It is designed to be finished in a few hours, providing a brief and humorous experience.
Reviews
- The game has a unique concept and offers a casual, straightforward guild management experience.
- Graphics and music are well-received, contributing to an enjoyable atmosphere.
- Despite its simplicity, the game can provide a few hours of fun and is priced reasonably for what it offers.
- The game suffers from a lack of depth and replayability, leading to a repetitive gameplay experience.
- The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to manage heroes and resources effectively.
- Many players find the game frustrating due to poor mechanics, unclear tutorials, and a lack of meaningful progression.
- gameplay21 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for being formulaic and lacking depth, with a steep learning curve and poor mechanic explanations that lead to repetitive actions once the mechanics are understood. While it offers some unique elements, such as managing an adventure guild, players often find themselves overwhelmed by the UI and the need for constant vigilance, resulting in a gameplay experience that can feel tedious and unchallenging. Despite its fun aspects and decent graphics for the price, many reviewers suggest that the game would benefit from additional mechanics and variety to enhance player engagement.
“This game, though fun, could use some needed additions to gameplay.”
“It offers some new ideas of gameplay; for example, you have to run an adventure guild that needs to both prosper and protect several key provinces.”
“Mostly covers running a profitable guild with slider-focused gameplay like Democracy 3, but also throws in random elements, requires constant vigilance over regions, and has sufficient RPG side content to try different play styles; all for a small price.”
“The learning curve is insane, and the small video of the developer stumbling through the mechanics doesn’t help at all.”
“Concerning the gameplay experience: at first it's just stress and you are just clicking as fast as you can to send your members to the next province without any thinking (which is boring...).”
“In the few hours that I played, I fought the UI more than the mechanics. I exhausted the incoming roster of adventurers, and by the time I got bored, I had more money than I knew what to do with.”
- story14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally viewed as lacking depth and engagement, with many players expressing disappointment over the absence of a compelling narrative or character development. While some appreciate the lighthearted theme and straightforward premise, the overall consensus is that the story feels underdeveloped and unsatisfying, particularly in terms of quests and character uniqueness. Players suggest that the inclusion of more storyline quests could significantly enhance the gaming experience.
“I really enjoy a lot of the story and theme to the game.”
“It's advertised as 'short and sweet' and with 'no dark depressing story', and frankly, it delivers that 100%.”
“As heroes are sent on gold gathering missions, kingdom health bars increase, with their status going into the green of prosperous and away from the red of chaotic or anarchy.”
“It's not enjoyable to trial and error your way through assigning bad quests without any kind of feedback on whether you are doing it right or not or what kind of progress or effect you are having in the province.”
“I didn't expect much of a story (and didn't get one), but the end was very unsatisfying, especially after the long and forced wait until it actually triggered.”
“Storyline quests and the like would have improved the game a lot; as it is now, it is sadly worse than it is a wipe, which is also a 'guild management' game and I hated that game.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The graphics of Guild Commander are generally praised for their beauty and decent quality, particularly in isometric views and specific areas like the kitchen and mess hall. However, some users note that while the visuals are appealing, they are accompanied by a lack of animations and a confusing user interface, which detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the graphics are considered a strong point, but not enough to elevate the game beyond its limitations.
“Nice graphics and music.”
“Pros: + beautiful graphics.”
“The graphics are exceedingly pleasant to the eye, especially that of the 'kitchen' and 'mess hall' which look outstanding when positioned next to each other.”
“The graphics are glorified combo boxes to be selected once per game and then forgotten.”
“To continue on with graphics, your entire gameplay area is your guild hall.”
“+ decent graphics for such a small game - no great animations, but the texture quality is really okay.”
- music5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received high praise, with many users highlighting its quality and appeal, particularly noting the well-crafted medieval folk soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. Some players even expressed a desire to use the game's music as background for their own Dungeons & Dragons sessions, indicating its lasting impact. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that complements the game's graphics and replayability.
“Actually really nice music - normally, I'll turn off music within minutes.”
“The icing on the cake has to be the game's soundtrack, which comprises some well-crafted medieval folk music that I will have to acquire as background music for later D&D sessions with my mates.”
“The game's soundtrack is a highlight, featuring well-crafted medieval folk music that enhances the overall experience.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the challenge and limited micromanagement that encourages multiple playthroughs, others find the content too sparse and the experience too short to warrant significant replay value. The soundtrack, however, adds an enjoyable layer that some players wish to revisit in other contexts.
“There is a small amount of micromanagement in terms of economics and producing items, and the rooms you can build vary between about 8 different types. I assure you there is a lot of replayability, but the icing on the cake has to be the game's soundtrack, which comprises some well-crafted medieval folk music that I will have to acquire as background music for later D&D sessions with my friends.”
“However, its limited replayability may leave you wanting more.”
“Sadly, the game lacks replay value and is very short.”
“Not a lot of content, but the difficulty makes it replayable.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly in the later stages, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite this, many express a willingness to return to the game, suggesting that the enjoyment may outweigh the repetitive nature of grinding.
“The game becomes tedious in the late game.”
“Of course, the game is tedious.”
“It can get tedious after a while, but it's one of those games I can see myself going back to time and time again.”
- stability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is noted for its solid stability, with users highlighting that it is not buggy or poorly designed. However, some feel that while it provides a good foundation, it lacks depth and compelling gameplay options.
“A solid foundation for a game; it's not buggy or poorly designed, though I feel it could have been taken further to be more compelling.”
“I was going to write a positive review - the game has limited gameplay options, but it is not buggy, looks good, and is adequately priced.”
“A good basis for a game, and it's not buggy or poorly designed; I just feel like it wasn't taken far enough to be compelling.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it frustrating to progress.”
“There are too many glitches that disrupt the gameplay experience.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features light-hearted humor that elicits smiles and chuckles, contributing positively to the overall experience. While players generally find it funny, there are minor technical issues, such as a stuttering tutorial video, that detract slightly from the enjoyment.
“The game features light-hearted humor; I love having some smiles and chuckles while playing.”
“The game seems quite funny, and as far as I can see, I notice no major problems apart from the tutorial video stuttering for some reason.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization appears to be solid, with no major issues reported by users; however, there are minor concerns, such as stuttering during the tutorial video.
“The tutorial video was stuttering for some reason, which affected my overall experience.”
“The game has potential, but the optimization issues really detract from the enjoyment.”
“I encountered frequent frame drops and lag, making it hard to fully engage with the gameplay.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -300 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game is criticized for feeling like a low-quality tablet port, but it is noted positively for lacking microtransactions, which is a rare benefit in the current gaming landscape.
“This game seems like a really poor port of a game one would play on a tablet, with its only saving grace being that there are no microtransactions.”
“The monetization in this game is incredibly aggressive, making it feel more like a cash grab than a genuine gaming experience.”
“I was disappointed to find that many features are locked behind paywalls, which ruins the overall enjoyment of the game.”
“The constant push for in-game purchases detracts from the gameplay, making it feel more like a chore than a fun experience.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game has been criticized for inducing boredom, with players feeling that even a short playtime felt excessively long due to a lack of engagement.
