Genre: Collectible Card Game and Grid Tactics

Released: August 19, 2022

Platform: PC

Developer: Dream Sloth Games

Language: English

Length: As long as you want. I’ve probably played for 40+ hours, and put a TON of time into the original.

Difficulty: Medium-Expert (if you want to be the best). For most players, this is a easy to understand game with a lower skill floor and a very high skill ceiling.

Do I Need To Play Anything First: Nope.

Accessibility Options: None, which is disappointing.

Monetization: Skins and Cards

Microtransaction: Yes. Two currencies, and annoying conversions. It feels icky, and it is. Free currency can be used to buy cards, but not cosmetics.

Gambling Elements: Yes. You get random cards when you buy a pack (which can be bought with the free currency) which leads to luck playing a large role in pushing you to buy more.

Content Warning: mild cartoon violence.

Parenting Guide: 10 years and up. Online elements, and be aware that a credit card is used to buy cards (but not necessary to play the game. However, players can only interact with each other via predetermined stickers, thus abuse is unlikely.

How Did You Play It: Via steam.

Did you need a guide: I use websites to help build my decks (and by that I mean I just copy what people say is good).

Is It Good: It’s really, really fun. It’s my favourite quick pick up game, and I plan to keep playing it for a long time.

You know what sucks? Missing.

Painstakingly moving your units into position, only for Gordo the barbarian to whiff trying to hit an enemy literally the size of a barn.

Or Charizard blasting a literal flame hurricane out of their mouth, and yet cannot hit A GOD DAMN WEEDLE THREE INCHES IN FRONT OF THEIR STUPID DROOLING MUG!

But what if life could be better?

Allow me to introduce Duelyst 2, the greatest thing since Wendy’s sliced, sliced bread. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiwD79mkLn4&ab_channel=Wendy%27s)

Look, yes, Duelyst 1 technically failed and was removed from life support by the developer in 2020. And yes, it is a collectible trading card game with micro-transactions - Hey wait come back! Wait please, listen to me!

I loved Duelyst 1, and was really sad to see it close down. I think Duelyst is something special, and I’m thrilled to find out that I’m not alone. There are dozens of us. Dozens!

See, when Duelyst was closed down, the developer took the unprecedented step of later releasing everything to the public. The art, the code, the engine, everything is in the public domain. You can even go and play the original right now in your browser, with all the cards unlocked for free hosted by fans!

https://duelyst.gg/

In an age where companies have no interest in preserving their own games, it’s really incredible for Counter Play games to release everything after they closed it down.

And because of this exemplary choice, a group of fans have banded together to make Duelyst 2, a continuation of the old game with a few minor (or major if you’re hardcore) changes. And I looovvveee it.

First the elevator pitch for those not down with the lingo, Duelyst 2 is both a collectible battle card game (like Hearthstone or Magic the Gathering) AND a tactical grid-based strategy game (like Fire Emblem… or other games like Fire Emblem). While neither the cards nor the grid-based gameplay is new, the combination of these two elements creates something not only original but better than the sum of its parts.

Genre definitions are growing less and less useful, with it being more and more common for genres to be smashed together in search of a new and refreshing take. Just look at the renaissance the rhythm/music beat genre is undergoing with all the rhythm first-person shooters, rhythm dungeon crawlers, and beat-based brawlers (alliteration is fun!). It’s exciting to see designers explore new combinations, but it can also be tiring as more and more games get extra mechanics bolted onto their sides in an effort to reinvent themselves. Remember the ‘everything must have multiplayer’ age. That was… bad. Metroid Prime 2 deathmatch anyone? How about a game of Dragon Age: Inquisition? (yes, it’s real). And lord save us from the RPG/Loot mechanics being forced into every game under the sun.

The card game is going through a similar phase, it seems every game has card-like elements, be them tower defense, RPG, strategy games, narrative adventures, first-person shooters, and the list goes on and on. So I can forgive you if you are not exactly jumping for joy at the idea of another genre but WITH CARDS. But in this case, cards make EVERYTHING better.

Why do games have stats? Why does my elite sniper in x-com have a 95% chance of hitting something? It’s to add unpredictability to the game and make things more dynamic. But missing feels awful, because you had a plan and random numbers prevented you from executing upon it. It feels like something has been taken away from you, and that’s infuriating.

Deck building fixes this. The nature of drawing cards adds enough random chance to prevent you from doing the same thing over and over again, so if you do draw the unit you wanted, got him on the board, in position, and able to attack there is no reason for some dice to roll. The random nature of the cards already added that mechanic, which means you never, ever miss. It feels so good, trust me.

Plus Duelyst 2 is incredibly forgiving, as each turn you can swap out a card for a random new card at no cost (plus you get 2 new cards at the end of each turn). This ensures at every turn, no matter what you nearly always have at least one interesting choice to make. Should you hang on to the card you have, or swap it for the chance of getting something better? Cards add luck elements without the pain of watching freaking GORDO THE DODO MISS AGAIN!

Then there’s the grid itself, which adds a fantastic dimension to playing cards. In most card games the choice is what card to play at what time. If a unit has a taunt or defense, you play it when it’s needed. But in Duelyst, choosing a card is the first half of making a choice. You also have to consider WHERE you put the unit, which leads to some incredible opportunities for synergies, strategies, and any other ‘ies you could want.

Battles are fast, dynamic, challenging, and filled with nail-baiting gambits, faints, charges, retreats, and spells flying back and forth. A round usually lasts 5 minutes, 10 at the most. And the tactical options are truly huge.

One of my favorite modes is the weekly puzzle, where you are presented a game in mid match and have to try and win in one turn. You quickly see there are so many interesting ways cards and units can interact with each other, from teleporting, buffing, morphing, egg laying, taunting, and so much more. Plus, none of it feels overwhelming, there are simple rules and each mechanic is easy to understand. If a game is supposed to be a series of interesting decisions, then Duelyst 2 is a shining example of said mantra.

It feels balanced, with lots of removal options preventing players from sweeping games, and the different hero armies feel unique from each other and fun to play. There is a great deal of fun to have with experimentation, right now I’m rocking Vetruvian and focusing on summoning obelisks that spit out low-level minions at the start of each turn. And then I can buff them and… it’s… it’s all just great stuff.

In addition to being mechanically enjoyable, the game has this really beautiful pixel art mixed with watercolor backgrounds that really sells a vision for the game. It looks very different from other card games, and the units all have fantastic crunchy animations when fighting which I love.

I am not good enough to speak to balance, or if the changes the fan team have made to the meta are either the best thing ever or the literal death of the game. I dunno. It’s fun for me…

And I have a lot of respect for the new team for trying to modernize and bring new ideas and speed to Duelyst 2.

I hear the complaints, and there are complaints. One, the microtransactions. There is annoyance at the idea of a fan team selling cards they themselves did not make (although they are changing them for balance), especially if you bought cards for the first game. And I also wish there was a way to pay for a one-time purchase of the game.

I have personally not found the need to buy any cards, but I also don’t play this as my only game. I do a few quests, buy a pack or two, and craft what I need. I’ve seen better monetization sure, but it’s certainly not a black stain on the game.

This is a small team, not some mega-corporation trying to bleed you. And live games have server costs, in addition to the team working on developing a mobile version, new cards, new skins, and working on a new ranking system.

Plus they are adding a rouglight mode! Everything must have a rouglight mode.

Now, obviously none of this (minus the balance and the new ranking system) has actually happened yet, and promises are easy to make. But the game has just released in beta, and days are early still. I’m extremely excited for the future, and just jazzed one of my favorite games is back.

My only real complaint is the new music is… mid (as the kids would say). But the team seems to recognize this, as there is a slider to just play the original music only. I clicked that and have never gone back, so no complaints here.

The community is lovely, and there is a real effort to try and make the game friendly to people. I love being able to ‘tip gold’ (the games currency) to a player you beat, just as a thank you for a great game.

This is an excellent game. Don’t sit on it (it may disappear, who knows). It deserves a seat at the table. It’s free, give it a go.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)

https://thepile.substack.com/

Great CCG resurrected with an extreme aggro problem due to overdraw.

Ah its the old card game Duelyst, a classic and one of my favourite card games back when I played it in 2016-2018. The sleek digital designs and the sound effects are back. One neat factor that I don't remember being in the original is 3 separate skins you can choose from for each faction which is sick.

If you don't know much about Duelyst here's the jist. It's similar to Faeria (2017) or Pawnbarian (2020) in that all three games have a relationship between using cards in hand to control a fixed tile based board state. In Duelyst you vie for positional control to try and kill the enemy general with Spells and Monsters. Your health pool in Duelyst moves as being attached to said general, and first to deplete the enemy health pool wins.

Usually the early game will involve racing towards and controlling the center of the board and the 3 mana pools in the center column, then the rest of the game is managing your resources for clearing enemies while attacking that enemy general until they lose all the health and you win.

Now the original game, and Faeria much like it are 2 of my favourite Card Games of all time but Duelyst 2 has a pacing issue, at least for me, based on my limited gaming experience and what has been mentioned in this impressions video by an old player.

He puts a really fine point on the change to 2 draw. He oulines that during the really old beta of the original game, it was 2 draw with a 3 card starting hand, and was switched to 1 draw 5 card hand. 'There was a quite vocal i guess section of the community who felt that 2 draw...it was a regularly unique thing, it differentiated Duelyst from other games'. He then goes on to say that the result of this is that it makes your games far more agressive, mentioning that he would often be 1 off lethal by turn 3 and never have to worry about refueling. The other effect he points to is that it means that high cost monsters become functionally useless because of how much consistent removal the extra draw gives you.

Trying to play stall or control archetypes in a game that gives you 2 draw a turn becomes impossible. Trying to 'out value' the opponent becomes functionally meaningless and agressive builds are even more consistent than it otherwise would be. Even in my very short play through with practice decks I've noticed that I was consistently ending the game by turn 4 or 5 instead of the longer games I remember.

The knock on effect is that it trivializes what makes Duelyst so great, the board state of the game. If you can rush your enemy down before the game really opens up it prevents the more interesting play styles and match ups from being viable, thereby constraining the unique tug of war effect that you tend to prize in using resources mindfully in skilled play. One reason being that in order not to waste your resources due to the hand cap being 6 you have to constantly play small minions and cheap spells from your hand so as not to overdraw. This affects not only the way decks are built and the pace of the game, but also how cards will be designed and balanced. Games will be fast and based on trying to make for first 2-4 turns feel fair, games will end as fast as they start, etc. None of this fits into the aesthetic and appeal of a card game about advanced wars style board strategy, why would I play a game like this for early game bullshit combo tricks when I could just play Yu Gi Oh?

Beyond that they do have the legacy mode so you can still play the older version of the game, and you have Duelyst.gg if you want to play a more active version of that. Otherwise my experience with Duelyst has absolutely been a lesson in realizing that Card Draw matters a lot in how card games are designed. Not only just in how many cards you can draw but also how much you can mulligan or replace cards. In this game you can mulligan any of the cards individually in your hand, and swap 1 card out for another meaning that the amount of consistency in getting power creep openings is at an all time high. These are not just 'small distinctions', having high opportunities to pull off broken combos affect design space and game pace so tremendously that the 1 card draw per turn rule is a given for a reason.

Beyond all of that, I tend to believe that one of the best ways to come to grasps with card value in these games is through the draft mode, which unfortunately isn't online yet for this game. Meaning that the only way for new players to test out if card combos are good are by risking trying them in ladder play. It doesn't help that the UI is missing some qualify of life for experimentation. For example minion cards like Pandora which read "At the end of your turn, summon a random Spirit on a random nearby space" don't really indicate what a 'spirit' is or does. These cards are niche and slow, and probably cost too much mana to put in your deck anyway but the fact I cant find out what a 'spirit' does from hovering over it doesn't help.

All in all this is just Duelyst with a card engine that has overheated the whole system into an outright aggro frenzy. Anybody interested in playing a CCG like this is better off poking into to the previously mentioned Faeria these days for multiplayer or Pawnbarian for Single Player. Or just playing non card tactical combat grid games like Advance Wars or Fire Emblem where there's a story conjoined to that grid based tactics. Duelyst 2 is a manifestation of the current state of virtual CCGs' in a post-COVID economy. Desperately tinkering to be different from the pack, to 'revive' the player base with every energy they can muster, and often undermining the very appeal of what they could offer as a result. Nonetheless since its still in the early phases, if these factors change I'll let you know in a followup post down the line.