Duelyst

Duelyst
Developer(s) Counterplay Games
Publisher(s) Counterplay Games
Producer(s) Keith Lee
Designer(s) Eric Lang[1]
Programmer(s)
  • Emil Anticevic
  • Collin Hover
  • Marwan Hilmi
Artist(s)
  • Glauber Kotaki
  • Anton Fadeev
Composer(s)
  • Ben MacDougall
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release date(s)
  • WW: April 27, 2016
Genre(s) Collectible card game, Turn-based Strategy

Duelyst is a free-to-play collectible card game and turn-based strategy hybrid. The full game was officially released on April 27, 2016 on both Microsoft Windows and OS X platforms [2] having previously been in an open-beta period. [3] In August 23, 2016 Duelyst launched on the Steam platform to overall very positive user reviews. [4]

Development

Duelyst development was led by Keith Lee, a former lead producer at Blizzard Entertainment, who co-founded Counterplay Games. Lee cites the Fire Emblem and Front Mission series as inspirations for the game. Duelyst was designed to accommodate short play sessions, a game lasting around ten minutes on average.[1]

The game was part funded through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, raising $137,707 in April 2014.[5][6] Originally intended to follow an up-front pricing model, the game switched to a free-to-play model in 2015. The developers believed that a free-to-play model would allow for ongoing updates to the game rather than relying on less regular expansion packs.[7] The game entered open beta testing in October 2015, and was released in April 2016.[8][9] Four new cards are released into circulation every month, and the first major expansion "Denizens of Shim'zar" was released in August 2016.[10]

Gameplay

Games are played on a 5 × 9 grid. Here, a general's movement range is highlighted.

In Duelyst, two players battle across a tactical battlefield, taking turns in which they play and position minions and spells, represented by cards drawn from a custom built deck, until one of the players eliminates the enemy general. There are six factions in Duelyst, each with its own unique characteristics that affect strategy and gameplay of the decks the player builds.[11]

The game offers a practice mode, puzzle-like challenges, a ranked season ladder and a draft-style tournament mode.[12]

Reception

The game was well received and holds a rating of 82/100 on reviews aggregation website Metacritic, based on 14 reviews.[13] Tom Marks, writing in PC Gamer, described Duelyst as his favourite card game after Hearthstone and awarded the game 84% in his review.[11][14] Matt Cox, in his review for Rock, Paper, Shotgun, praised Duelyst in comparison to its competitors, adding that the game "does so much more by slapping on a whole other game to the tried and tested CCG formula".[15]

References

  1. 1 2 Colin Campbell (2015-03-02). "Duelyst takes Hearthstone and adds a little Final Fantasy Tactics". Polygon. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  2. ↑ "Gorgeous competitive tactics game 'Duelyst' is out today".
  3. ↑ "Duelyst is the best (and prettiest) alternative to Hearthstone".
  4. ↑ "Duelyst on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  5. ↑ Nathan Grayson (2014-03-10). "Revealed: Duelyst, Turn-Based Strategy From Diablo Devs". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  6. ↑ Counterplay Games (2014-03-09). "DUELYST". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  7. ↑ Steven Messner (2016-06-23). "Why Duelyst's Developers Think Going Free-To-Play Was The Right Move". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  8. ↑ Mike Futter (2015-10-21). "Tactical Card Game Duelyst Enters Open Beta Today". Game Informer. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  9. ↑ Tom Marks (2016-04-05). "Duelyst leaving open beta later this month". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  10. ↑ Tom Marks (2016-08-15). "Duelyst's first major expansion launches later this month, here are 8 new cards". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  11. 1 2 Tom Marks (2015-11-06). "Duelyst is my favorite new card game since Hearthstone". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  12. ↑ Janine Hawkins (2016-06-01). "Duelyst Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  13. ↑ "Metacritic Review Aggregator".
  14. ↑ Tom Marks (2016-05-03). "Duelyst review". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  15. ↑ Cox, Matt (2016-09-21). "Wot I Think: Duelyst". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
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