This is a major update for Death or Glory since our debut last year on Steam Next Fest in 2022. The concept of a dueling card game is fresh and many people loved it. Yet we also understood that the game could be very much improved. Over the year we have made improvements on various fronts. We enhanced our UX to better represent the five distinct classes that we have when battling against each other. We made changes to how cards interacted when playing them and made many many balancing changes. While we are relatively happy with the fight mechanics, we feel we have not given enough reason for players to experiment with different decks and different strategies within our game world. This Adventure Mode is designed to be a rogue-like single player game mode that allows limitless replayability when engaging with our contents.
Adventure Mode New Features
The basis of Death or Glory is that every character has his unique pool of cards. The addition of class cards will expand cards available to characters for deck building. For example, both Lee and Roxxor have access to a set of warrior class cards. Redeye and future monsters would have access to all the monster class cards. As a result each character and class will retain their distinctive playstyle but still enhancing the deck variations that they can build. When you are rewarded with a new card after every fight, you are effectively drafting your deck with every run of the adventure.
Players can further their exploration with item cards. These are cards that can only be used once per fight. Because every character and class generally adhere to a set of playstyle, items allow this rule to be broken, if occasionally. For example, while you would not imagine a werewolf to fire a missile, through the use of item, Redeye can generate a forcefield. This opens up synergies that previously never existed.
To further strengthen the synergistic potential of each character, we are introducing upgraded cards. These cards are not only more powerful but are designed to be drafted in combination with others that strengthen some playstyles. For example, with the right cards, Redeye receives a power boost when he falls below 15 health. Multiple cards reinforce this theme. A player that is mindful of card synergies can draft a deck that can overpower even the most difficult challenge.
It goes without saying that a rogue-like game mode would have you fight progressively tougher opponent. But this in itself would not be so different from our existing arena game mode. Yet the inclusion of map has added another layer of strategy to the game outside of dueling. Selecting different paths, would meaningfully alter the play experience. One path may have you fight more opponents and thus granting you more rewards and yet another path may have you battle an elite challenge, granting you a power item instead. Your options may be between a bonus HP and more coins or between a revive potion and a quest reward. There are no easy choices.
We cannot end the article without mentioning our opponents. We have also given them a facelift. Some have their cards upgraded to become mini-bosses. Some start the game with some potent enhancements on them. They not only provide tougher challenges for the players but they are also given wider variety of behaviors.
There are many more changes that I have not touched on, including ally cards when your opponents decides to help you out; mutators that change up the normal rule of a fight, etc. I hope you would be delighted to find out for yourselves. Keep in mind that this version of the game is not the final version. We are just getting started. There are so many more ideas that we want to put in, like quests, narrative events and map-wide stories. This is just a taste of what we are working on.
Deck Construction
When you are rewarded with a card after every battle, you would be constructing your deck as you continue your journey. This brings deck construction into the spotlight. In other game modes, a functional deck is constructed for the player and therefore he doesn’t need to consider too much about deck balancing. But in this new game mode, you are strongly incentivized to replace outdated cards so choosing what to include in your deck becomes very important. Putting a power card into the deck but without the resources to support it doesn’t help you to win the game. Sometimes a deck needs more resource generation. Sometimes a deck needs game ending finisher. Sometimes a deck needs more synergy. Every card inclusion requires careful consideration.
Have fun exploring and share your thoughts with us on our discord. We hope to bring you more exciting updates soon. Very soon!