Duelyst (TL;DR Review)

 

As long as he keeps writing them, I'll keep posting them and (hopefully) you'll keep reading them.

Here's another TL;DR Review.

 

 

Duelyst Review

Duelyst is a digital, free to play collectible card game (CCG) which uses a unique and clever pixel art style. The game is played on a 5x9 board with each player controlling a General. Each General begins a game with 2 attack and 25 health with the aim being to reduce each other’s Generals to 0 health. Players use cards which represent spells and minions to defeat the opposing General.

Beginning with the art style, Duelyst boards are beautifully designed with unique background art, light and cool color schemes. Each minion is also very unique in its pixel design and has its own Neutral, Attack and Death Animation. This is brought together with a well-designed User Interface that  gives clear and easily understood player options.

There are 6 playable factions in Duelyst, the Lyonar, Songhai, Vertruvian, Abyssian, Magmar and Vanar with each faction containing two Generals. Each General has a unique Bloodborn Spell which provides an ability, i.e. giving increased attack or doing an amount of damage are examples of these spells.

What makes the game interesting and fun is its tactical nature, decision making is one of the most important aspects of Duelyst. Where you place and move your minions and how you play spells and use abilities will determine the outcome of your skirmishes. Building your deck by combing a faction’s inherent minions and spells along with neutral minions will keep your interest and have you playing, testing and tweaking for hours.

Cards in Duelyst come in four rarities: Common, Rare, Epic and Legendary. In many CCGs it is easier to spend real cash to unlock as many Epic or Legendary cards as you can as they are needed to be competitive, however, this game makes it easier with a good matchmaking system and the ability to unlock cards using in game gold which can be generated through the story quests, daily quests and win streaks at a good pace. Duelyst deck building meta is still young so the way you create your deck is purely down to your playstyle and imagination. The game is updated nearly every month with new cards and sometimes new mechanics to make it diverse and keep it interesting.

I really enjoy playing this game as a casual and found it easy to pick up but hard to master.  

 Duelyst gets a strategic 8/10 from me.

Pros:

Easy to pick up
Nice Animations
No need to sink money into it
Unique design

 Cons:

Not as flashy as other CCGs