Demeo: A cards and dice digital board game dungeon crawl

Games
1

Thank you to @krayzkrok and others for putting this on my radar via other threads. Since then, I have been trying to figure out just what the game even is as until recently it was unclear what Demeo was trying to be other than some sort of VR dungeon crawl (edit: VR not required??) with VR avatar players standing around a digital dungeon table while waving at each other. That is, I could not tell if it was some sort of RPG VR experience or a digital board game. Videos are finally showing gameplay and it seems Demeo is firmly in the latter category. This has me very interested. The wallet threat level is now deep red and I think Demeo deserves its own thread.

Two recent informative videos can be viewed here:

and here:

My take away is this:

  • VR on Quest 2 and Steam while a pancake version will be available on Steam as well at some point
  • Demeo is a procedural, tactical, card and dice based rogue-lite (progression between runs)
  • Combat is resolved by a 12 sided die (mostly hit symbols, some miss ones, some criticals)
  • Cards drive all actions, cost 1 point each, and each hero has 2 points per turn
  • Basic actions are repeated (not discarded) cards for each character (ex= zap for a wizard)
  • Monsters activate after all heroes have (like a board game)
  • Cards are obtained via chests or bought at the between level shop keeper (a la a card rogue like)
  • Dungeons are randomly generated
  • Each dungeon has a monster that has a key
  • Killing the key monster lets you progress down to the next floor
  • Cards can be sold
  • Hand size is a limiting factor??
  • The game is 1 to 4 players (if solo, the player controls 3 heroes)
  • Crossplay between Quest 2 and Steam VR along with pancake PC versions

Demeo releases today (5/6) and will be on both Quest 2 and Steam. Rift version will be a few weeks away and a PC pancake version is in development.

Edit: VR initially, but pancake will be offered later it seems.

2

I assume some cards cost 0 or 2 points as well, otherwise why even have a point system if it’s always “play two cards per turn”?

3

That certainly makes sense. I was watching the costs for the cards on footage I have seen and they all seem to have a cost of 1. The early reviews seem to be very positive so I can’t see me not taking a peak at it soon as it is now live on Steam.

Still, the costs and general card play mechanics remain a big question mark for me. Is there a draw pile? Are there ways to manipulate draw or pull cards back from the discard? Basically, how Slay the Spire or other card based rogue likes is it? Or is it just a simple 2x 1 cost cards per turn to establish a static action economy between players? I can’t say yet.

Edit: It looks like there are some cantrip type 0 cost spells along with potions being 0 cost cards.

Also:

and:

4

What does ‘pancake’ mean? Not VR?

5

Correct, it’s the mildly derogatory term the VR community uses for a standard flat screen monitor game.

6

I have to admit, this isn’t the type of game I’d have thought would start out as a VR exclusive.

7

Yeah same, the developers are solely a VR studio though, so I guess it makes sense for them to ensure their primary customers/fans are satisfied first.

8

I’ve spent a lot of this evening playing the game. It feels quite polished, some nice strategy involved although I’ve only played single player so far. The first level I entered was really tough - I was expecting to be able to confront monsters gradually by opening one door at a time, but I started in an open area with many monsters in view and quickly got swarmed. The only thing that saved me was exploding some gas ‘lamps’ which spreads gas all over and poisons everything, which murdered dozens of weak creatures like rats and spiderlings. Once the early monsters were cleared out the rest of the level was really easy and I collected much gold to use to buy extra items in the shop.

The main frustration I had was that there was no way I could find to save the game - even in single player mode. Of course you can just take off the headset and come back to it later, but then you can’t play anything else in the meantime. Why no save option? Seems strange, especially since the first level alone took me over an hour, and there are three levels on every run.

It’s definitely going to be a lot more fun with other players. Single-player will get very samey after a while I reckon. At the moment the game feels polished but maybe lacking in content? I imagine they’ll gradually add more. It works well in VR, but would also work well on a monitor, much like Gloomhaven. I got the impression from the videos that you could move your character by hand but it seems to need a controller. Anyway, if anyone fancies playing multiplayer friend me and let’s try it :) I’m in the UK.

10

Ouch. Yeah I’ll wait for them to add mid-game save/resume. :)

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Yeesh, what a sad attempt to come up with a term where none is needed. Sour grapes much, VR apologists?

This looks pretty cool, but nowhere near cool enough to strap on VR goggles.

So a VR boondoggle that you have to play all in one sitting? Not only are the developers beholden to VR, they also don’t know how to make videogames?

-Tom

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I can play about 30 minutes if you want to try and still have time!

13

It is pretty sad, but I always got the sense it was a good-humoured thing more than sour grapes. For most people anyway, there are always exceptions. :)

15

My steam and oculus names should both be rowe33!

I made room 2932, not sure how else to join up with people.

17

Ok room 6298 now, had to restart.

18

The amount of pointless camera movement in this looks like it will be enough to keep me from playing. Maybe the flapjack version will be different.

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@ArenjiChaos Yep, my first run was especially rough as I opened up the middle and all hell fell upon my party. There were WAY too many to deal with at once. Also, I can’t tell, but I think monsters are not limited to map creation. They seem to keep walking in from the dark no matter how long I kill them or how much I have explored.

@tomchick and others, yes the lack of save currently is really frustrating. The game can go pretty long. It sounds like a save feature is coming soon. Why did they launch without one? I don’t know. Maybe the considered the core experience to be multiplayer with other people and saving is less relevant there. The menus seem to back that idea up. In any case, a save is coming.

I didn’t mean anything derogatory. Maybe I need to think about the use of that term. I didn’t even know of the term or care about it until I had VR and now I have picked up the term myself in reflecting on the different experiences of monitor or tv versus headset. I use it myself to myself not to establish a hierarchy or snub myself; I use both interfaces.

Anyway, I really enjoy the depth in Demeo as a 3-d head in the toy box experience. I think I first had that sort of experience with a 3DS turn based tactical game. Other games like Final Assault really drive it home. The 3-D is super immersive and jumping to something like X-Com or Starcraft feels very flat. I am not a VR die hard. The experiences are just especially pronounced for this sort of genre. I meant no harm.

As to the game itself after a few plays. I do think it shares some DNA with Gloomhaven. It does not have anywhere near the same card play, but your cards are very much a dwindling resource. You can have up to 10 and anything used that is not your reusable card is gone forever. Thus you are left deciding when to use and when to save big cards. That said, you still get class based cards as you fill your card XP meter, open chests, and from the shop. Thus, you are not always getting weaker, you just want to think about when to burn big cards rather than firing them off expecting a new hand next turn or something.

To that point, there are no draw or card manipulation mechanics. Cards are just a pool of class ability options as resources. They are functionally consumable equipment that is in a card form.

@Scotch_Lufkin I have not seen any 2 point cards. There are a few zero point cards. The main economy of “1 action point” card costs is that moving also costs a point. You can combine a move action with a basic attack action or some cards. Thus you want to best spend your 2 action points between cards and movement.

Dying is interesting. If a character goes down, you can revive them. They come back with 3 health. However, each time they die they lose one from the time you have to revive them. If you finish a level all characters will revive. However, any reduced revive timers follow them. Thus each death has a pretty lasting effect and the players will die off faster and faster until you win or full party wipe.

The game seems built for expansions. After a few plays, I am pretty excited about that. The game is currently essentially a D&D module with other modules planned. This one is the Elven Queen module and the next one is sometime this summer it sounds like.

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. If you have VR, I would suggest playing it there. If not, the standard screen version will likely be a fun digital board game romp as well.

20

Can we join mid game or does it have to be from the start?

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It really isn’t that bad once you’re playing. You’re above the board so just need to adjust it as needed.

One thing we just learned is that the host can leave the game and other players can continue playing. Also, you get the XP you earned at the end of each level when you leave. krazykrok and I played through the first level but I got 150xp when I had to leave at the start of level 2. And you can definitely join in mid-game, as Chaplin was able to jump in right when I was leaving!

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They said saving in games is coming. They also will release some free dlc on Summer, so maybe waiting until summer to buy would be a good idea.

25

That’s good to hear. I was worried they might be relying on it as a gimmick. I’ll probably pick it up this weekend, so happy to play some multiplayer. UK daytime/evening works best for me.