Don’t know why (probably want to sell some DLC presumably), but this is free on steam if you grabbed it by tomm:
2nd game recently released. :)
Wow, Tainted Grail looks absolutely fantastic. Going to have to pick that one up, I guess. This paragraph from a Steam review pretty much sold me:
Well, this popped at random in my recommendations, and after looking it up, I said “why the hell not”. And… I couldn’t put it down. This game is a fusion of Darkest Dungeon, Slay the Spire/Monster Train, with it’s own twists, in the “reality got erased, try to put it all back”, in the vein of Othercide and Loop Hero.
I’ve had a quick go of Tainted Grail and it does seem pretty good. The rules are simple enough and upgrades, new cards and items come thick and fast. I made it to the first boss on my first run but he absolutely kicked my arse, I just don’t see how it’s possible to do it first time. Looking forward to trying again to see what new options I have. :)
I thought Tainted Grail was OK, but didn’t think it did anything that Trials of Fire didn’t do better.
Coming back to Circadian Dice, I went ahead and gave it a shot because the concept sounded interesting and it’s hard to go wrong for just a few bucks. I’ve really been digging it. It starts out pretty simple, but as you progress to later runs and start adding all sorts of skills and abilities the decision space gets really rich.
Just trying to figure out the best way to evolve your dice, including which orientation to use when you buy upgrades so that you maximize your potential for future gains as well, is its own fun little puzzle.
Even though they’re totally different genres, for me this has a lot of similarities to Urtuk: neither do anything truly innovative, but they take a number of existing systems, mix them in interesting ways, and hone them to near perfection.
I am about 8 hours in and yup, I would say it is the strongest deck building card battler roguelike since Slay the Spire. I would place it a few steps above Pirates Outlaws, Griftlands, Monster Slayers, Bloodcard and other Slay-the-Spire likes that have charm of their own.
Stuff which is amazing me . . .
. . . the freaking setting / theme / art / music together. I was initially lukewarm on the free move / explore dynamic since it seemed to just add busywork which could have been eliminated by node to node travel. However I have to admit the world looks freaking beautiful, in a horribly twisted way. It really feels like a thematic, twisted, horror filled world and the art & music work wonderfully together.
. . . meta-progression appears compelling. There are about a dozen archetypes to unlock and maybe 5 different types of meta-currency so the sense of progress during and between runs is strong
. . . the actual combat feels slick, solid and punchy. Choices & consequences . . . often no single obvious best choice, trade offs, push-your-luck and safer options
. . . the character development, through deck-building and passives (a lot like Slay the Spire artefacts) offers some great choices and clearly very different deck types for each archetype
. . . did I mention the freakin’ great uber-dark cultist muzak? Just wait til you hear the battle chanting music, oh my . . .
Buy, buy, buy, buy, buy. I rest my case.
I beat the Golem on my first run. I think the trick is to combine these things -
- Max out your ultimate attack
- Use the boost damage 100% card multiple times, it stacks and persists between turns
- Put vulnerable on the Golem by hitting it 4 times
Once you have 1-3 in place, you can deliver a single hit doing 100s of damage. Heck, you can take out all its remaining health in one single huge hit once you have boosted enough
Love both. There is a well mannered ‘which is better’ thread on the Steam forums for Tainted Grail. I would rate them about equal for enjoyment and depth. Just do not ask me to choose! It would be like asking me to choose between only cheese or only chocolate. I want both dammit!
This is true!
I’ve wishlisted it! The game, that is, not the cheese and chocolate duo.
Why limit yourself to one out of three? Reject the tyranny of choice! Take it all!
It’s nice hearing that the little digital game they threw in for free with the boardgame I spent around $250 on is good. (I mean, the boardgame was already easily worth that money, but…)
Wait what?
For all TG board game holders, this game is free?
Also, it’s two games. The TG: Conquest game above and an upcoming game that’s a campaign. Apparently if you bought this game before February, you get the upcoming campaign game for free as well. That makes me a bit bitter because I just discovered the game. I sure wish I’d known about it back in January.
If you backed the game when it was funding, you should have a key in your pledge manager. I wouldn’t say it’s free for everyone who owns a copy of the boardgame because it’s not a pack-in with the box.
If I backed the boardgame during funding (2hich I did) or the computer game (which I don’t think I did?)
The computer game was a bonus for boardgame backers.
That’s cool. Tainted Grail is one of those games that I’d love to try, and wish one of my friends had bought it because I don’t think I’d get the mileage out of it to make it worth a purchase for myself. But I’ll totally go in for a PC version.