Rising Lords from Deck 13 is here

Rising Lords

Argonwood and Deck 13’s latest title for consoles is Rising Lords that features turn-based medieval combat.

Rising Lords is the newest title from Argonwood, published by Deck 13 and is a strategy game based on the dark ages in a made up land and uses some unique resource management mechanics. Players perform multiple actions across a single turn like moving peasants to perform tasks, build your army or march them to war. You may even come across random events like a bear attacking a town where the only defenses are those same peasants.

The art style reminds me very much of Inkulinati with a nearly identical character design, pulling from obvious medieval influences. As the game progresses you change focuses from resource gathering to warmongering. Gameplay feels like a blend of several popular tabletop games like Settlers of Catan, BattleLore and Kings & Things, mixing their styles into a overall experience that focuses on paving their own way. The user interface was clearly build having computers in mind but thanks to the turn-based nature of the game it is still manageable.

The art style of the game felt right for the game where the controls felts a little tough to identify where to click next at times. Despite the controls I found the game to quite ingenious and enjoyable. With the customization options and richness in gameplay it will be a hit among strategy fans for sure.

Inkulinati

Inkulinati

Inkulinati is a game about ancient art styles and drawing your troops into place to defeat the foes from Yaza Games.

Yaza Games brings a truly one of a kind experience with Inkulinati. It is a game that plays like a tower defense game but on ancient scrolls with a similar art style. This is a game six hundred years in the making, supposedly. Artistically speaking it feels like I’m playing in the animations from Monty Python’s Holy Grail! That art is one of my favorite things to come from those comedic geniuses so that alone is a major selling point for me.

The ass that is blowing the trumpet with it’s ass (pun intended) gives new meaning to “blow it out of your ass”!

The controls and quite simple but not entirely intuitive, allowing you to easily control the troops and defend your position. Some of the actions are not entirely clear on what they will do without a little trial and error. Like the taps or pushes for example. You choose an object to tap or push on and depending on what it is there are different reactions. If you tap on the oil barrel you will cause it to explode, hurting everything next to it. If you push a character next to an edge they will fall to their death, even if they are at full health. These lessons are quickly learned after one use.

While the game is simple to learn with a great art style I feel like the $24.99 price tag is a bit steep. Gameplay being as simple as it is leads to boredom after a short period, it simply is TOO simple. The game is still in early demo status so there is plenty of time before we see the final build and my opinion may change in that time.