What is SpellCraft

A couple of weeks back I was fortunate enough to play the Closed Beta for Spellcraft. A new turn-based, auto-battler that puts a unique spin on the new genre. Today, I want to talk about what I saw and why you should be excited about this upcoming title. 🙂

Developers: One More Game, One More Game, Inc.
Genres: Free-to-play, Action game, Strategy Video Game, Strategy
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, macOS, Mac operating systems
Publishers: One More Game, Inc., One More Game

🔷 PREMISE 🔶

DotA just keeps churning out new genres it seems. 😁 This time around it's the auto-battler - think Teamfight Tactics. How this genre works is usually you set up a team and a formation for said team. Then you wait as your team battles other peoples' teams. Rinse and repeat.

This game has that element but turns it up a notch with the fact that you have to actively use inputs to shift the battle. Calling it an auto-battler would be doing it a disservice as that connotates there being little to no gameplay. Where in fact Spellcraft is very active in its gameplay.

🔷 OVERVIEW 🔶

Before we continue, everything you are about to see is from a closed beta of the game. Everything and anything you see is subject to change.

So let's go through this step-by-step. When I entered the game you are greeted by a friendly screen that prompts you to start a tutorial.

The game then goes through several slides of explaining the core mechanics and whatnot. This is kind of weird since we go through the same thing once the tutorial starts in earnest. I'll leave the screenshots up so you know how the game is played from the horse's mouth. // In this case the developers are the horse

As a person who has played plenty of auto-battlers, I would say the main component that separates SpellCraft from other contemporaries is its ability element. For instance, there are others that have this element of you having to click buttons while the battle is going on, but none of them are as active and place as much importance on it as SpellCraft does. 💯

The round system also does something fresh with the already preset formula. Here you get to buy items and equip them to your heroes in-between rounds. Rounds are like sets in tennis. Now, the enemy can see which item you've equipped. In addition, the person that loses the round gets to pick first. So there's a strategic incentive as well.

So far from what I've seen the archetypes in the game are your standard - tanky warrior, squishy mage, elusive archer. I don't have any problems with this as it is something most gamers are already familiar with. And when you're making a niche game in a niche genre you need as much recognizability as you can afford.

Once we've finished reading it's off to the actual tutorial for some actual hands-on experience.

Each player gets their own pet/puppet/cheerleader. I imagine this will be customizable and microtransactions will rain down upon us. 🤑

The board is set up like a board game. And the figures are like figurines. The way they also move is akin to Warhammer figurines trampling the battlefield. Again, this is a niche thing, but I find the stylistic choices here welcoming.

Now this is the end screen for my first tutorial match. I figured we should just skip it as you can get the gist of everything just by reading the screenshots. Let's talk more about the nuance of this title in an actual online battle.

Once you've placed your champions on the board the round starts and the with it the battle. You need to quickly start using your hotkeys as there are no penalties for doing so. There is no mana system or anything similar. Just a cooldown and the increase of your ultimate gauge. An even bigger incentive to use as many abilities as possible to fill up your ulti as it is what usually will win you rounds. 👌

We've talked about the shop screen but now let's take a closer look at what we're dealing with here. 🔽 It's a bit wordy and busy for my liking, but remember this is all subject to change. One thing this screen shows which we didn't talk about is that you can combine two items to create one that affects the entire team.

Needless to say, I lost the first official game. If this article thus far hasn't confirmed it yet - this game is hella hard. 😁

I won two rounds and felt myself, but the other player clearly knew what he was doing and just outplayed me for the rest of the game. This is where the clear skill difference is apparent. This is good for the game's long-term competitive health.

The game modes are your standard affair and that's where this game will have its biggest obstacle. In order for an online-only, match game to succeed. You need to have A LOT of matches. And a lot of good games have fallen by the wayside because they weren't great.

I still remember Battlerite. That was popular, that was fun, and skill-based. That also got canceled early.

🔷 FINAL THOUGHTS 🔶

With the online landscape being what it is, this game will have a tough road to climb. Does it have a chance? A slim one, I'd say. This field is already dominated by Teamfight Tactics and it's not even close. So you are already entering a known space with an unknown IP. Your few cute mechanics and ideas won't save you when fighting against giants. 😅

I love the game's announcer and the whole feel while playing. It gives off this "sport" feel that serves the game well. Again, I'd say they need character and charm to win people over. They got the mechanical and gameplay aspect down, now you have to keep people's attention. And that's a tall task for anybody, let alone an indie-dev.

Thank you for reading, you rock! (and maybe roll) 👏👏👏

Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

When the game is finally out for all I think yous should give it a shot. It's well made and the concept it fun to play. Try it as soon as you can as I am not sure how long the game will last on the market. 😅

But I had fun playing it, which is more than you can say for most games. So there's that. 👏

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Have a great start to your week! 🙌