IN A WORD: WORTHWHILE
IN SHORT:
Zitat:
WHAT TO EXPECT:
Dragons and pillaging. Indie game. 4x gamemodes. Action with nuanced strategy. Simple gameplay. Lots of 10min games. Plenty of small maps. Repetitive play. Minimal upgrading/dragon customisation. Colourful graphics. Balanced gameplay and enemies. Fair AI but with faults. Grindy MP & endgame achievements. Singleplayer, coop and versus modes.
ACHIEVEMENTS: EXTENSIVE. STRADDLE EVERY MODE.
STATUS: COMPLETED.
WHEN TO BUY: ANY SALE.
More info below....
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2393064570
THE LOWDOWN:
HOARD is an indie made action game possessing fast, fluid gameplay and simple yet involving strategy elements. Set in a medieval style fantasy world, players take control of a dragon in their quest to burn, pillage and plunder the biggest pile of treasure possible.
The game is played in real-time from an overhead perspective, on a multitude of small maps. Maps contains numerous components designed to generate gold. Fields are utilised by mills. Mills send out carts to villages. Villages grow into towns. Towns send out trade carts. Forts transport princesses to towns and guard them. Wizard towers spring up reign destruction, containing valuables within. All designed to generate gold for collection. Once gold drops onto the ground, a dragon may swoop and collect. When enough booty is held the dragon must return to their lair to add what they carry to their hoard. This must be protected from being raided.
Looking to stop players from amassing their piles of treasure are a host of enemies. AI or player controlled dragons looking to amass their own hoards. Archers defend their towns. Knights guard against dragon encroachment and look to rescue princesses in distress. Wizard towers blast magics at dragons that fly close. Giants occasionally feel the need to stomp around the landscape looking to clobber everything within reach. The attention of nefarious thieves must also be fended off. Towns intimidated enough provide tribute carts to increase the owner's hoard periodically.
As gold is plundered a multiplier rises to maximise the return of gold collected. This resets if the dragon loses all its health or any gold stolen from a hoard. As more gold is hoarded the dragon's level increases the player must choose how to customise the dragon to their preferred playstyle and strategy. Four stats can be upgraded: movement speed, fire attack, gold carry capacity and armoured scales defence. Arrayed across maps are boosters that provide vital temporary boosts to the dragon that collects them. Stronger dragon fire, freezing breath, health regain, steal ability from rival hoards or deadly firebolts can make the difference during play.
There are four modes. Singleplayer: Treasure - collect the most gold possible. Princess - first to kidnap 15 princesses. Hoard - stay alive the for longest. Coop Treasure: AI controlled dragons help gather the highest amount of treasure. Multiplayer has a versus mode and one coop. Completed maps receive a rating of gold, silver and bronze which are recorded on a leaderboard. Games are short, up to 10 minutes long. Shorter for Princess Mode. Maps are designed for 1, 2, 3 or 4 players, which are populated by bots in singleplayer.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2393068420
THE GOOD:
+ 35+ kingdom maps.
+ Combines casual and strategy styles well.
+ Simple, fast-paced, enjoyable gameplay, with some depth to strategy.
+ Open worlds letting the player dictate their style of play.
+ Upgradeable dragons.
+ Five fun power-ups.
+ Lots of modes to keep play interesting.
+ Short, time-limited, replayable levels.
+ 4 different and enjoyable singleplayer modes.
THE BAD:
- Missing a few alerts/prompts on the GUI for danger to the Hoard or dragon.
- One bugged minor pathing issue with AI.
- Maps are re-used across modes.
Some achievements require MP/COOP. There are enough players to find someone to farm them.
- End of mission screen could show additional stats.
- Missing a noticeable alert for hoard stealing thieves.
- Enjoyable multiplayer modes if enough there were still enough players.
AND THE ORDINARY:
* Focused range of enemies including: archers, knights, wizard towers, other dragons and the clock.
* Charming graphics and decent soundtrack.
* Better than average bot AI.
* Rating system to encourage replay and betterment.
* 3x terrain tilesets (forest, desert and arctic) to provide variety.
* Leaderboards for every map and game mode to encourage competitiveness.
* Most achievements require repetitive play but many are organic in nature.
* 2x Short tutorial maps.
* All multiplayer achievements possible with 1 additional player.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2393066168
VERDICT:
HOARD delivered a fast-paced, uncomplicated experience with a mostly casual feel. The game's obvious pull to control a gold hungry, fire-breathing dragon should be enough to reel in fans of dragons and strategy. Breathing fire. Burning everything asunder. Carrying off as much gold as possible. Plus the odd princess *haha*. Who wouldn't enjoy such a premise! If this doesn't grab you then HOARD is not a game for you.
Gameplay proved to be fast-paced, accessible and enjoyable in short bursts. Fitting perfectly with games mostly lasting ten minutes. Any feeling of repetition was blunted by the number of gamemodes, range of maps and short-span play sessions. Though eventually the game did begin to feel repetitive the subtle variations in map design and the nuanced strategy felt dynamic enough to keep play compelling. Moreso with the focused customisation options allowing for different approaches to strategy. While the three core gamemodes and their singleplayer, coop and versus variants, added an additional twist to each one.
My particular favourite was the Treasure mode, princess mode certainly held interest. While Hoard mode radically changed up the challenge, turning the other modes on their heads. Only a few CTDS were encountered during 30h of play.
Multiplayer was on a par with singleplayer in terms of gameplay. It was a shame Hoard mode was not available here. The problems with versus were the same old issues, games required organising with other players and unstable connectivity. With around two dozen achievements dedicated to this mode it was a real shame that no one was actively playing online. Especially if attempting to attain 100% completion. Fortunately a few individuals were found to eventually help farm these. A shout out to them for the assist!
Graphically there was nothing earth-shattering but overall it was pretty enough to serve the gameplay taking place. The range of alternating tilesets for winter, desert and woodland did a decent job of keeping visual stimuli fresh. Map models of villages, NPCs and the like were of enough quality to not detract. Animations were solid, especially the dragons which moved gracefully across the map.
HOARD was enjoyable to play. A veritable blast at times. Literally!! It is an example of a well conceived, well designed and well executed indie game. Gameplay was simple. Easy to pick up. There may not be much range to its play but, what it does do, it does well. possessing a hidden degree of strategy that belied its casual look. It has no real flaws and the repetitive nature of gameplay was tempered enough to keep me going back to play, day after day. If living the life of a gold loving dragon, pillaging and kidnapping princesses across a range of game modes and well-balanced maps appeals, then this should be a game to consider.
Zitat:
If you found this review enjoyable or helpful and want to read more of my detailed write-ups, you can find them
here.
