Runespell: Overture

Runespell: Overture
69
Metacritic
75
Steam
66.174
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$9.99
Release date
20 July 2011
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
75 (201 votes)

This role-playing game, set in an alternate medieval Europe, combines poker mechanics with power ups and collectible cards.

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Runespell: Overture system requirements

  • OS: XP / Vista / 7
  • Processor: 2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 / AMD Athlon 64
  • Memory: 1GB RAM
  • Hard Disk Space: 350 MB
  • Video Card: 256 MB Shader Model 2.0 (Geforce 6 series, Radeon X1000 series)
  • DirectX®: DirectX® 9.0c
  • Sound: DirectX® 9.0c compatible sound card

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
Updated
App type
Steam APP ID
102200
Platforms
Windows PC
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ANNOYING CROW
ANNOYING CROW

THIS IS A VERY UNIQUE GAME FOR 2011 C AW CAW

IT'S LIKE A ADVENTURE TRAVEL TYPE GAME, BUT ALSO WANTS TO BE POKER AT THE SAME TIME CAW CAW. SO THINK OF A DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS GEEK PLAYING TEXAS HOLD EM CAW CAW

Archon310
Archon310

Played for awhile than came back a week later and all my progress is gone. If your game does not have any kind of autosave system make that extremely clear from the beginning.

Blind Gull
Blind Gull

Game is overly brutal and a relic of the pre-deck building craze we saw with Enter the Spire. It isn't a fun game.

Zincoshine
Zincoshine

How did this garbage even get into my steam account?

kubev
kubev

Mix Magic: The Gathering with Poker and Solitaire, and you'd come up with something along the lines of Runespell: Overture. Awesome game.

Discrider
Discrider

Solitaire mixed with Poker. Instead of building suits, you're building poker hands and using these hands to beat enemy AI to death. A better hand does more damage, and the more damage you deal (or take), the more spells you can cast with your building rage.
This system has some nice subtleties, but the rest of the game lets it down. The AI refuses to use any high power hands at all, and instead resorts to using easily buildable hands and spamming abilities to win. This results in a final boss which has a use 5 rage -> do 30 or so dmg loop which it is not bright enough to use.
As for the story dragging you through the adventure, it is lacklustre at best, and is not helped by being left on a cliffhanger at the end to allow for sequels and the "Overture" in the title.
The art style is quite good though.
In all, a good idea that becomes tedious because of uninteresting AI, and eventually leads to power-gaming to find no end at the end.

obitom
obitom

Although not as good as PuzzleQuest (12500) it's still a fun little game.
It's a mix between RPG and Poker, however weird that sounds it works. You earn special cards along the way, spells and followers and follow a storyline as you fight monsters through poker combinations.
It could definently be better, more RPG elements and some new functions would liven it up.
It it's cheap, it's worth it, or if your a poker and rpg fan!

andrew-film
andrew-film

Runespell is a decent puzzle, nice poker mechanics and visuals. Obviously influenced by Puzzle Quest, but not that deep. It's not very short, you can easily get 15-20 hours out of it, also there are achievements and New Game+. Music is great. all 3 tracks, so it gets quite repetitive. Multiplayer and dlc would be great additions, but apparently this game is abandoned by the developers.

GBO2 Copium
GBO2 Copium

Amazingly fun game. Unfortunatly it lacks multiplayer and even after a year of waiting, it seems like the Devs aren't too keen on expanding what could have been an incredible thing,

robilar5500
robilar5500

This was a fun and reasonably easy game to master. The mythic poker system is more of a cross between solitaire and poker. The layout is solitaire, but the building of hands is very much poker. Royal Flush has the most value at 50 attack points. I like the way your runespells charge by both dealing damage and receiving it from enemy attacks. The story was reasonably engaging for what it was, and they left room for DLC or a sequel. All in all, a good way to kill 8 or 10 hours. On a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 7 for fun, but an 8 or 9 as far as games you can play to kill time whne you are bored.
Online play would be a natural evolution for this game. I hope they are considering the development of PvP matches.

Dedmeatzz
Dedmeatzz

Odd mix of poker...points for card combos cause damage... and fantasy card game..spells to defend or attack.. but it works. Addictive despite it's faults ( mainly not being able to cancel selections in the trade screen and having to buy the cards to replace used ones ). Good card game

Crowbeak
Crowbeak

I have a few issues with the UI, but the gameplay is unique and fun. It uses regular playing cards and poker-type card matching for its combat system. Worth a try if you like unusual combat mechanics.

Blurple Splandex
Blurple Splandex

Again like 4 Elements, if you are a weirdo who likes puzzle game mechanics you'll like this. Is it great? no of course not but its worth a few bucks. At the time of writing this its 10 bucks and thats a tad steep.

Mello_280
Mello_280

If you like poker and you like battle then you'll love battle poker!

Svarok
Svarok

Poker meets puzzle quest. Very fun game, some fights feel overhwelming difficult though while others are a walkthrough.

frostypepper
frostypepper

Let me ask you one thing! *points at you*

Do you like playing poker?

Do you like playing magic the gathering?

Have you ever wondered what would occur if poker ever got drunk at a party and had sticky awkward unprotected sex with magic (the gathering)?

Then you are in luck you sick bastard, this is the game for you! *points at you again*

Stewen "Titowam"
Stewen "T…

I like this game. Very simple and relaxing. 7,5/10

tycho5
tycho5

Why don't they make more games like this?!

Simple card playing mechanic that's fun and addicting. Then you have a vaguely interesting storyline that your character has to make his way through.

If you like Puzzle Quest (1st one), you'll love this game!

Seriously, they need more games like this!

systemchalk
systemchalk

I got this as part of a bundle and really tried to make it work for me, but it was hard to escape the 'solitare with animations' feeling I got from the game. I'm sure a greater enthusiast for card games will find something they like in here, but I could not recommend it to a general audience.

Thoren
Thoren

If you like casual games and you like an RPG style twist, then this little game was executed very well. The concept of using a standard card game as a fighting system works very well actually. Solid little game, I like it quite well!

DontCryMustDie
DontCryMustDie

This game is addictive as hell. (For a card game)

BelialAzazel
BelialAzazel

A nice turn-based RPG with a playing-card/poker mechanic. Lots of options to allow for various strategies.

Hinakochan83
Hinakochan83

This game has a simple card playing mechanic where you play poker against an enemy to win. Powerups and collectible cards also help with gameplay and has an RPG style story that's interesting. A casual game that's easy to pick up and get addicted to. Great little game overall.

precipitate8
precipitate8

This is a really fun casual game. The poker mechanic works well and the RPG aspect gives you a reason to keep playing. If you like 'playing card' games with some light RPG mechanics with a decent story, this is for you.

BLIMINGTON BUTT
BLIMINGTON BUTT

its good cuz therse cards an teyy fight guys

Ruibarian
Ruibarian

This is one of those games that makes me wish we had a "thumbs in the middle" button. I liked it overall, but there were times where my experience just felt frustrating, and I don't think it was my playing poorly or anything like that, I think it's just an awkward design at times. If you're looking for a card game, there are better games, but it's not the worst one on the market.

Jormangand
Jormangand

The core concept of this game is essentially solitare poker againt the AI. Matching varying combinations of cards will inflict damage against the AI (and AI to you). The damage will increase the better the combiation, from two of a kind to a royal flush. The game mixes things up by adding in spell cards which can be used to inflict status effects, heal, do elemental damage, etc. The additions of the spell cards keeps the battle fresh as certain enemies require specific cards to counter their abilities. Overall, this game is average to above-average. I recommend a purchase of this game during a sale.

Taco™
Taco™

Neat Concept, but in the end too short and too easy

gyokzoli
gyokzoli

One of the best card based game I have ever played. And now it's a real bargain, you cannot have good enough reason to not buy it. ;-)

captplatonic
captplatonic

surprisingly fun - something you can play while you have your lunch

ScrollTroll
ScrollTroll

Ho hum. Incomplete - a prologue to a vaporware game. The card graphics are simply ordinary playing cards, the story is slight to the point of invisibility and totally linear. The gameplay is mildly amusing, maybe a fraction above playing MS Solitaire, but not complex enough to reward paying it much attention. Worth a dollar or two purely as a solitaire game, but certainly not worth paying even close to full price for.

[Epic!]killy
[Epic!]killy

This game was a surprise! I was expecting something like Fairy Solitaire, but has much more the RPG feeling and the RPG elements. And on top of all, keeps my poker knowledge fresh:)

I can definetely recommend this game as a Casual, Relaxing, Adventure with nice visuals.

and for 1,80euro...it's a steal!

• Kixamaz
• Kixamaz

It's like playing poker and classic RPG at the same time. Challenging gameplay and good spells to help you through dozens of quests. Strong allies to unlock with fantastic artwork will make you want to summon them again and again.

Sighman
Sighman

Combines a poker-style card game with Puzzle Quest battles. There's a quest, but you can skip all the dialogue and just get on with the game. It's not that challenging, but it's entertaining.

1WickedMoon
1WickedMoon

i cant even play i lod it up and it crashed ugh pls fix thx

Ynguer
Ynguer

"Hum! If I battle this STONE I can earn silver to add uses to my Power Cards!"

Ahn... I supose thats whats this game is about... A pretty-graphics, weird-characters, weirder-story and sticky-bgm EXCUSE for you to play a Poker duel.
For a casual game, and for one who likes Poker (like me) is pretty cool. But dont go for the rest of it....

Action-Crab
Action-Crab

I wouldn't recommend this one. Just play couple of battles and you've pretty much seen it all. The game is tedious even if you manage to play it through in a couple of hours. The story is pretty indefferent: something about fantasy creatures roaming in Dark age Europe and mythic religious references. Sure if you're a fan of new card games, then go ahead and invest. Something new which get old pretty fast.

Materia User
Materia User

Eh, it's basically poker.

The only real variations are you can have 5 of a kind and there are magic abilities which you can use the better hands you make.

The plot is somewhat interesting but not really that original. You basically suffer from amnesia and you happen to be the chosen one to save everyone.

If you like poker... I recommend playing poker.
If you like the fantasy aspect I recommend any number of other fantasy games.
Even if you like both having 2 good games is better than having one mediocre one.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Don't let the tags fool you; this is not an RPG. A Royal Flush deals the same amount of damage in hour 1 as it does in hour 5. My 1st steam purchase where I felt I wasted my money.

Plow King
Plow King

Card game rpg? Why not... fun for a little while unless you’re into cards, then you'll have a blast methinks. There should be an 'iffy' button for "Do you recommend this game?". More positive than negative so I'll say Yes.

wroot
wroot

Though i was addicted to it and played maybe 2,5 times to collect all the achievements, can't really recommend it, unless for a big discount. Gameplay is repetitive and becomes stale quickly (collect pocker hands to create attacks). Additional magic spell add a bit flavor. Also the story was interesting. Oh, and the epic music playing all the time becomes annoying after a few minutes :)

Hopefully Humble Tim
Hopefully Humble Tim

Good ideas, not well explored, bland execution.

The basic premise of the game holds promise - providing lots of opportunity for creative variety in gameplay - but the devs only explored a small portion of the space of possibilities. The end result is a game that quickly becomes tiresome. In essence, it's just a glorified version of Peggle. If you want a mindless, casual, timewaster, then you may enjoy this game. If you want something rich, strategic, or creative, look elsewhere.

fall0ut
fall0ut

Good game, but much too short.

The game has a good premise, good storyline, great mechanics and is fun and at times challenging to play. The only downside is that the main storyline of the game is much too short. I finished the game in two nights and was really left wanting more.

Having said that, if you can find the game on sale it still is a good value.

MasterStickBoy
MasterStickBoy

game keep crashing at a certain point every time, i tried starting over with a new campain and it keeps effecting it and crashs as soon as i get into the game.. dont waste your money on only a few hours worth of game before it crashs. and you might think its just my computer doing because of my graphivcs card or something, but ive tried it again after replacing my graphics card

Demonslayer2222
Demonslayer2222

Love this card game, use poker hands to defeat your enemys, with plenty of spell cards and allies to aid you when things get difficult. Most enemies are easy to start off and you think its a walk in the park but it soon cranks up the difficulty later on and you have to really think ahead and put good hands together to win. If you like card games then this is worth a shot.

Tienna (天阿)
Tienna (天阿)

Think Puzzle Quest, but instead of match 3 you play poker solitaire to fight your enemies.

It's fun if you're into this kind of thing. The story is cliched but well-written: I appreciate characters with a sense of cynicism. The art and sound are nice. Tutorials can be skipped when you replay the game.

Downsides: Mystic Box appears to fallen off the face of the earth. Technical settings do not save when you quit the game; I constantly have to hit Alt+Enter to resize my window and re-pick "click and click" (dragging is a pain) when the game starts up

Overall, I enjoy this game. I use this game to kill time or relax: it's not as mindless as a match 3 and it's a fun twist on the premise. I don't expect it to do much more than that.

GrizzBear2021
GrizzBear2021

Runespell is a combination of RPG, Solitaire and Poker, similar in nature to Puzzle Quest. You stack cards like in solitaire to form 5 card poker combos to attack your foes and cast spells. It's fairly simple to play an so is the presentation. The story is based on Norse Mythology and while it's somewhat thin it does has its twists and turns. I found the gameplay enjoyable for the most part and the game doesn't overstay its welcome. Unfortunately, as the Overture in the title says it feels like a first part of something bigger, a second game that may never come out. That didn't upset me but can frustrate some people who got more invested in the story.

ickarumba
ickarumba

5/10

Runespell: Overture is a single-player turn-based RPG that uses poker rules and the game takes between 8-10 hours to complete.
Combat involves setting up poker combinations (flushes, full houses etc.) with different combinations dealing different amounts of damage. You can use your own cards or even steal individual visible cards from your opponents.
Dealing and receiving damage builds 'rage points' (essentially mana) that can be consumed to use spells (damage spells, defense spells, etc).
I would recommend this game for someone who wants a throwaway game to occupy a bit of time.

Pros:
- Easy-to-grasp gameplay concept
- Novelty poker rules are interesting in the RPG genre

Cons:
- Forgettable 'plot' - weak story
- Can be frustrating at times due to the RNG nature of cards

M32James
M32James

Great game, highly recommended!

runescience
runescience

I highly recommend this game. Its challenging, and casual. I love it and im not even a poker player.

Penitenziagite
Penitenziagite

Somewhat different card based game with a fantasy setting. I really liked it, though it gets pretty difficult after the inital fast progress. I'm more a casual kind of player of such games, and found it requiring a little bit to much tactical thought for my taste. Otherwise, a wholehearted recommendation for this game, especially if you like this type of game, and enjoy a little bit of tactical challenge in a fundamentally poker-based card game.

bee wizzard
bee wizzard

I've tried on three separate occasions to gain momentum with this game, with no success. It is flat-out boring, in my opinion. Unless you already enjoy card games, you will probably not enjoy Runespell: Overture. The design of the game is actually fairly nice, but gameplay is extremely repetitive.

Seranth
Seranth

Make sure you like the core poker-styled game mechanic before you buy because that (and the nice presentation) carry the game. If you like the gameplay, this would be a good game for you. If you're unsure or not especially enthused, there are other games that might suit you better.

Took me a couple of tries to finish the game; I stopped playing and restarted a couple times because I got bored with the game mechanic or early grinding for silver.

Not a very long game once you learn how to properly win games. The story is really like a prelude to the 'real story' which is never revealed. The ending is pretty lackluster. As far as I can tell, there is no reason to Continue+ (for achievements, it's better to just not do the last stage so don't have to unlock all the map again).

Almost all allies are either impractical or unnecessary. Hrodbrokk is a pretty good source of damage for the RP/AP it takes; Brin is usually a waste of a turn because you should be better off moving cards around for bigger damage and using the RP elsewhere.

ChrisOfTheFens
ChrisOfTheFens

Does not work in Mac OS 10.9 or 10.10. No support available from the company.

Starchy
Starchy

It's a poker game, mixed with an rpg element. Pretty shallow. Difficulty scaling is pretty messed up?

SasquatchFTW
SasquatchFTW

Recommended ONLY if you can get it on sale.

Pros: Fun and just challenging enough to keep your interest over a couple playthoughs.
Good game mechanics.

Cons: Way too short, and this is not a complex enough game to excuse that.
The dialog and story are weak.
The game mechanics BARELY qualify to be named "Poker-like". It's Yahtzee.

Darth Kvasir
Darth Kvasir

Runespell: Overture is a casual game with a loose story line that is interesting enough to tie together a reason to continue the fun gameplay element of the game; which is a combat system based on creating combo points with poker hands, which sounds strange but is actuly quite fun.

This is a short but enjoyable game, that i would recommend to every one.

8/10

archcorenth
archcorenth

This is a unique solitaire game where you arrange your cards into poker suits to set up combos and blast your opponent. It's fun. The story starts out interesting setting things in real history, but with fantasy troops around, but it quickly becomes kill the bad guy, and the dialogues tries to be tongue-in-cheek too often

alexchevrier
alexchevrier

Good game and fun to play some poker-like-game. Had fun playing it, but wouldn't pay full price, wait till it's on sale :)

Brakkish
Brakkish

Fun card dueling game. Uses traditional poker cards / hands, along with special abilities. There's not a whole lot to it, but the gameplay is mildly entertaining. The story isn't very good, but I'll still recommend it if you can find it on sale.

aVe
aVe

As a avid player of Match-3 games, and appreciator of the Puzzle Quest saga, I convinced myself to give Runespell: Overture a shot, intrigued by the fact you play with a standard deck of cards instead of coloured gems.

The first battles were interesting, the poker-like combos felt novel. Diving more deeply into the game, it got more depth with the addition of magic cards and sidekicks.

Unfortunately, it appeared that most of the magic cards are just copies of the same basic spell (unlike other games where fire, ice, lightning and poison have different tactical effects).

From that point, the battles felt too much similar to sustain interest, and the constant sight of these clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades turned the fantasy background into the trivial one your regular Solitaire.

These kind of games are supposed to be easy to develop on a reasonable budget, deliberately limiting fancy graphics to focus solely on gameplay depth. Sadly, this game is a living testimony of a team being too lazy or too tired to make a truly great game.

Maybe they lost faith in this game at some point. No wonder this happened to me too.

Fluffy Bunny Badass
Fluffy Bunny Badass

Pretty cool solitaire with RPG elements. The story isn't the most outstanding fantasy, but it did remind me of reading a Forgotten Realms book, a bit. It doesn't help that the story ends halfway through its overall telling, implying that there's a sequel which remains to be seen, though supposedly the studio is working on a new poker-rpg title for release this year. Whether or not that's a sequel to Overture, I do not know.

wyrrior2
wyrrior2

My only wish is that Mystic comes out with a sequel...and soon. I loved this game even though there was a lot of negative reviews...which only goes to prove that everyone has different tastes in games. I played this game several times and loved it each time for something new that I would discover.

kooow
kooow

Good:
- Core concept
- Like puzzle quest, but the gameplay is simple, not overcomplicated (there is no sword and other magic artifacts)
- Fun gameplay

Bad:
- Not too deep game mechanics
- Not too long campaign

Walrus
Walrus

The core combat of making poker hands to fight enemies is pretty fun. The game is very shallow and has a very lackluster story with choices that impact absolutely nothing.

Get it on a sale or from a bundle.

Tartrazine
Tartrazine

The old iPhone game Sword & Poker 2 (NOT the awful freemium remake!) does everything right that Runespell does wrong.

In S&P2, your spells directly affect the poker grid, which allows you to make better, deadlier poker hands. Which is fun.
In Runespell, the spells do NOT let me affect the solitaire/poker game. They just let end it faster.

In S&P2, you actually feel like you're playing (a weird variant of) poker.
In Runespell, the game is much closer to Klondike solitaire. (Fairway Solitaire was fun, but this isn't.)

In S&P2, the story is "Go poker cute monsters to death to save the world... again"
In Runespell, there's this ridiculous grimdark story because you fight everyone with solitaire and poker's UGLY child.

In S&P2, you have incentive to not just defeat the enemy, but to do well - you only get a few healing potions per level, so the better you fight, the more health you'll have in the next battle.
In Runespell, you heal fully between every fight so who cares as long as you win.

Reap
Reap

Sorta easy to follow uncomplex card game with a pretty unsatisfying combat mechanic. I enjoyed it to start with and it quickly got boring.,

Jayaos
Jayaos

Nice twist on poker. I liked it

Formy Zee
Formy Zee

This...is one of those games I'd pay good money to have on my tablet.
I love the mix..rpg+poker = can't loose
Have nothing bad to say about it at all..well besides that it's not on my tablet ;)
Soooo Devs!..take this old gem and turn it into an app in the store pls..we wantss it..preciousss

Seriously, it's a nice game worth the money, pick it up if you like poker with a twist.

metalcomedy
metalcomedy

I've played deeper mobile games. It plays like one of those touch screen dive bar games.

I'm a big fan of the weird RPG-Poker niche subgenre of games so I was pretty excited about this, but it lets down in every way possible.

This game is basically just a battle system, there is very little connecting fight to fight. Simplistic map and boringly presented text and portrait story. That would be fine if the battle system had anything going on... but it doesn't.

The battle system has an interesting idea buried in it, but nothing is done with it. All the magic in the game is just *DO X-Y Damage* *Block X points of Nature Damage* There is no cards for board or number or hand manipulation. This makes collecting cards seem pointless because none of them actually change your play style. The way you play your first battle is how you play your last. There is also zero consequences for death so battles have no tension.

As for the RPG mechanics... well there aren't really any. Your HP and MP go up at set story points and I guess you can choose to cast a spell that does X points fire damage or X points nature damage, but there is so little reason to bother I can't see why you would.

Story is okay, I guess, soundtrack is decent, but I can't imagine that being enough to get you through this mindless slog. If you ever thought "I wish I had to click through a bunch of text between Freecell games" then this might be for you.

dean ween
dean ween

nigga this just solitare bullshit

gezzer
gezzer

See the hours I've played? Yup, finished, done, a few achievements if I really cared, but I don't.
So was it worth the price of entry? Yeah I guess. At it's heart it's a pretty simple game with an interesting and simple battle mechanic.
The developers do a good job of dressing it up and making it feel like there's more to it, but there's only so much that can be done to make what's really more of a browser or mobile game seem more substantial.
The games saving grace and why I give it a tentative recommendation is the battle system. Over all it's not bad, not bad at all. But once you figure out the optimal strategies it becomes a matter of making sure you've grinded enough to charge your "spell" cards and your pretty much golden.
With a multi-player option this would be a total recommendation, as it is buy if the battle mechanic interests you, if not give it a pass.

Mr. Matt
Mr. Matt

This game is not bad. It does not anger me, disappoint me, or rub me the wrong way. It's just kinda there. The game plays like a cross between poker and solitaire. You see your stacks of cards (top card only per stack, like in solitaire), and you see the same for your opponent. You move cards around like in solitaire, stacking them on other cards, except you're trying to make combinations of five cards, which can be poker combos like flushes, straights, etc. You then use those to attack your enemy, and vice versa. You have bonus card thingies on the side of your screen that you can use to attack when you build up enough rage.

It's an okay premise, but it doesn't really seem to change and the story is just okay. It's one of the least compelling games I've played. I have nothing against this game, which is really saying something. I typically love or hate a game, but this one is just kinda meh. I wouldn't recommend paying more than a Steam sale price, by any means, but I'd recommend you play the demo if you're interested. The gameplay you experience in 20-30 minutes of that is pretty much the entirety of the gameplay from what I've seen thus far. It's not very exciting or interesting, and nothing draws me in to make me want to keep playing. It's an okay game, but that's it.

Aspirational Trousers
Aspirational T…

A simple fantasy-themed card fighting game based loosely on poker.

It's debatable how much tactical depth there is here, and how much 'role playing' there is on offer. Maybe one to avoid if you're after something with real depth.

Nevertheless it does possess just enough of something to keep my attention. As a simple/casual game to de-stress to it ticks the box.

Brainy Kid
Brainy Kid

It's oké, but not really cool. I wish there was a neutral button, because I wouldn't recommend, but also I can't call this game bad. Luckily there is a demo, so you can try, sadly it doesnt get more interesting after you buy the game when the demo finishes.

cplay
cplay

A fun game, if a little challenging.

One Week Notice
One Week Notice

The gameplay is very unquie and is great for people who love card games/deck building games. 1 part solitaire, 1 part poker and adds abilties on top of that.
Downside- Game is not really difficult and the achievement Runespell XL: Play all battles once, has to be done during a single campaign. Which is diffcult as certain enemies only appear at certain times.

Wall of Death
Wall of Death

Really liked this game. I'm a big sucker for card games and have wasted X amout of time on Windows Solitaire so this was a given. If you don't like poker or fantasy you shouldn't bother though.

quietscribe
quietscribe

I really liked this game. It had a nice rpg feel about it, as well as having a very well thought out card game system that kept the game entertaining and challenging.

My only real negative about the game is that the game didn't really feel like it had a proper ending. You get a cutscene which shows you going to the place you have been hearing about during the quests, but then the credits roll. I could understand if there was a dlc or another game to follow on from this one, but sadly there isn't. It feels unfinished as a result.

Still, don't that put you off buying it, especially if it is on sale, as it is a good game and kept me entertained for over 12 hours.

MongoTheRed
MongoTheRed

This is a sweet game that is quite unique. I only wished that the story would actually continue. I would buy up the "#2" version of this game in a heartbeat if they ever made it and released it.

Jaynay🦆
Jaynay🦆

Puzzle Quest is an RPG based on a foundation of match 3 mechanics, with Runespell:Overture replacing the match 3 foundation with that of Poker hands.

I enjoyed this for the same reasons I enjoyed Puzzle Quest and the poker mechanics kept the game feeling fresh in the over-saturated genre of puzzle/rpg hybrids.

$10 seems appropriate if you are in to this sort of game, but if on sale for $5 or less and you even have a passing interest then snap it up immediately.

(Also recommended by me via the Headache & Migraine Gaming Group)

SilentSand
SilentSand

Extremely simplistic gameplay, unfortunately the skills and poker set gameplay mix poorly and in a way, not at all. While it's an interesting idea, all the elements are located at surface level, leaving no sense of deep strategy.

Bastardboy
Bastardboy

Just add a VR version, where you choose poker cards from the air, and flick your Battlecards(TM) (whatever they're called) at your opponent, and this game will ... still be awesome :)

Ps. Have a cold at the moment, and now I know why masked superheroes... don't get out much sometimes.

Meatclump
Meatclump

Basically a visual novel with some card-battle and poker elements shoehorned in to add "gameplay". Story is about as tacky as you can imagine and there is little to no variation in gameplay throughout the game.

The Beyonder
The Beyonder

Downloaded the demo and got the game. Love the poker gameplay and strategy.
Storyline is like Puzzle Quest + Battleslots.
I could see this being one of my new favorite card games.
The opponents are quite challenging, even for the first main quest.

kevin.rogovin
kevin.rogovin

I enjoyed the game (I confess to having played PuzzleQuest WAY too much), my main regret for the game is that it was pretty short. Though, for 9 Euros, it is worth it if you like the genre.

KrudlerTheHorse
KrudlerTheHorse

It is a neat concept, but there is almost no room for strategy.

Because the Player and the AI each get 3 moves per turn, and you may only move 1 card per turn, it means you and the AI advance your hands (attacks) at exactly the same rate. So then the only thing that differentiates one attack from another is not the skill of the player, but the value of the hand (luck of if good cards are available).

Game play is extremely simple. Move a card from your area or the AI's area onto one of your card stacks. When there are 5 cards it forms a poker hand, and the Attack Points are basically equal to the hand value. There are no strategies like blocking which cards the AI might take from you, or anything else. It's just move 3 cards, wait for AI, move 3 cards, wait for AI, when cards are in a pile o f 5 click Attack. Lather, rinse, repeat. You have spells, but the Mana points used to cast them build up through no effort on the players part. They just go up as a matter of attacking or being attacked.

In a nutshell, there is no risk/reward in this game. It's very flat. It's very obvious what is the best move at any given time. The spells are boring because they're just "do X damage".

I wanted to love this game because I like solitaire, poker, RPG, etc. None of it works here.

I kept at this game for 4 hours, even though I was pretty sure that I saw everything it had to offer in the first 20 minutes.

There are no friendly civilians!
There are no f…

I love the concept and unlike other reviewers I actually liked what they attempted to do with the story. The lore matches the artwork nicely.

The game is not balanced though. No way to get through game except to retry fights and pray for RNG.

This game could be amazing if devs can tweak it... as for now, I can't recommend it.

Gilsao157
Gilsao157

Runespell has a good and innovative concept, blending poker with turn-based rpg, but poor execution.
I found the game very fun the first hour, unfortunaly it got repetitive very fast. There's no way to you or your opponents to improve the damage of the cards combinations. The spells aren't varied either: most of them are just to x damage. After a while you'll realize that all battles are the same.
Story and music are blend and forgettable.

digbie123
digbie123

It's a really fun card game. I wish there were more like it. I put the sound on mute and listen to other music because the loud sounds it makes gets annoying after awhile.

Yarusenai
Yarusenai

I kept shelving and retrying this game over like 5 years, always forgetting why I stopped playing it before digging it out of the rubble of my steam library a year later and then getting frustrated, deinstalling it and repeating the cycle. Now, I am leaving a review so I can actually lay this game to rest properly and remember just why I stopped playing it.

Long story short: the RNG is unbearable and the AI is too unforgiving. This game essentially has you play a mix of solitaire and poker against an AI and, to spice things up a bit, you can use power cards as well to turn the tide. The problem is that the AI simply never ever lets you play any move that may be advantageous for you, as it constantly steals useful cards the moment it sees them. The reason this happens is that every "player" gets 3 moves in one turn, and thus the AI constantly ruins your plans the moment they seem to come to fruition.

That combined with the card appearance RNG just makes the game very frustrating. You are essentially fighting a battle on two fronts; on one front, you hope for RNG to give you the right cards to make good combinations with and that you can securely tuck away in a combination before the AI can steal it; on the other front, you fight an AI that always goes for the best available combinations anyway while ruining your day. It is a battle only won with a lot of luck and patience, but sadly, it is not very fun. While the presentation of the game is intriguing, it is simply not worth going through the struggle.

spazm
spazm

I can't even remember playing this game.

Asbestus
Asbestus

A slow pace game where you win battles by combining cards to make poker hands.
Gets a bit draged out in the end as there is no change to the game. When you have won the first battle you have the idea of how the rest of the game is gonna be. :)

gatefold313
gatefold313

I just always thought this was a fun game with an interesting concept.

Soldancer
Soldancer

I've tried this twice now, and both times enjoyed the first few hours and then got frustrated and quit. It's too random and the AI too aggressive for it to be sustainably fun.

I will say that the style and concept are pretty good. If you get this on sale for over 50%, it might be worth your time to just check it out.

Ancient Enemy and Shadow Hand are two decently-received games that also use classic playing cards for combat if you are looking for something similar.