If you were fond of roguelike deck-building RPG Hand Of Fate and its sequel then you might be interested in the newly revealed superhero tactics RPG Capes. It’s in development at Spitfire Interactive, a freshly founded studio made up of former Hand Of Fate devs. None of the characters in the trailer seem to be wearing their blankets around their shoulders, but it’s worth a watch all the same.
]]>Whether you prefer wizards, sword-and-board warriors, the irradiated wasteland, vampires, or isometric text-heavy stories, the RPG is the genre that will never let you down. Accross the dizzing number of games available where you can play a role, there's something for everyone - and we've tried to reflect that in our list of the best RPGs on PC. The past couple of years have been great for RPGs, so there are some absolute classics as well as brand spanking new games on this list. And there's more to look forwards to, with rumblings of Dragon Age: Dread Wolf finally on the horizon, and space epic Starfield in our rear view mirror. Whatever else may happen, though, this list will provide you with the 50 best RPGs that you can download and play on PC right now.
]]>Australia is still burning, but over the last couple of days they've actually had some rain! While this is a big help to certain areas, there are still 83 fires blazing around the country, and there's a lot of people and wildlife still in trouble. It's good job then that there are even more game devs, companies, and communities banding together to help out our friends down under.
A new Humble Bundle, a donation from the makers of Warframe, and a charity initiative run by Eve Online players are just three more ways the games industry is raising money, and you can get involved to show your support too.
]]>Defiant were really committed to this whole adventure-board-game thing. Striking an ace with card crawler Hand Of Fate, doubling down with a sequel. But after two-and-a-bit games, the studio have canned a brand new game mid-development and closed their doors for good.
]]>I've not waddled back over to solid CCG/rougelite combo Hand Of Fate 2 since reviewing it last year, but the sound of goblin trumpets drew me back today. HOF2's Arkham-lite fighting was always a lot less interesting than its deck-building and choose-your-own-adventure progression, but that had a lot to do with seeing the same few types of Bad Man time and again.
The free Goblins update, out now, shuffles new threats into the deck, those being pint-sized, pea green murder-bastards with far too many teeth. Equally homicidal gnomes, with a few straight outta Lilliput combat tricks, seem to have been lumped in under the gobbo umbrella too, confusingly.
]]>Welcome to Spawn Point, where we take something wonderful from the world of gaming and explain what it is, why it’s worth your time and how to get involved. This time: collectible card games (or at least, the videogame kind).
Hello, I would like to collect some cards please. Of course, friend. We have a wide variety of fantasy themed cards, ranging from hostile dragon to raving ghoul to –
Hang on, what are these numbers? Oh, ignore those, they’re nothing to worry about. Look at this wizard!
]]>Hand of Fate 2, that weird, brilliant blend of solitaire deck-building RPG, roguelike and hack n' slash action game has been improving steadily since launch. Free new characters, mod support and now an endless challenge mode with global leaderboards. Can you hear the heart of the cards? Well, you shouldn't, that's another game entirely, but this is a great reason to come back and ask The Dealer for a fresh hand.
]]>Card-collecting action-RPG Hand Of Fate 2 has launched mod tools to let players make their own campaigns with new cards and events and whatnot. Defiant Development say these are the same tools they used to create Hand of Fate 2's own campaign, so there's your bar; now hurdle it. The tools are free to download, and the game now has a Steam Workshop for players to easily install mods from. Your challenge is to create an RPS-themed campaign, with boss battles based on our strengths and horrible fatal flaws.
]]>The calendar's doors have been opened and the games inside have been eaten. But fear not, latecomer - we've reconstructed the list in this single post for easy re-consumption. Click on to discover the best games of 2017.
]]>Hand Of Fate 2 is a nail-on-the-head sequel (and one of our 2018 GOTYs), hanging onto what made the first game's card game/roguelite/brawling combo so compelling while expanding in smart ways that save it from repetition. However, one thing it arguably didn't do was make the best of HOF's excellent sneering narrator/nemesis figure The Dealer, who in HOF2 has an altogether more chillaxed thing going on.
The good news is that the game's first DLC, due out tomorrow and which is also free, is very much Dealer-centric. The news I genuinely don't know what to make of is that he's being cast in a new and very different role from before.
]]>The continued clotting amalgamation of the Steam Charts, with CODWARs and AssCreed Oranges mysteriously occupying multiple spaces, is having frankly dangerous effects on the column. No The Witcher 3! No GTA V! And H1Z1 seems to have been entirely forgotten by the ages! What is a running joke to do?
]]>The great rage is dead within me. I no longer feel hatred. In the first Hand Of Fate (review), a sly and effective singleplayer collision of roguelite and collectible card game, I fought onwards primarily due to a deep and burning desire to wipe the imagined smirk off the face of The Dealer, an AI-controlled dungeon master and nemesis rolled into one, whose e'er-taunting voice was the exact sound of a perpetually-raised eyebrow.
Hand Of Fate 2 is a superior sequel in many respects, but either he's mellowed or I have. Now, we play the game together, fond old sparring partners rather than eternal enemies.
]]>"I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW," Alec shouted in his Hand of Fate review, proper riled by its personification of procedural generation. He is the Dealer, and it's his gnarled hand laying out our hardships in the action-RPG. All locations, enemies, items, battles, and decisions of an adventure are represented by cards he deals from a deck, see, and he's a right smug git about it. Well, we'll soon be cursing him again, as developers Defiant Development today announced that Hand of Fate 2 [official site] will launch on November 7th.
]]>As Old Father Time grabs his sickle and prepares to take ailing 2016 around the back of the barn for a big sleep, we're looking to the future. The mewling pup that goes by the name 2017 will come into the world soon and we must prepare ourselves for its arrival. Here at RPS, our preparations come in the form of this enormous preview feature, which contains details on more than a hundred of the exciting games that are coming our way over the next twelve months. 2016 was a good one - in the world of games at least - but, ever the optimists, we're hoping next year will be even better.
]]>The Dealer, surely one of the best game villains of recent years, is back. I don't even know the guy's name, to be honest. Does he even have one? Doesn't matter. For he is my NEMESIS. The great wizardry of solo CCG vs RPG Hand of Fate [official site] was that you were faced throughout by a more-or-less evenly-matched opponent. The guy didn't do much in terms of outright acts of evil, or even much in the way of overtly wicked scenery-chewing: it's just that he was trying really hard to beat me, with an effective line in downplayed psychological warfare as he did. And now he's back. He wants revenge. I.e. he wants to play cards again. And this time it seems an empire is at stake.
]]>A sequel to deck-building action-RPG Hand of Fate [official site] is in the works, creators Defiant Development have announced, coming our way next year under the snappy name Hand of Fate 2. Adam and Alec were both quite taken with the original, or at least determined to beat the dastardly dealer who turned their decks of items and encounters into an adventure to battle through in hack 'n' slash combat. I'm sure they'll be delighted to hear the git's back.
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