Hand of Fate (video game)

Hand of Fate
Developer(s)	Defiant Development
Publisher(s)	Defiant Development
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One
Release date(s)	Linux, Windows, OS X, PS4, Xbox One WW February 17, 2015
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player
Distribution	Download

Hand of Fate is an action role-playing video game developed by Defiant Development. The game was released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on February 17, 2015. A PlayStation Vita version is in development.

Gameplay

Hand of Fate is an action role-playing video game with roguelike and deck-building elements. The player takes the role of a character that meets a strange Dealer, who narrates the player's adventure, dealing the game's cards and providing rewards for the player.

On starting the game, the player is given a starting deck of cards, consisting of equipment and encounter cards; the players earns more cards as they progress in the game which they can use to customize the deck up to a fixed size. Further, the dealer has his own deck from which elements such as other encounters and monsters are drawn from and that also grows as the player gains cards.

In the game's story mode, the player must defeat twelve bosses presented by the dealer; the bosses must be defeated in order, but the player can return to previous bosses to challenge again and possibly earn better rewards. To reach the boss, the player must complete a match by exploring two or more "levels" created by a tableau of face-down random encounter cards dealt by the Dealer from the combined player and Dealer's deck; each level also includes either an exit encounter that lets the player to reach the next level, or the boss encounter. The player starts with a limited amount of health, food, and initial equipment from their deck. The player moves a token across the tableau one card at a time, revealing it if face down. When the card is revealed, the Dealer narrates the event, and then the event is resolved. Events can include the chance to meet helpful non-player characters, shops to buy cards that benefit the player for the remainder of the boss encounter but not kept afterward, or enemy encounters. Some of these events include options that the player can choose, as well as selecting cards to represent success or failure rates. Each movement step consumes food, and certain events can cause the player to gain or lose health, food, and gold. Encounters can also reward the player with equipment which is pulled from the player's equipment deck, which can help boost the player's attack and defensive power in combat.

If the player encounters a monster, the number and type are determined by cards drawn by the Dealer. The game then enters a third-person perspective action mode, where the player can attack, dodge, and counterattack enemies. Damage taken will be tracked back into the main card game. There are also other encounters that can trigger similar action-based mini-games, such as maneuvering through a trap-filled maze.

On completing some encounters, the Dealer will present special tokens representing end-game rewards that the player can win if they successfully complete the boss. If the player's character loses all their health in battle or by encounters, or loses all their food, the match and the rewards are foregone. If the player successfully beats the boss, they are rewarded with the tokens that grant them more cards to build their decks out.

The game also includes an endless mode where the player continues to explore levels for as long as the player-character remains alive, with encounters becoming more difficult as they continue. Additionally, the player can start a match by selecting a special class that modifies starting hit points and food, and the difficulty of the monsters encountered. Not all classes are available at the start but can be unlocked by completing certain goals.

Development

Hand of Fate was first shown at the 2013 Game Developers Conference. A playable demo build was shown to the public at PAX Australia in July 2013. By this point, the game had been in development for under six months.^[1][2] Defiant Development are a team of approximately fifteen based in Brisbane, they described Hand of Fate as their "first big push" onto PC platforms following their previous mobile projects. Like all other Defiant games, Hand of Fate is built in Unity.^[1][3]

The game was part funded through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. It was one of the first Australian projects to launch on Kickstarter. The campaign launched in November 2013 and concluded in December 2013, achieving its A$50,000 target. Not only was the campaign a financial success, it also allowed Defiant to build an audience and get feedback on pre-release builds.^[4][5] A Greenlight campaign was launched simultaneously so that the game could be released on Steam, and the game was approved in January 2014.^[6][7]

A week following the crowdfunding campaign, an alpha build was released for Kickstarter backers.^[8] A beta version followed in February 2014, and in July, the game launched for Windows, OS X, and Linux on Steam Early Access.^[9][10] The full version was released for Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on February 17, 2015.^[11]

Reception

Hand of Fate received mostly positive reviews from professional critics. Aggregate review websites Metacritic and GameRankings assigned scores of around 80% for the game.

References

External links

• Defiant Development