Hello from the Chimera team!
In the previous article, we addressed the most frequent questions we’ve received from our community and revealed some new ‘behind the scenes' facts and artworks. The main focus of that article was to explain our vision for the game design and how we see Songs of Silence developing in the future. Hopefully, you enjoyed it and are hungry for more!
If you missed the Songs of Silence F.A.Q., it’s a great place to start. Please click here to learn more.
In today's update, we’d like to shed more light on the cards that you might have seen briefly in the trailer (If somehow you missed it, have a look here). We’re going to show you what sort of cards you can encounter when playing and how to use them.
These cards are beautiful and powerful, but they don’t work in the way you might expect! Read on to find out more ;)
Follow and wishlist Songs of Silence on Steam and don’t forget to join our official Discord server. We’d love to hear your voice and feel the support!
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Why did we choose to use cards?
Songs of Silence is a strategy game on a grand scale, with carefully crafted gameplay mechanics and an immersive storyline that promises to test your commander skills at the highest levels.
The game is complex, with tons of different scenarios and variables. There are multiple factions and heroes, each with a set of special abilities that can be used to rebuild their realms and unleash powerful effects during battles. Additionally, certain locations will also grant unique options: recruit rare units, grant blessings, or impose devastating curses.
These abilities are represented by cards - actions that can be taken by heroes or at locations you control to utilize the powers they represent - as long as you have the proper resources! Heroes and locations in the game can also increase or downgrade in strength, or be influenced by in-game events, affecting the available cards.
Cards represent actions and are available to players from the beginning until the end of the game. There is no way to collect cards in an inventory or to organize them into ‘decks’ - Songs of Silence is a turn-based strategy game, not a deck-builder.
Instead of being drawn into ‘hands’, our cards are always available to the hero or location which owns them. To add to these cards, you can level up your heroes and pick which new skills to unlock to create your unique build.
With so many options and combinations available to the players we wanted to be able to conveniently modify them when needed. That's why we chose a "hand of cards" UI solution that is flexible and adaptable. Playing certain cards will help you to dominate the battlefield and crush your opponents, but the wrong choices can lead to a miserable defeat and losing the game. Choose carefully!
The other rationale we had when designing our card system was even more straightforward: we want our game to be visually stunning and aesthetically pleasing. Cards showcase splendid artworks, something a more traditional icon-driven UI can’t replicate easily.
How does the cards system work?
Cards of Faith represent the unique actions granted by heroes and locations. Select a hero or location, and you can utilize their cards. Think of it as your favorite tabletop game where a designated tile on the board has a specific stack of cards to pick from. Cards provide an extensive selection of fascinating combinations. Each faction and hero has their distinct way of playing and they're more likely to succeed with specific types of units and resources.
Depending on a campaign map, your faction, hero, and location you can choose from more than 100 cards! Keep in mind that other players have their own cards to use against you when you’re in multiplayer mode, so make sure to strategize well if you want to come out on top.
What are the types of cards in the game?
Our cards are divided into three color-coded types:
* Battle Cards (red)
* Strategic Cards (blue)
* Recruitment Cards (gray)
Let’s take a closer look at each of these groups:
Battle Cards are used during combat. These cards enable you to manage your forces, call for reinforcements or defend your units; put in place special effects like teleport, and other strategies to gain the upper hand on the battlefield.
Battles are automatic and fast-paced, so when it starts the only way to affect the possible outcome is to play the right Battle cards. However, they can only be played as much as their cool-down time allows, so don’t hope to simply spam your opponent to death. Each hero begins with at least one battle card and can unlock more powerful options as they level up.
Strategic Cards are used on the map. These cards are used mostly for kingdom management and exploration as they represent impactful actions, such as burning down locations, constructing specialized city quarters, or even more exotic ones such as controlling Purgatories.
With the right Strategic Cards in your hand, you can make really bold moves that can change the course of the game in your favor!
Each hero starts with at least one Strategic Card and can unlock even more as they level up. Keep in mind that these powerful cards come at a cost and can only be played once per turn, so use them wisely to outsmart your opponents!
Recruitment Cards are used on the army management screen. They add new units to your army or location, sacrifice units, or upgrade existing ones. Whether you want to utilize brutal force to dominate the map, protect your capital from other factions, or explore locations to gain rare artifacts - Recruitment Cards help to enlist troops and build your forces.
Like Strategic Cards, Recruitment Cards also require resources, thus limiting the number of cards that can be played during the same turn.
Generally, Recruitment Cards are linked to locations rather than heroes, and the number of accessible cards grows as the area's prosperity increases.
Card Tiers
The cards in the game are divided into three quality tiers: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Each card has a decorative frame to reflect its current level.
Instead of unlocking a new card when heroes reach a higher level, players can upgrade one of their cards to a greater tier. Cards of higher tiers possess more potent effects or stronger units, providing a greater bang for your buck when used wisely.
Have more questions for us? Join Songs of Silence on Discord, follow us on Twitter, and don’t forget to wishlist and follow the game on Steam!
Thank you,
Chimera team
