Duelyst
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Duelyst
A gorgeous tactics card game that's simple to pick up but has significant depth.
In a tide of games trying to capitalize on Hearthstone's success, Duelyst still stands out.
Duelyst had me hooked, as I put hours and hours into it almost every day. If I had written my review for it at that point, it would have done incredibly well in my books, with it's fascinating tactical RPG twist on the familiar card game play. But after playing with friends, I struggle to go back to playing against anonymous opponents in ranked play, and I just don't know how much more time I see myself putting into this game.
Duelyst felt more like a board game than a computer game with plenty of options and strategy. With new content daily, Counterplay Games has giving players a reason to log in on a regular basis. If you like forming armies and strategic gameplay, then Duelyst is definitely worth a look, especially as there is no cash commitment required. I do hope that they come out with a mobile version though, as that would be a great platform that would keep players like me able to log in more often and play.
Duelyst combines addictive, turn-based gameplay with a collect-them-all card game mentality to great effect, all wrapped up in solid visuals and free-to-play mechanics.
Duelyst does not have the luxury of having a giant fan base at launch like other popular card games, so continual word-of-mouth and high quality updates will be required to keep the game afloat.
I cannot emphasize enough how surprisingly fast paced this game is. After playing Scrolls for a while, which has a similar concept of mixing card game elements with a board game, but had the problem of being too slow, I thought this wouldn't be possible. Duelyst proved me wrong, as almost no game takes longer than 5 to 10 minutes, while still offering tactical depth.
The Duelyst is a damn fun game that is deeper than it looks and quick tactical fun for those who enjoy this sort of game. Sure the main body of work is a card, tactical turn-based game that requires strategy and patience, but Counterplay Games makes it far better with additional offline options and rewards to back up the effort.
