The Hybrid Gameplay of Culdcept SAGA

Published February 14, 2008

Imagine splicing classic board game mechanics with the strategic deck-building concepts that drive collectible card games. Now combine that with sweeping story telling most often found in fantasy role-playing games and you'll have an inkling of the kind of experience Culdcept SAGA offers.

Stare down your first opponent and embrace your inner Cepter.

The game's basic mechanics may seem to stem from disparate sources but the turn-based nature of both card and board games allows these genres to meld with ease, and, more importantly to gamers learning the concepts, with logic.

Learning the Cepter

You play as a self-named Cepter, a rare breed of hero capable of unlocking the hidden powers within the world's magical cards, themselves a last link to the gods that watch over and protect the land. Before you can adopt the role of savior though, you must first understand and prove your mastery over the coveted cards. You will do precisely that throughout the single-player story by matching wits and cards in battles with corrupted and misguided Cepters.

For those who appreciate turn-based strategy,
the allure and replay value of Culdcept SAGA
will extend for months, if not years to come.

In the simplest terms, Culdcept SAGA battles are a race to accumulate a predetermined number of magic points. You earn points primarily by claiming, upgrading, defending and seizing territories across the board, as well as through the use of spells. Let's examine the mechanics that lead to laying claim to territory and thwarting your enemies. 

The Board

While each match's board boasts a few unique traits, such as shrines that trigger random events, to help tweak and influence the player's strategy, the basic gameplay foundation for every board remains the same. Boards contain colored squares representing land up for grabs. The colors highlight each territory's elemental attunement to earth, fire, water, or air. Also peppered throughout the board are two keeps and a castle, which you'll need to pass through to earn bonuses to your magic point pool.

Soften them up with a spell before invading.

The territory's elemental attribute influences what sort of creature you'll use to defend or invade the territories. Creatures allied with the land's element type earn bonuses to their strength and health, so, for example, you would place a fire-allied Red Ogre on a red square instead of a dwarf who's more at home with earthen lands.

The Cards

Every spell you cast and creature you summon comes courtesy of the cards you hold in your hand. Each deck can hold up to fifty cards, but like any card game, you can only hold a select few at any given time. Also, while you begin with a solid starter deck, you'll earn new cards, win or lose, after every battle. Use these cards to edit your "book" and build the perfect deck. Every card boasts its own rarity value as well, helping make certain that everyone's play experience differs as they collect and manage different cards.

The cards themselves are split into three categories: creatures, items, and spells. Common creatures offer only standard strength and health point attributes, but other creatures can feature unique skills such as increased damage when invading, or the ability to steal magic points.

Items include weapons and armor to increase and augment your attack and defense during battle, and Spell cards are split between enchantments (benefits over time) and single-use instant casts like Crusher, which destroys a single non-creature card from an enemy's hand, or Haste which guarantees a die roll of six-to-eight for two rounds.

Hurt but surviving. That's what counts.

BattleTime

Whether your summoned creature is defending its own territory or invading an enemy's land, creature battles play a crucial part in deciding victory. Success in battle isn't just a matter of comparing stats either. When battle begins, each player is given the opportunity to augment their creature with an item, spell, or even reinforcements to bolster their chance of success.

Each battle lasts only one round with three possible outcomes: the invader vanquishes the defender and claims the land, the defender survives and maintains control, or the defender survives and kills the invader, destroying the invading player's creature card in addition to maintaining control of the land.

Beyond the Gameplay

Game mechanics aside, Culdcept SAGA also provides a rich set of game modes and features. There's the core storyline, but there's also a Versus mode where you can match wits in a single battle against the CPU or friends offline. Most exciting for fans may be the multiplayer mode over Xbox LIVE®, where you can take your custom-built decks online for epic, multi-hour sessions with the best competition the world has to offer.

While the preceding covers the gameplay basics, it cannot begin to express the sheer breadth of tactical options every single match offers. Every round brings new opportunities to light and every freshly constructed deck breathes new strategic options to life. For those who appreciate turn-based strategy, the allure and replay value of Culdcept SAGA will extend for months, if not years to come.

Article by Ryan Treit