Steam Next Fest Fall 2023: Olympian Wars

If you know me well, you know I have a weakness for CCGs. Thus, you can imagine my happiness when I came across Olympian Wars, a solo dev project from AltEvil Studios. The game is still very early in development, with no clear release date, but it doesn't look like the demo is going anywhere so you can still enjoy it. 


The decks are based on gods - at the moment you can choose from Ares, Artemis, and Poseidon. Cards within those decks are based on that god's mythology. For Artemis, you get the Calydonian Boar and Orion as creature cards, and moonlight, volley, and spirit of the forest as effects. These are combined with a table pool of cards that you can draw from during the game which seem to be non-aligned myth elements: hydra, medusa, etc. Card art looks to be AI generated (which I would be very happy to be corrected on).

 

The game board is a simple layout. You each get a row of plates that you can lay cards on, and a pool of points in the lower left that you use to play the cards. Your goal is to get your opponent down to zero health but myth-based mechanics make that easier said than done: Medusa can freeze an entire lineup of opponents at the start of their turn, and the hydra splits into two weaker creature cards when you kill it. 

It's not that hard to pick up on the rules, especially if you are familiar with CCGs, but the game could definitely benefit from a tutorial. While I got through the game I was left confused about how some abilities are activated and when. I do hope Olympian Wars gets the support it needs to become a full game, however. It was fun to play and interesting to analyze in terms of translating myth into mechanics.


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