Runespell Overture (Battle Poker-Solitaire)

This is a game that I originally tried and reviewed back in 2014, but have just finished my first playthrough, and wanted to write a fresh review, so here we go~!

Besides the usual options for graphics and sound, we also can choose between Drag-and-drop or Click-and-click for moving cards around. Remember that SAVES are manual.

So how does battle poker-solitaire work? I'm glad you asked!

Two solitaire hands are laid out on the screen - one of you and one for your opponent. You have three moves each turn, and you can use not only your own cards, but any single cards from your enemy's stacks as well. Create combos of five cards in order to have an attack available. Each poker hand is worth a certain number of points, and in addition to the usual pairs, full house, straights, etc, you can also have five-of-a-kind.

Don't know poker? No problem! There's a Poker Help button at the bottom of the screen that will tell you the name of the hand, a description and number of points each hand will do in damage. Very nice!

The game starts with a very helpful tutorial that I recommend using, even if you know your poker well, as it will explain some of the nuances of the gameplay.

As we progress the story and defeat enemies, we'll find Powercards that will help us along the way. We can equip up to eight cards at a time, although we can only have one Secret (to increase our hit points), one Blessing (to increase our "Rage" points) equipped at any given time.

In addition to the Secret and Blessing cards, there are also cards for various kinds of attacks and defenses, and you will need to build up your "Rage" in order to use them. When you're hit or make an attack of your own, your rage meter will increase, giving you the ability to use those special cards.

There is one additional kind of card, and these represent your allies. Each ally has their own special attack or defense, and are equipped and used (with rage points) just like the other cards.

Inventory can be adjusted before each battle, or if you can see you're really going to need a certain kind of defense/offense, you can "Flee" (bottom left of the screen), regroup, and go back in.

Have I mentioned that these special cards have a finite number of uses? That is where the merchants come in. Winning battles will net you new cards to use, as well as Hacksilver to spend. Use your hacksilver to add uses to your favorite cards, and you'll be good to go. The silver is not easy to come by in quantity, so keep that in mind!

There are 35 Steam Achievements, and while they are not impossible, you'll definitely need to work towards some of them. I found out the hard way that when you fight the final battle, you lose all of your progress. If you choose Continue+ from the main menu you'll find that you still have all of your Powercards (except the allies), but if you were looking for the Obtain All Powercards achievements, you need to be sure to do so BEFORE you fight that final battle!

I enjoyed both the music and the sound effects, and despite the age of the game, some of the cutscene art is quite lovely. The storyline is interesting, and you'll generally have a choice between two responses. In the end you'll have the same result, but it's cool that the choice is there. All cutscenes and interactions are skippable by using the Esc button.

I feel that Runespell Overture deserves a lot more attention than it has received. This is an incredibly addictive and fun title which I absolutely recommended for anyone who is looking for something a little different out there in the world of card games.

[b]Runespell Overture[/b] (Battle Poker-Solitaire) This is a game that I originally tried and reviewed back in 2014, but have just finished my first playthrough, and wanted to write a fresh review, so here we go~! Besides the usual options for graphics and sound, we also can choose between Drag-and-drop or Click-and-click for moving cards around. Remember that SAVES are manual. So how does battle poker-solitaire work? I'm glad you asked! Two solitaire hands are laid out on the screen - one of you and one for your opponent. You have three moves each turn, and you can use not only your own cards, but any single cards from your enemy's stacks as well. Create combos of five cards in order to have an attack available. Each poker hand is worth a certain number of points, and in addition to the usual pairs, full house, straights, etc, you can also have five-of-a-kind. Don't know poker? No problem! There's a Poker Help button at the bottom of the screen that will tell you the name of the hand, a description and number of points each hand will do in damage. Very nice! The game starts with a very helpful tutorial that I recommend using, even if you know your poker well, as it will explain some of the nuances of the gameplay. As we progress the story and defeat enemies, we'll find Powercards that will help us along the way. We can equip up to eight cards at a time, although we can only have one Secret (to increase our hit points), one Blessing (to increase our "Rage" points) equipped at any given time. In addition to the Secret and Blessing cards, there are also cards for various kinds of attacks and defenses, and you will need to build up your "Rage" in order to use them. When you're hit or make an attack of your own, your rage meter will increase, giving you the ability to use those special cards. There is one additional kind of card, and these represent your allies. Each ally has their own special attack or defense, and are equipped and used (with rage points) just like the other cards. Inventory can be adjusted before each battle, or if you can see you're really going to need a certain kind of defense/offense, you can "Flee" (bottom left of the screen), regroup, and go back in. Have I mentioned that these special cards have a finite number of uses? That is where the merchants come in. Winning battles will net you new cards to use, as well as Hacksilver to spend. Use your hacksilver to add uses to your favorite cards, and you'll be good to go. The silver is not easy to come by in quantity, so keep that in mind! There are [b]35 Steam Achievements[/b], and while they are not impossible, you'll definitely need to work towards some of them. I found out the hard way that when you fight the final battle, you lose all of your progress. If you choose Continue+ from the main menu you'll find that you still have all of your Powercards (except the allies), but if you were looking for the Obtain All Powercards achievements, you need to be sure to do so BEFORE you fight that final battle! I enjoyed both the music and the sound effects, and despite the age of the game, some of the cutscene art is quite lovely. The storyline is interesting, and you'll generally have a choice between two responses. In the end you'll have the same result, but it's cool that the choice is there. All cutscenes and interactions are skippable by using the Esc button. I feel that Runespell Overture deserves a lot more attention than it has received. This is an incredibly addictive and fun title which I absolutely recommended for anyone who is looking for something a little different out there in the world of card games.