Preview: Tridek: Creatures of Galena (PC)

tridek2As I’ve said about fifty times before, I love trading card games. Love them. Can’t get enough of them. I own video game versions of several, and would gladly throw money down for an updated Pokemon Trading Card Game for the 3DS. Mobile trading card games are the best, and I’ve gotten more hours than I can count out of things like the Yu-Gi-Oh series on the DS and PSP.

So, when I heard about Tridek, I was pretty much salivating at the mouth. A brand new TCG for mobile phones and computers? Hell yeah! I was more than happy to take a look at the preview build and share my thoughts on what is shaping up to be a very interesting card game indeed.

Tridek may look like a typical card game at first, but it does things a bit differently. For starters, you have honest to God resource management in the game. I don’t mean tapping lands to gain mana or dropping cards into some sort of zone. No. Instead, you have crystals. At the beginning of the game, you start off with three crystals each of three different types. You play cards by spending crystals. The kicker is that playing a card will deplete one type of crystal and boost another. Hopefully you can see the possibilities here. The only problem I can foresee is that you could end up unable to play something for a while because you don’t have enough of the right type of crystal. However, the developer has though of that. If you skip your turn, you can get a boost to help you back into the fight. This includes drawing an extra card or gaining a bonus crystal of your choosing. That’s cool.

Winning in Tridek requires you to earn victory points. Typically, these are doled out by defeating enemy monsters or by attacking directly. It’s simple. If your creature beats their creature, you get victory points. If they don’t have any creatures, you can score victory points by smacking them directly. The number of points you get is determined by your own creature, as victory points gained is one of three stats on each one. As a great risk/reward system, weaker creatures tend to gain extra victory points. That means it might be worth dropping a weakling onto the field even if you know he won’t make it past the next turn.

On the field of battle, there are two zones. You have the attack zone and the resistance zone. Creatures in the back can’t attack, but they reduce the victory points gained when they’re destroyed. Also, there are just going to be some creatures that have better defense than offense. You can switch creatures around on the field once per turn, you can always switch things up to suit the situation.

tridek1What trading card game would be complete without spells? In this game, they’re called hacks and supports. Hacks are cards that attach to creatures and create a permanent effect, such as boosting attack or lowering victory points. Supports are one shot spells that do their business and get out of there. They come in a variety of flavors, but there are some restrictions. Some can be played only at specific times. The bright side is that you can set them down on the field as traps that activate at your command. As you probably guessed, these types of cards dramatically increase the complexity and intrigue of the game. I was quite pleased when they were introduced.

Overall, the card combat is looking pretty sweet. The mechanics are easy to grasp, but the cards allow for some complex and satisfying combos. The deck building interface could use a little tweaking, although it’s honestly better than what most games do.

The game is going to feature online play, a single player campaign, quick match options, deck building, and a shop. In order to buy cards, you need shards, which are earned through play. If you get impatient, you can spend real money to buy more shards. There also going to be weekly deals to help you net specific cards, which is nice.

Tridek is going to be available sometime later this year. You’ll be able to get it for PC, Mac, and mobile devices. Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on the finished product.

Tridek – Creatures of Galena is the upcoming digital Trading Card Game (TCG) developed by the Bit Barons and published by dreamfab.


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