Play Games
1 month ago
71
Take the deck-building elements of Magic the Gathering or Slay the Spire and combine them with the base-building, defensive side of Orcs Must Die and Kingdom Rush, then sprinkle on some of that TFT-brand autobattling, and you have new Steam strategy game Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch. Its tactical fantasy stylings are making their way to PC in late 2024, but you can try it out right now thanks to a free Steam demo that’s just landed on the Valve store.
Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch puts you in the place of one of the so-titled guardians. Tasked with holding down the (literal) fort against all manner of monsters, troublesome adventurers, rival factions, and even malevolent deities, you’ll build out a deck of troops, traps, and tricks to ensure no one breaches your defenses. It’s part deckbuilder, part tower defense, and part autobattler, all baked into a delicious new strategy game.
In order to succeed, you’ll have to carefully plan the best course of action and ensure to factor in your units’ respective strengths and weaknesses, along with the various ways they can synergize with one another to boost their effectiveness. Units you place down will attack enemies automatically, but along with summon cards you’ll also get a selection of spells that you can use actively to deal with particularly dangerous threats.
These abilities range from the standard roster of lightning bolts, fireballs, and arrow barrages to buffs that can upgrade the damage, morale, or survivability of your forces. You’ll also have the ability to place down all manner of traps, towers, and other buildings that can unlock additional abilities or provide benefits such as faster troop summoning.
Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch is set to launch via Steam Early Access in late 2024. You won’t have to wait until then to try it, however, as a free demo has just launched on Steam. It includes the game’s tutorial, the initial two stages, and the first boss fight, giving you a decent idea of what to expect from the full game when it arrives.
Alternatively, take a riffle through some of the best card games on PC if you’re looking to try something new, or find something to test your tactics with the best turn-based strategy games instead.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.
