Games worth discovering

Spiritle: A new title by Pirate Outlaw Devs, Fabled Games

4K View2023-07-01

Hey Folks, thanks for tapping and tuning into my latest sneak peak into indie gaming, with Fabled Games recently released Boardgame - Spiritle. So, let's get right into it, shall we?

The Elements Rage

Or something. I'll be candid here- While there is a brief narrative intro, it's an excuse plot, at best.

In fact, it's so tiny that I can sum up the entirety of it as follows. An acorn falls from the great world tree, and cracks open to reveal a freshly born soul. Confused by this already weird train of events, you're told by a narcoleptic Marsupial that in order to meet your maker and return to the proverbial womb, you'll need to reach heaven through violence.

That's honestly it. I mean, the reaching heaven part was hyperbole. But- they never actually go into detail as to how beating up other spirits helps you, beyond the fact that it's the status quo.

And given this is never referred to, ever again- all of the aforementioned elements are so narratively irrelevant, that I wouldn't blame you if you forget about it in a day or two.

But Was This Board Game Boring?

That -is- the question, isn't it? Well, as a -premise- it's somewhat simple. Each game pits 4 players against each other, either in a battle royale, or a 2 v 2.

That said, this particular war game plays out somewhat uniquely since you're not able to attack your adversaries freely. Instead, each player takes turns moving around the board- flipping over the various tiles to reveal what -kind- of the terrain is underneath. Match two pairs of terrain, and you'll be given the opportunity to attack one of your opponents. It also gives you two more movement points in order to further escalate the violence (though, you cannot chain your actions beyond this).

That said, even those limited movements feel meaningful, if only because of the skill system.

Each of the various spirits differs, whether it's statistically, through their unique passives, as well as more meaningfully- in the unique skills at their disposal. These skills serve as active abilities they can use during the match (And given there's a number of options that can flick between for each of their skill sets- there's a legitimately solid amount of variability to be found there). That said, as powerful as these options are, they do have stipulations. Some characters, for instance, rely on cooldowns- which are reduced whenever you take a movement action- so anywhere between 1 to 4 times in a given round (Though some -also- reduce if you fulfill criteria like doing enough damage, or matching pairs).

Others use energy, which builds up as you travel- and allows you to freely spam an ability (..But may still have cooldowns to avert complete cheese).

On paper- it -sounds pretty interesting. But, it wasn't long into playing before I began to notice some odd quirks.

For one thing, there's a placement phase- which feels largely irrelevant, because you don't reveal the tiles you placed on, and you have no limitations on -where- on the board, you can shuffle to, other than it's a tile that hasn't been flipped. You can take a space another player is standing on, it just flips them into the location you were formerly occupying.

If they simply had each player start at a designated point on each side of the map, -nothing- would change, beyond speeding up the opening segment of each board. Because, yes, each time the board is cleared, a fresh one is created- and the placement phase happens all over again.

That said, perhaps the oddest element of them all was the talent tree in the game. So, how this works is that every match you enter gives you golden acorns for participating. 20 if you lose, and 75 if you win.

This is important, because- you get to take these talent boosts into -any- match you enter, and there is literally nothing stopping someone from popping into a match with a maxed-out attack stat helping them to shave away your health, and for them to be getting -more- than double the gold you are for pairing tiles. Which is to say, this only really serves to skew the odds toward newer players getting the stuffing beaten out of them.

That latter element -is- -really- noticeable too, because, having access to gold means you'll be able to safely sustain yourself through health purchases from the shop- while still being able to afford stat boosts.

I mean, yes, there are quests available to all players- which offer chunks of gold in return for doing things like, attacking a certain player twice, matching 2 pairs in a turn, or even just revealing certain tile types- but, the boost to pairs -really- adds up, especially in prolonged matches.

And again, while you can get extra gold from killing a player? The stat boosts makes it more likely they'll be making bank off you. It's just- weird.

Also, while there -are- extra characters and different rings you can equip for passive effects- these are, once again, locked behind the slow trickle of gold acorns- and once again put things in favour of older players just -stomping- on new players.

Quite frankly, I'd like to bring up Armello here as a -great- example of a game (In large part because I put a -lot- of time into it, for both casual and review purposes), because unlocking its accessories mostly hinged on, playing as a certain character once or twice- or achieving a certain type of victory, as any character. They were -somewhat- specific, yes - but they didn't require obscene amounts of time to farm out. Nor was there a stat system in place meant to kneecap you from the get-go unless you invested a hefty amount of time.

Lastly- while the characters are certainly interesting- there are definitely some moments where things look askew. Like certain characters -missing- icons in their skill sets. It looks..off.

A Spirited Presentation

Still, despite my gameplay gripes- that is the -only- thing that looks off. Visually, Spiritle's a treat. If you enjoyed the presentation of Pirate Outlaws, you'll be pleased to know that Spiritle inherits its aesthetic styled in the same manner- providing a solid slew of lovingly designed characters. I'll also admit, the animated tiles were also a lot of fun and helped to make the different types a bit more memorable.

Musically, I was a bit less impressed. It was a serviceable experience, but not one I was majorly hung up on.

But All That Glitters Is Not Gacha

Which, uh, yeah. Spiritle is a free game, and -yes- it does have a cash shop as many free-to-play games are wont to have these days. That said, I'll give this one credit. It does not have any options to buy acorns to expedite the grind, and to incentivize play-to-win tactics. Rather, it's sole monetization options are cosmetic- which is something I will never actually complain about.

(And I mean this, because while there -are- season rewards- they eschew having any sort of season pass, and instead just hinge on you playing the game to advance it).

A Fun Fable, or?

But, how does it ultimately fare? Well, as ever, it's in a bit of an odd spot. See, it's fair to say that while there -is- certainly strategic elements to the game, luck and memory are also fairly central.

Which leads to some funniness. First off, Memory has always been an element that messes with me. I have -immense- difficulty recalling anything I don't have notes for, even if I've just seen it 10 seconds ago.

Which -would- put me at a disadvantage, were it not for the second matter. You're actually given some pretty ample turn time, so there's absolutely -nothing- stopping you from rapid-fire sketching out the tiles and mapping things out to optimize the potential plays you can make, or even deny someone else the ability to (safely) make certain choices.

Which, sort of renders -some- of what the core game is trying to do -moot-. (Not that anyone else seemed to initially make mistakes -other than me).

Honestly- I still don't know what to make of the game. There's a part of me that -wants- to like it. There's a part of me that resented getting half of my health mulched in the first -turn- of a match, and just having to wait for it to be my turn, And there's a part of me that just -really- doesn't want to grind, in order to be able to see the full extent of what the system has to offer.