We’ve made a big change last playtest with the implementation of the Deck building mechanics. But for that to work, you need to have the option to make modifications to your deck. That’s exactly what we included in our rework of the level select: the Travel Screen.
Travel Screen
Each time you complete a map successfully, you will enter the travel screen. This is where you will be able to make choices on how you want to tweak your deck and prepare for the next challenge. Here are some of the events currently available in the Travel Screen:
- Draft new building cards
- Choose a building to start with in the next map
- Remove cards from your deck
- Gain an Artifact
- Add a keyword to a building card
- Add uses to a building card
- Select which biome to go to next
Of course, those events are randomized every loop!
Ginnungagap and Time mechanic
We’re not going to go too easy on you, all these nice rewards must come at a price. That’s why we’re introducing a time mechanic in the travel screen. You will have to spend some time to move from one event to the other. The further you are from the event you wish to reach, the more time will have to be spent.
Don’t spend too much of it though because the Ginnungagap grows closer with every time spent. Swallowing locations in the travel screen, rendering them unreachable. Moreover, finding yourself in the Ginnungagap’s way will have consequences, such as adding negative modifiers or curse cards into your deck.
This time currency is also tracked in the maps themselves! Meaning that the shorter time you spend in a level, the more time you will have to discover interest points in the travel screen. Should you hang around the map to draft more cards and explore? Or should you get out quick in the hope to find interesting rewards? That’s for you to decide.
More to come
Just like the deckbuilding changes, this is still an early implementation of the system, but it has a lot of potential for cool gameplay and narrative options.
Should we design unique encounters with interesting choices? Creepy characters who can sell and buy Artifacts? The possibilities are endless. It is also a perfect place to learn more about the characters and the lore surrounding the game.
As always, you can sign up for the upcoming playtest that will go live on June 20th and let us know what you think of the changes in our Discord channel!
See you soon!