Kerberos Productions, the makers of Sword of the Stars, have released a new tabletop simulation game for the PC. Hoards of Glory is a Viking-themed strategy game of dice placement, economy and combat for 1-4 players. Playable by up to four friends via the Internet, it also offers a variety of AI opponents to fill in when human opponents are not available.
Hoards of Glory is the first stand-alone simulation of a tabletop game that Kerberos has released. Their previous tabletop projects, The Pit: The Board Game and Planetary Control, were both modeled using the popular Tabletop Simulator software. Why make a stand-alone product now?
"Tabletop Simulator was a good place for us to start," says developer Chris Gerspacher. "Our version of The Pit: The Board Game on TTS is a popular download and earned us a Steam Community Award. But I found there were limitations to the platform, and it was expensive for newbies. If people didn't already own a copy of TTS it was costing them over $20 to buy the software so they could try a virtual version of Planetary Control or The Pit. I thought we could create a better model of the game and lower that price point if we built something by hand."
Why create a tabletop game using the Unreal Engine? "We are always curious to see what Unreal could do when faced with an unusual challenge," says Kerberos CEO Martin Cirulis. "First we threw randomized terrain and adaptive layouts at UE4 with our game The Pit: Infinity. Now we have discovered it is able to handle the physics of rolling dice and falling coins like a champ and we have had no problem giving the game multiple AI personalities. Unreal also stepped up to the challenges of multiplayer for a tabletop simulation very well. We can have AI's play alongside humans seamlessly or have an AI player drop in if a human player has to drop out."
Why make a tabletop game that's only available for PC? "We missed Game Night!" says Kerberos COO Chris Stewart. "Since the COVID restrictions began in March, everyone has been working remotely. We can't meet friends and go to the pub or a game store to roll dice anymore, and we couldn't take a prototype of Hoards of Glory to Origins and GenCon to connect with new players. A PC simulation of the game seemed like the best option. It helps to keep gaming alive and the dice rolling for us, as well as all the tabletop players who love our games."
Why the Viking theme? "Vikings are fun!" says writer Arinn Dembo. "And they were a perfect fit for the mechanics of the game: spears, shields, hoards of treasure, but also duty and debts to pay. On a more serious note, Viking are part of our heritage. Our whole team is connected to the Viking Diaspora in various ways--our great-grandparents came to the New World from places like Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Scotland, Ireland, and northern Germany. We either have Viking blood or our ancestors spilled Viking blood--sometimes both!"
Hoards of Glory will be available on Steam from November 6, 2020. The price will be $4.99 USD, with a 30% discount for release week.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1445260/Hoards_of_Glory/
FEATURES
- 3 Boast Cards can be mixed and matched to offer a variety of victory conditions
- Satisfying 3D physics for dice and coins
- Spear animations to signal attack
- 10 Unique AI Opponents
- 2 AI modes - Easy and Normal
- Single-player against up to 3 AI opponents
- Multi-player via Internet for up to 4 human players
- Drop-in AI fills in when humans drop out of multiplayer matches
- Tutorial and written rules to learn the basics of the game