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Planning ahead lets you take out multiple targets at once, or allows you to conserve your HP. You can long-tap on an enemy to see their target squares, as well as check your own cards' traits and the tiles you're planning on moving to. The key to surviving each floor with as many hearts as you need to fight another day is to anticipate your own moves as well as your opponents'. While it all sounds simple enough, Pawnbarian still somehow sets itself apart from other games in the genre thanks to its presentation and unique chess-based mechanics. This being a roguelike, losing all of your hearts means losing the game, and you'll have to start from scratch all over again with each new run. You can also buy one heart or 1 HP in each shop if you've got enough gold, which is pretty crucial to your survival on the next floor. Of course, the longer it takes you to defeat all foes on each floor, the less gold you earn, so apart from trying to survive, you'll also have to think about how you can kill off those pesky golems as quickly as possible. The gold you acquire after defeating floors can be used to purchase these upgrades, whether you're adding a special attack to a regular pawn or buffing a rook with a useful shield effect. These cards have their own unique traits and can be modified based on your character as well as upgraded when you buy boosts at the shop.
#PAWNBARIAN SWITCH FULL#
The beauty of such a neat visual design is that you can focus on the gameplay of the roguelike without any unnecessary distractions, because yes, the gameplay really does deserve your full attention.ĭepending on the character you're playing, you'll essentially have a deck of chess-based cards you can use to defeat the randomly generated enemies that spawn on your board on each level.
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The intro page for each new dungeon offers a handpainted look at the lairs you'll be stepping into, but other than that, it's all mostly monochromatic, and the cards or moves you unleash are presented as silhouettes of chess pieces you move across the board. The characters you unlock and play - the Knight Templar, Shogun, Nomad, Capyzerker, Mystic and the Pawnbarian himself - all feature simple vector art-esque designs versus equally clean-looking enemies, while combat is laid out on a minimalist 5x5 chessboard.
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It is said that overgrown rodents and ogres with ulcerous spills have been corrupted with Blight in its depths, but - armed with nothing but your chess-based skills and your unwavering resolve - can you truly embody the spirit of the Pawnbarian and make it out of the Blightvoid unscathed? Table of contents:ĭespite the ghastly horrors you'll have to face throughout the roguelike title, Pawnbarian boasts a lovely minimalist approach that makes fighting unholy abominations look super clean. Stepping into the horrors of the fabled goblin lair, you prepare yourself for the monstrosities lurking around every fetid corner.
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