Armello

Gameplay

Armello is a digital simulation of a traditional fantasy tabletop role-playing game utilizing virtual dice and cards which allow the player to carry out specific actions. Up to four players assume the role of a Hero character that represents a specific animal clan, each with their own unique strengths, with the ultimate goal to storm the castle and become the new king or queen of the kingdom. The playing board area is divided into hexagon-shaped tiles that contain randomly generated features such as dungeons to explore, quests to complete, rival heroes to battle, or settlements to capture. As the game progresses, players can acquire currency to purchase additional abilities for their hero using a talent tree system specific to each character.

The game uses a turn-based system where players are allowed to perform actions such as equip items and purchase talents during another player's turn to reduce downtime. Cards and dice are used to directly interact with the game world, and form the basis for the game's combat system. Players use cards they draw from a deck to cast spells, recruit followers, heal wounds, or use items that grant special abilities. Cards may also be played as "Perils" which can be laid on specific tiles to act as traps for other heroes or used immediately in combat, and other cards may be used to forge temporary alliances. Armello also features a day/night cycle where certain heroes gain advantages based on the time of day, and certain groups of enemies only appear in either the darkness or light.

Plot and characters

The game takes place in the "dark fairy tale" Kingdom of Armello, a world filled with anthropomorphic animals separated into numerous clans. When the current king becomes corrupted by a dark force called the Rot, representatives from these faction rise up to embark on a journey to become the new king or queen in his stead.

While the game features eight heroes available to all players at launch, more will be added to the game over time. The initial characters include Thane, The Winter Wolf, a lupine warrior who carries a large sword; River the Howling Arrow, a wolf Archer; Amber, The Far Seeker, a rabbit armed with a short sword and umbrella; Barnaby Screwloose, a rabbit with custom made armor and a hammer; Mercurio, The Grinning Blade, a sneaky rat with a rapier; Zosha the Whirlwind, a rat assassin with a join-able pair of daggers; Sana, The Forest Sister, a bear who carries a staff of magic power; and Brun Oakbreaker, a Bear Shaman with a totemic club staff. Four more characters collectively called The Bandit Clan, which includes Twiss the squirrel thief, Sylas the otter butcher, Scarlet the fox revolutionary, and Horace the badger Knight, are also available as paid DLC as of Spring 2016.

Development

Armello was announced in September 2012 as the debut title from Australian independent game studio League of Geeks, originally as an iPad-exclusive title to be released the following year before experiencing delays. The 15-person development includes four directors: Ty Carey, Trent Kusters, Blake Mizzi, and Jacek Tuschewski, whose total experience in the game industry includes 40 years and 50 released projects. Kusters stated that he was inspired to create the game after hearing about the success Greg Kasavin had in producing Bastion with such a small team. League of Geeks began work on the game after eight months of prototypes on paper, with an additional 18 months of work to arrive at the pre-alpha build. An early version of the game was showcased at the Game Developers Conference in April 2013, and later at the inaugural PAX Australia the following July.

In December 2011 and October 2013, League of Geeks received assistance funding from the state government of Victoria. At the 2012 Sydney Film Festival, it was announced that Armello was one of 14 projects chosen from a pool of 89 to receive additional support from the Australian federal government funding body Screen Australia.

When describing the title's genre and influences, Kusters pitched it as "imagine Magic: The Gathering meets Final Fantasy Tactics," and "Game of Thrones meets Kung Fu Panda," also mentioning that it features components of board games, trading card games, and strategy role-playing games. The game was also said to appeal to fans of Redwall and The Dark Crystal, as well as the animated works of Studio Ghibli, particularly Spirited Away, which was cited as a large influence on Armello's art direction and story.

The team launched a 30-day Kickstarter project page beginning in April 2014 to garner an additional AUD$200,000 to help produce the game full-time, as well as lend support to a release on Windows, OS X, and Linux platforms using the Steam service. A stretch goal was also added, extending possible support to Android and Windows tablets. A tentative release date of March 2015 was also set. On May 8, 2014, the campaign reached $305,360, successfully funding the game, as well as hitting all extended stretch goals, which included releases for the two additional platforms, more languages, in-game cards, and a winter-based map tileset.

Armello launched on Steam Early Access on the 22 January 2015. On May 26, 2015, a PlayStation 4 version was announced. The full version of the game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux and PlayStation 4 on 1 September 2015. A Xbox One version, and a paid expansion which adds four new heroes, are set to be released in the future. The Xbox One version is set to be released on August 30, 2016, alongside with the Usurpers expansion, which introduces new characters and equipment.

Downloadable content

One package of downloadable content, adding four new heroes to the game, was released in August 2016 about a year after the game's release. The content was limited to the console versions of the title and through Steam for personal computers. Though they had planned on offering the content to all users since the Kickstarter, including those with DRM-free versions of the game as through GOG.com, League of Geeks found that being able to support the content on the DRM-free platform was a task beyond their resources. Co-found Trent Kusters stated "given infinite resources and time we could undertake the task of rewriting the underlying architecture at the core of this decision, but that's straight up not feasible for a vast number of reasons that are unique to LoG, Armello, where we're standing right now and where we see Armello's future." League of Geeks allowed those consumers that had purchased the DRM-free version to request refunds of the game because of this decision.

Reception

Armello has a Metacritic rating of 75%. GameSpot awarded the game 8 out of 10, commenting that while it could use some "fine tuning", it remains "one of the best virtual board game experiences available." PlayStation Lifestyle also awarded the game 8 out of 10, saying "It's a well-balanced and good-looking experience that shows originality is still possible in a format that's centuries old." IGN was less positive, presenting it with a score of 5.6 out of 10, saying "Armello makes a great first impression, but it has a bad habit of making you feel like you're playing alone."

The game was nominated for the Excellence in Visual Art for the 2016 Independent Games Festival.