Ahead of the Game - Heroes of Artadis challenges your strategic card battling capacity in turn-based PvP
Take your time, really
- Deeply strategic mechanics
- Distinct hero cards and spells
- Unlockable cards based on progression
It's all about tactical mastery and card combat in this week's Ahead of the Game series, where we tell you about a new mobile endeavour that's playable in one form or another despite its unofficial launch.
With auto-battles dominating combat on mobile these days, it's getting rarer and rarer to find turn-based strategic affairs that really put your tactical prowess to the test. Heroes of Artadis doesn't seem fussed about any of the shiny flair that modern gacha RPGs have - instead, it's chosen to forego spectacle in favour of strategic depth, and for me, it's done so spectacularly.
That's basically all there is to it in this card battler, but that's not at all a bad thing. Because you don't have to worry about anything else but your deck, there are no distractions, no limited-time events to chase, and no other goal than to build the best deck and win.
It's a PvP battler, sure, but you can also choose to battle against yourself to really hone your tactics across different factions, because each one offers a wide variety of playstyles depending on the units you deploy and the spells you unleash. And because every unit has useful passives, how you position your heroes can spell the difference between victory and defeat.
You can also only move once and attack once per turn - unless you apply spell modifiers, of course - so quality of moves matters more than quantity here. It's not just a simple matter of which number is the highest - you can be surrounded by your foes one moment but seize the upper hand the next, all because your lone warrior warped behind their commander and dealt the winning blow.
And I simply love all that depth. The visuals are also pretty distinct here, with the beautiful intro and the fitting art style. I can definitely see how this'll grow to be an instant hit for tactical aficionados out there, and right now, since it's free-to-play with no microtransactions at the moment, it doesn't seem like power creep will become a thing.
So, how do you play Heroes of Artadis?
It's currently in early access on Google Play, so it's free to try if you're curious. There seems to be a progression-based system that lets you unlock more cards as you go along - whether or not that ends up transforming into a battle pass of sorts remains to be seen, but for now, I'd say it's worth a shot if you're keen on putting your card battling skills to the test!
