Dude! Take Your Turn!
A Gaming Life
App Review – MeteorFall
One of the most highly-acclaimed (except for the artwork, which unfortunately drives some people away) rogue-like deck-building apps is Dream Quest.
For many users, Dream Quest is the epitome of what a deck-building rogue-like game is, and every future game in the genre will be compared to it.
Which brings us to Slothwerks Games latest entry into the genre, Meteorfall.
In Meteorfall, you’ll play one of four characters, each of a different class, who are embarking on a quest to defeat the Uberlich before he can bring down a giant meteor on the land.
To do this, you’ll start with a small deck of cards that you will be playing against the monsters that you will meet in three different territories.
Each class (Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, and Thief) will have a different starting deck with spells or attack cards that will help you in your battles.
When you encounter a monster, you will play cards equal to the number of hourglasses (actions) you have. Many cards will cost a certain amount of stamina to spend. If you have enough, you’ll swipe the card right to use it. If you don’t, you’ll swipe it left and regain up to 4 stamina (some lingering effects can lessen how much stamina you gain).
Once you’re out of actions, the monster will play its cards using the same rules.
Spells cost an action but do not cost Stamina. They do, however, have a limited number of charges and must be recharged when they are spent. If they are spent, you can only swipe them left to gain stamina.
Meditate cards and other cards you can gain will let you recharge spells. Also getting the “Rest” option as you’re exploring will recharge all of your spells, as will gaining a level.
Each area that you are exploring will have an assortment of monsters and other encounters that will let you do things. For example, at the Blacksmith, you can upgrade your cards to higher levels if you have the coin.
Other options will let you Shop for new cards or you will find treasure which is a random two cards, often that are no use to you but you can’t have everything (and sometimes you’ll find something awesome).
At the end of each area is the boss monster, and they can be really tough. I do not recommend meeting them if you’ve just been through a couple of battles that have weakened you.
But you might succeed. You might get lucky.
This continues through three areas. If you defeat all three bosses, you’ll meet up with the Uberlich.
Who’s really not that hard once you get there.
And that’s basically the game!
Is this game worth it?
Some fans of Dream Quest say no; it’s too easy to get through, not enough content.
I actually bought this app before discovering Dream Quest, and while I can definitely say that game is a lot deeper, there is an enjoyment to Meteorfall that I really liked.
It’s easy to play on your phone with one thumb basically doing everything. The graphics are nice and the artwork is very cute.
Like most games in the genre, the decisions between gaining cards to your deck, getting rid of some lesser ones, and just upgrading the cards you have are quite intriguing. Those decisions are a bit easier to make in Meteorfall than in Dream Quest, but it’s still tough sometimes.
I admit that I am terrible at these games. Dream Quest is getting really frustrating but I have sunk a lot of time into it already so it’s already worth it.
Meteorfall gave me a sense of accomplishment that so far the other game hasn’t. It was harder than a lot of my Stately Play buddies found it to be, but that’s a good thing. It was challenging, but not too challenging that it annoyed me.
I got a lot of playing time out of it before my first win.
Subsequently, I was able to beat the Uberlich with the other three characters in a short period of time after that, but I still spent a lot of time with the game before reaching that point.
For the price of $2.99 US, that is hard to beat.
If you are an expert rogue-like player who will beat a game like this in an hour or two, then maybe you don’t want to check this out. But even if you are, what’s $3 for a couple of hours of engaging play?
For those of us who are not that good at these types of games, Meteorfall is well worth a purchase. It’s fun, demanding, a bit thinky, and it’s gorgeous to look at.
What else could you want from a mobile game?
The good news for those of us who have finished with all the characters (though you could keep trying to better your score) is that Slothwerks has announced a new character coming.
He’s called the Necrodude, and I hear he really likes bowling…as well as being able to reanimate the dead!
Check out Stately Play for more details on that (I could just copy all of their stuff and post it here, but that would be wrong…wouldn’t it?)
Meteorfall is available on Apple iOS and Android for $2.99 US currently (higher in Canada of course, grumble)
Dude! Take Your Turn! 
Love the artwork, this game looks great. Will have to make space on my phone though. D:
LikeLiked by 1 person
Or get a bigger phone. 😛
LikeLike
Ha probably should do both. I went the budget route with my phone. It does its job, but always run out of space!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: One Year Blogging & Many People Met – Dude! Take Your Turn!
Pingback: Necrodude Coming to Meteorfall – Gamers Go Nuts – Dude! Take Your Turn!