New release: Hero Mages

Have you ever heard of Hero Mages before? I hadn’t. So as far as I’m concerned, this is a new release (even though it was apparently released, like, a year ago).

Hero Mages is a top-down perspective, turn-based tactics game by D20 Studios. At first glance, it looks a little bit like one of the battles from Telepath RPG: Servants of God, but with a three-unit cap and a more traditional fantasy setting. Upon closer examination, however, one can see that it strongly incorporates CCG elements that change the flow of the game considerably. Here is how the developers describe it:

Hero Mages is a game of strategy that plays just like a board game. A 13×11 grid represents the field of battle. A roll of dice determines the results of combat. A deck of cards represents the power of magic.

At the start of the game, each player is dealt a hand of seven cards and assumes command of a team of 3 heroes consisting of 1 Mage and 2 Guardians. These heroes are represented on the game board as animated models called “units”. The concept of the game is simple: players take turns moving and attacking with each of their units in an effort to eliminate all of the opposing heroes. The player with the last surviving team of heroes is victorious!

Units possess diverse statistics and abilities that give them distinct strategic advantages within the game. Your Mage is your most powerful unit. In addition to having four unlockable special abilities, mages are the only unit that can cast spells. Spells are potent magical abilities that allow you to empower your units with strength, unleash the fury of the elements upon your foes, manipulate the battlefield, and create additional units called “creatures”. Leverage the powers of your units and spells to develop creative ways to dominate the battlefield.

Here is a trailer:

You know, it’s funny: I thought I was so original when I started developing a game like this last year. But apparently I’m just one of two or three studios that had that idea. After years of getting almost no games like this, we are soon to have an embarrassment of options. That said, only Hero Mages is out right now. Since it’s free, why not pop over to their site and give the game a try?

Also: they just announced an Android version of the game that’s in progress. Here is a peek at that.