Game of the Gods Review

Prepare yourself for an exciting medieval adventure with the Game of the Gods. It is a text-based RPG published by Humble Toymaker Studio. Unlike your typical full-fledged text-based adventure games, Game of the Gods offers an exciting approach. This game delivers an amazing fantasy storyline while treating you with impressive artworks to feed your creative imagination. Despite all the visually stunning illustrations, Game of the Gods remained faithful to its classic text-based adventure formula. It’s a decision-making adventure where the fate of your character depends on your wit and choices. Are you smart and skillful enough to survive? Will you be able to unfold all the forthcoming mysteries? Feel free to explore Game of the Gods and see how far you can go!

Overview

Game of the Gods perfectly captured the spirit of medieval fantasy. If you love the old-school RPGs and their epic quest system, this game will certainly not fail to give you the same nostalgic experience. The game will take you to an immersive virtual world created by its author Damien Black. It follows the story of a “freesword” mercenary named Tokar who just caught up in an unexpected quest. Is it an accidental quest or a destiny? As you explore the chapters of this gamebook, you will start to discover and unravel intriguing mysteries behind your character. However, just like any text-based adventure game, the fate of your character still depends on your choices so make sure you are picking the wise ones. Otherwise, it might lead you to a devastating failure.

Interestingly, your character Tokar will not be on this epic quest alone. You will be accompanied by other interesting characters along the way. In the early chapters of the book, you will be joined by other freeswords. You will be asked to lead a group of mercenaries to escort an old priest and bring him safely to a place called Rockholm. The priest is carrying a mysterious talisman (Talisman of Bringamen) that is being targeted by the dark elves. Joining you is a huge Warhammer-wielding warrior Anselmo, a woodcraft expert Kyra, and a blue-beard mercenary Guthtak. As you progress, you will be asked to explore new lands and meet new people who will either help or harm you in the process.

Screenshots

Gameplay

Complexity is definitely not a word that you can coin with any text-based adventure games. It comes with straightforward mechanics and no learning curve involved. In the entire course of this game, you only have to perform three main actions; read, scroll, and decide. Here, the game will throw you into different scenarios and you will be asked to solve numerous dilemmas. Every decision you make will affect the progress of your story. It will also affect your resources, a feature that is very unique in Game of the Gods. Located above the screen is a panel showcasing your resources and stats. These include your Health, Energy, Fate Shards, Money, and Honor. It also gives you quick access to Map and Inventory.

Every action you make follows a consequence that could either be good or bad. A reckless decision might even lead you to instant death. If a scenario requires an intense action, your energy level might decrease depending on how you decide to handle the situation. An ambush attack or engaging in combat might also inflict damage to your health. Honor, on the other hand, will increase for every brave and correct decision you make. It is calculated on your final score and is more valuable than gold. The player can also undo their last decision by paying a certain number of fate shards (mostly requires 5 fate shards to undo). The game also comes with checkpoints where you can go back any time you want without costing you any fate shards.

A Visually-Stunning Text-based Adventure

While most text-based adventure games today will focus only on texts and nothing more, the Game of the Gods delivers a colorful touch that will surely widen your imagination. The interface itself is already adorned with colorful details. The upper panel features colorful icons to represent each resource item while the main screen comes with an ancient scroll-like background that suits perfectly with its medieval theme. Another interesting feature is the interactive map. By tapping the map icon from the upper panel, the screen prompts you to an interactive map. You can pinch the screen to zoom the map and check your current location. This will also help you visualize your adventure and where your team is heading.

What really makes this game an absolute visual delight are the amazing hand-painted illustrations. From time to time, the game will present you with some wonderful artworks to help you visualize the current scene you are in. Without the illustrations, it might be hard for the players to imagine what the Goblinoids look like, or what exactly the Talisman of Bringamen is, or how the whispering hat is being depicted in the story. These stunning illustrations are intended not just to make the game more visually appealing but also to make your overall gaming experience more satisfying.

Well-Crafted Story and The Role of Fate Shards

The Game of the Gods is definitely not your typical text-based adventure and it doesn’t come with a formulaic RPG story. It’s not your typical knight story and his epic heroic journey to bring a kingdom back to its former glory. Thanks to the creative author Damien Black and the wonderful execution of its developer Renato, the game managed to take us to a world that is beyond our imagination. The game might also feature some jargon or terms that are exclusively created for the story. You might encounter unique names like the “Fleshless One”, “Sect of Light’s Awakening”, “Ingvi”, and events like ‘War of Peoples”, “Age of Wizards”, and more. To avoid confusion, some of the unique terms are presented in different font colors and are mostly underlined. You can tap these words to see their definitions and understand the flow of the story clearly.

Fate shard is one of the resources in this game and it plays a crucial role in your journey. It comes with many valuable functions. One of the most important roles of fate shards is to give you the ability to undo your last choice. If you get killed on your last choice, you can undo your previous action by paying 5 Fate shards. You can also use fate shards to boost your health or your energy. The tricky part, however, is that the fate shards are not easily obtainable and the game’s reward system is not generous enough to give you an abundant supply of resources. The quickest way to earn additional shards is by watching rewarded videos. If you do not want to consume any fate shards, you can just go back to the last checkpoint or if all else fails, you can just restart the entire chapter.

Achievements, Rare Items, and Chapter Keys

The game also comes with an Achievement system. It is interesting to note that completing achievements allows you to earn additional Fate shards and Chapter keys. Each chapter comes with multiple achievements. Interestingly, the game will not spare any details on how to achieve them so you have to figure them out yourself. This particular feature provides a decent replay value for the Game of the Gods. Completing a chapter will not guarantee you that you will be able to unlock all the Achievements. This will give you options to either restart the entire chapter and take a new path to unlock other titles or achievements.

Each chapter also features an interesting rare item. Unlike achievements, they do not offer any form of rewards but each item comes with a special purpose that you can use along the way. Some of which might even save you from extreme danger. If fate shards allow you to move back, Chapter keys are required to advance. You need to collect a certain number of keys to unlock the next chapter. Much like shards, you can obtain keys by completing achievements or by simply watching rewarded videos. You can also obtain keys and shards by buying Shards and Keys Pack respectively. If you want to unlock all the content, you can also purchase the game’s Premium pack.

Pros and Cons

• Pros:
1. Visually-Stunning Artworks – One of the features that make this game stand out is the collection of visually stunning hand-painted illustrations. From time to time, you will encounter beautiful artworks that allow you to visualize the scenes you are currently in.
2. Zoomable Map – For a text-based adventure, it is quite rare to encounter an interactive map system. Game of the Gods will not just feature amazing artworks but also a colorful map to interact with. Explore the immersive medieval world created by Damien Black.
3. Achievement System- Game of the Gods comes with limitless possibilities. The fate of your character depends on your choices. Interestingly, your choices will also unlock numerous achievements in the process. Achievements allow you to earn rewards and if in case you failed to complete them, you can always restart the chapter and explore a new path or strategy. This particular feature provides the game with a commendable replay value.
• Cons:
1. Instant Death – The game comes with many scenarios where a single decision might lead to instant death. This forces players to use their fate shards. Since the game doesn’t offer a generous reward system, it leaves you no other option but to watch rewarded videos or purchase the game’s premium packages.
2. Unnecessary Elements – Although the game is still a work in progress, some elements are notably useless or don’t affect the gameplay at all. These include the Inventory system (a bag that can only carry one item), and the Gold (a virtual currency that has no value except the minor effect to the final score). Perhaps, these items will become more valuable in future developments.

Verdict

Overall, the Game of the Gods is a fun and entertaining text-based adventure. With its well-crafted storyline and visually-stunning presentation, this game is seemingly made to perfection. The game features a wonderful diversity of characters and each of them comes with an interesting backstory that is absolutely worth exploring. It features a lot of intriguing mysteries to unfold and makes you want to play more. Thanks to its amazing and unique artworks, Game of the Gods is an absolute visual delight.

The amazing illustration will surely keep your imagination alive while playing this interactive gamebook. The interactive map is also an interesting addition to this game that provides a more satisfying RPG experience. Collectible rare items and unlockable achievements, on the other hand, provides an impressive replay value. If you are craving for some epic medieval fantasy adventure, this game will surely not disappoint. Explore the immersive world beyond imagination and put yourself into the shoes of a brave mercenary as he goes on an epic journey and unravels the mystery behind his past. Good luck and have fun!