Trials Of Fire
Developer/publisher Whatboy Games
Format PC
Release Out now
To add to the list of things sorely missed in recent months: the weight of a few plastic battalions or metropolises in the palm, knees huddled under a too-small table, and the expectant unfolding of cardboard. Trials Of Fire might lack the physical substance of these experiences, but it works hard to make you forget that fact. Its adventures play out within a book, each new hex-indented arena springing up from the page, its scenery practically brushing the inside of the screen. The heroes and villains of its tales are represented by flat metallic discs that, at the beginning of each encounter, tumble to the battlefield with a weighty thud.
These are nice touches in their own right, but they speak to a larger design. The game comprises three interlocking systems, each sure to evoke a memory of some distant tabletop. At its heart, the turn-based miniatures game of combat. You’re responsible for a trio of characters, their every action dictated by a corresponding hand of cards. There are cards to move, cards to attack, cards to make pacts with demons or infect a small area of the board with enchanted fumes that choke enemy troops while protecting your own.