When it comes to free to play games, it is hard to find a title that is original or attempting something new. Over recent years “clicker” titles have become increasing over saturating on the F2P titles on Steam and one mechanic that comes with them all is idling.
Idling is a system where the game continues to play even while the player isn’t playing and then continue to gain gold, EXP and so on. Thankfully, however, indie developer Hyper Hippo Games have taken the idling mechanic and created a whole new and unique experience around it with their Early Access strategic casual title Guild Quest.
Please note Guide Quest is currently in a Beta stage of development. This article does not represent a complete or fully developed product.
From a single puny island to taking the world
Upon starting Guild Quest you have only one tiny island at your disposal. Your objective is to create quests from your guild house for your guildians to embark on to reach the boss monster of the island. Only then can you progress to the next bigger, tougher, yet more rewarding island.
One by one you must create a quest with each area one containing a choice of three different missions of increasing difficulty. There are also generally two different types of quests to choose from, combat or adventure. Adventure quests take more time than combat and are less rewarding but safe.
Combat quests are more rewarding but require more combative guildians to be able to succeed at them. To unlock the next quest you must have the previous quests at a particular level which is done by levelling them up with your gold. Once all the requirements are met, you will be able to open the next and eventually reaching the boss monster.
Once defeated, you will have conquered the island, gained a chest that can be opened with bonuses and gain access to the next island along with receiving new and better guildians to help with the new challenges that await you.
On paper, it may seem like a complex game but in reality, it is quite simple and by the time you reach the third island you will be playing it like a pro. While it doesn’t look like it would be an addicting form of gameplay, you would be surprised how absorbed you can become with the game, especially as you progress.
I honestly don’t know how nobody thought of this before. An idling game about leading guild members on quests where you continue to obtain gold and experience even while you don’t play. The developer really has turned an overused mechanic and used it to create something new and interesting.
An array of units to choose from
At the start of the game, you have only explorers at your disposal. Explorers are excellent for adventure quests but not so much at combat. They are ideal for the first island and quest lines that consist of mostly adventure quests, aside from that not much else.
Fighters are a much more competent combatant and excel in dealing damage to enemies while lacking the defence of others. Clerics are the healing unit of the guildians and heal any units that are in the same quest they are. Knights are the tank units. They deal a decent amount of damage but also defend all other allies within the same quest as them for a set amount of damage.
Mages are the weakest of the units physically but make up for it by dealing damage to all enemies within the quest at the same time. Next is the Dark Knight, who is most proficient in islands that use the prestige mechanic to their advantage. The higher level prestige on an island the more damage they dish out.
Finally, there is the Thief and Bard, who are both exclusive units to the games shop. The Thief multiplies the gold gained on the quests they embark on while the Bard multiplies the experience gained. Each class has its own purpose within the units and are all well balanced.
Figuring out what units are best for an island can make the difference between it being challenging and relatively easy to conquer. Most of all they are equally as humorous and neatly designed in their art style to match in with the doodle like aesthetic of the game.
Fancy a challenge? Then you need Prestige!
Prestige is one of the latest additions to the game. This mechanic allows you to restart an island entirely that you have completed with an increase in difficulty along with better payouts. There are a number of difficulties to choose from depending on your level. The highest is currently called Mighty II and is unlocked at level 220.
It is in islands that have prestige active on them that the Dark Knights truly shine. As previously mentioned the higher the prestige the more damage they deal with enemies. While this is the case, the other guildians are still more than capable of defending themselves but it is only here that the Dark Knights become the most use.
Even the earliest of islands remain useful later on.
It is a fun mechanic that gives replayability to islands that are no longer any use to you due to low payouts. It is also useful if you have spare guildians laying around doing nothing, as it allows for extra money and experience.
Boost your units and payouts with cards
Upon defeating a boss you receive a chest. Chest come in three rarities, Common, Uncommon and Rare. The higher the rarity the more and better rewards you receive. You gain experience, gold and occasionally from Uncommon or higher chests, gems. Gems can be used to purchase items from the shop, that would otherwise require a payment. You may also occasionally get a
Gems can be used to purchase items from the shop, that would otherwise require a payment. You may also occasionally get a guildian card and have an extra unit at your disposal.
Along with these payouts, chests also give you booster cards that too come with a multitude of rarities, common, uncommon, rare and epic. There is currently two types of booster cards, guildians and quests. Guildian cards boost your guildians stats, such as their damage, adventure ability and more.
Quest cards increase the amount of gold and experience you gain on specific quests or an increase in payouts across all quests within an island. Each unit type and each island can have up to five cards allocated to them at any one time. You may also swap them out at any time as you wish.
With a bit of luck obtaining the right cards along with placing cards correctly to make the most out of them, they can really make a huge difference. They add an additional level of tactics and strategy to the game, only increasing its depth.
Need better cards? Use the forge!
The latest feature to be introduced into the game, literally just today is the forge. The forge allows you to use any duplicate cards you have obtained through chests. You can use four of these spare cards to forge a new one for a price.
Using four common cards will create one uncommon card, four uncommon cards, make a rare card and so on. As to what type of card you will receive from the forging depends on what kind of cards you use. At present, there is a total of fifteen recipes for the forge, each giving a different result.
It adds a whole new dimension to the game and its cards mechanic. The forge really is an interesting and exciting system to experiment with.
No interest in chests? Melt them into gems
The final mechanic is melting. This allows the player to melt down any of the chests they currently have stashed in their chest vault. The number of gems that is receiving depends on how many chests you have and their rarity. A common chest will give you 1 gem each, uncommon 2 gems each and rare 3 gems each.
While it is a small addition to the game it is one that is perfect for those we might not be so keen on the idea of spending real life money on the title. It gives players an extra option to saving up gems to buy shop exclusive items and that isn’t a bad thing at all.
A great game that is worth your time
Guild Quest is a great little game, even if it is only in a beta stage of development. There is plenty of gameplay and with its idling mechanic, it is a game you can play for fifteen or twenty minutes here and there throughout the day while still being able to progress further and further.
The art style is simplistic and can only be considered cute due to its childlike doodle appearance. The gameplay is addictive and you will quickly find yourself logging in every four hours just to kill the respawned bosses and get the chests for more goodies.
With a new update every single week there is always something new to look forward to and it is never long before the developers add in something new to play with. Guild Quest is an Early Access title that is being handled brilliantly and I can’t wait to see what new and interesting things the developers have in store.
Guild Quest is available to download and play for free on Steam.
