Using words in fantasy RPG combat adds an interesting, fresh, tactical depth, where your character's abilities and your own skills must work together.
When a combat begins (against all kinds of fantasy monsters and foes), there's a 15-letter pool both you and your opponent must build words from. This is a turn-based system, so you can think for as long as you like.
Each turn, you see the length of the opponent's word, and also if they had spent Energy to push for a longer word than what their natural ability allows them. Of course, you can also spend Energy for long words, however, Energy is also used for defense. While Energy is gradually replenished every turn, you need to wisely balance your tactics and know when to go all-in and when to rest.
When you're satisfied with the word you've built, and press the submit button, the opponent's word is revealed, then the letter tiers (usually between 1 and 5) are compared by position: 1st letters, then the 2nd letters, and so on. The difference of the tiers determines how much Energy is lost by the duelist with the weaker letter. When a long word's letter isn't opposed, the full tier value causes direct Life damage, and the same happens when Energy runs out!
As your adventurer progresses through the Regions, eventually the Gate is reached, where you must break all the magical seals to face the Region's Guardian. If you fail here, you're teleported back to the beginning of the Region, and must fight your way to the Gate to try again!
Eventually, you arrive to challenge the Region Guardian, who, in the 1st Region, is always a Hatchling Dragon. Notice that this is already a deadly foe, and will not go down easily. However, should you triumph, you'll get a guaranteed free boon (an upgrade of your choice), then you can spend your XP to get further boons before you start the next Region.
With this demo I'm looking for feedback. The game is conceptually complete, but I am a solo game developer, and I need to know if I have balanced the challenges correctly, or if I'm even working on a game that's exciting enough. I hope you'll help me make Dragon Riddler the best fantasy adventure it can be.
https://sandorhq.itch.io/dragon-riddler-demo
Thank you,
Sandor