Describing itself as a “Collectible Card Miniature War Video Game,” Minion Master is a strategy game with a twist. Players will use digital collectible cards to summon “minions,” which must then be placed on a hex-based battlefield where they will move, attack and defend in both co-operative and versus multiplayer action and in single-player battles against the computer.
Describing itself as a “Collectible Card Miniature War Video Game,” Minion Master is a strategy game with a twist. Players will use digital collectible cards to summon “minions,” which must then be placed on a hex-based battlefield where they will move, attack and defend in both co-operative and versus multiplayer action and in single-player battles against the computer.
Bringing the CCG and wargaming genres together in a videogame not only eliminates some of the more mundane aspects of both, like rolling dice and tracking stats, but also allows for “simultaneous round resolution,” in which everyone makes their move at the same time, ensuring a level playing field for everyone.
Going the videogame route gives Minion Master a number of other advantages over conventional CCGs as well. The development team says it will be subject to never-ending balance tweaks, eliminating the threat of unbeatable, deck-destroying combos as well as the need to ban overpowered cards. The game will feature nearly 30 minions divided among three factions and over 100 modifier cards, and because the cards are digital, players can build as many decks as they want and include every card they own, even if they only own one, in every deck they make.
Up to six players can take part in a single game, and despite the focus on strategy, Minion Master is designed to be fast-paced and quick to play with timed rounds that ensure that nobody wastes time. The game will even include a level editor, allowing those with a bent for building to create their own battlefields using more than a dozen different terrain types.
Minion Master sets its own bar very high, but the team at BitFlip Games is making the development process as open as possible to anyone interested. It’s not expected out until late 2012, but preorders are being taken now and people who lay down their money early will gain access to alpha and beta test versions of the game. Minion Master might not be what you might expect from a standard CCG, but it might just be a game that puts the lead in your strategy pencil.
