Dragon Slayer Studio is a young Indie Team founded in early 2013 in Italy. It's something that the three co-founders, Fabio Cadario, Johnny Picciafuochi and Simone Verde, always wanted to do. With the experience matured in the game industry, the time had finally come. The name is a reminiscence of their past as gamers, when the youngers founded an Italian Starcraft clan that reached the top 3 national rankings. As of today, DS Studio is no longer a 100% Italian team, since Manon Dreijer, their pixel artist, from Netherlands and Marc Greenwood, sound designer, from England joined them for their first project. Dragon Slayer are currently focusing on developing games for the mobile market, both for Android and iOs.
Me: Hey guys! I'm looking forward to getting inside your heads. Literally. No, not literally. Tell me, what got you into Video Games to begin with?
Simone: My first contact with video games was when I was pretty young. Back then, I always loved to play Creatures for C64 and Flashback for Amiga, but should I choose one of my favorite in my gaming past I would definitely go for Final Fantasy VII. That game was the beginning of my love for the RPG genre. Nowadays, I don't have a specific preference, it may be related to the fact that I don't have much time for playing, now that we are so focused on our game.
Me: I've seen Rune Lords and I'm getting amped just thinking about it. It seems to be a Virtual Card Game with RPG and Strategy elements. Would you mind telling me more about it?
DS Studio: Rune Lords is a card game with a new combat system, designed with the mobile audience in mind. It counts over 60 cards divided among six elements. You have to build a team of five cards, with a maximum of one card per element. Then you can fight your opponents by drawing runes and custom gestures on the screen to activate the card's skill. The basic concept is kinda similar to the other card games you can find in the store charts; collect, level up and evolve your cards.
What makes Rune Lords really stand out, is that you actually have to do something during your match, victory is not just one click away. You need strategical thinking to prepare a good card setup and the ability to use the right skills and as many of them as you're able in the ten seconds allowed to draw the runes.
Me: Sounds like your studio did their research. The interactivity is crucial, in my humble opinion. I know personally, I would rather have to perform actions in-game as opposed to just drawing, placing and waiting. What are some of the other features of Rune Lords?
DS Studio: The game will allow both a single player and a multiplayer mode. In the single player part the player will be able to move freely on a map. He can choose to follow the story going from a location to another, test himself against random encounter or scripted events while gathering currency, cards and items to improve his team.
The multiplayer will consist of a PvP Arena with monthly rewards. Each match will be live and each turn will be synchronous, so both players can plan their choices and their actions will be executed simultaneously.
Me: Will there be a chance for Asynchronous game play for the folks who have limited time to PvP with? And will there be any cross-effects of playing both Single Player and PvP Mode?
DS Studio: So far the PvP is live and synchronous and seems to work well enough. We handle the multiplayer with Google Play Service, so for accessing PvP a G+ account is needed, but making one is really 3 tap away. The PvP offer some bonus to the team's stats and this may affect single player also. While single player is important since it offer currency and loot to upgrade your team.
Me: Hey guys! I'm looking forward to getting inside your heads. Literally. No, not literally. Tell me, what got you into Video Games to begin with?
Simone: My first contact with video games was when I was pretty young. Back then, I always loved to play Creatures for C64 and Flashback for Amiga, but should I choose one of my favorite in my gaming past I would definitely go for Final Fantasy VII. That game was the beginning of my love for the RPG genre. Nowadays, I don't have a specific preference, it may be related to the fact that I don't have much time for playing, now that we are so focused on our game.
Me: I've seen Rune Lords and I'm getting amped just thinking about it. It seems to be a Virtual Card Game with RPG and Strategy elements. Would you mind telling me more about it?
DS Studio: Rune Lords is a card game with a new combat system, designed with the mobile audience in mind. It counts over 60 cards divided among six elements. You have to build a team of five cards, with a maximum of one card per element. Then you can fight your opponents by drawing runes and custom gestures on the screen to activate the card's skill. The basic concept is kinda similar to the other card games you can find in the store charts; collect, level up and evolve your cards.
What makes Rune Lords really stand out, is that you actually have to do something during your match, victory is not just one click away. You need strategical thinking to prepare a good card setup and the ability to use the right skills and as many of them as you're able in the ten seconds allowed to draw the runes.
Me: Sounds like your studio did their research. The interactivity is crucial, in my humble opinion. I know personally, I would rather have to perform actions in-game as opposed to just drawing, placing and waiting. What are some of the other features of Rune Lords?
DS Studio: The game will allow both a single player and a multiplayer mode. In the single player part the player will be able to move freely on a map. He can choose to follow the story going from a location to another, test himself against random encounter or scripted events while gathering currency, cards and items to improve his team.
The multiplayer will consist of a PvP Arena with monthly rewards. Each match will be live and each turn will be synchronous, so both players can plan their choices and their actions will be executed simultaneously.
Me: Will there be a chance for Asynchronous game play for the folks who have limited time to PvP with? And will there be any cross-effects of playing both Single Player and PvP Mode?
DS Studio: So far the PvP is live and synchronous and seems to work well enough. We handle the multiplayer with Google Play Service, so for accessing PvP a G+ account is needed, but making one is really 3 tap away. The PvP offer some bonus to the team's stats and this may affect single player also. While single player is important since it offer currency and loot to upgrade your team.