The Royal Writ has officially set its release date for Steam on August 7. Developed by Save Sloth Studios and published by Yogscast Games, this lane-based card game with permadeath started as a quick Ludum Dare jam entry before growing into a full project after positive feedback.
The game’s premise is pretty straightforward yet oddly charming: the king sends letters summoning troublemakers to his throne room. If those invitees don’t want to show up? Well, a little siege action is on the menu instead.
Players collect the king’s creatures and place them on the battlefield, where they march forward to defeat enemies. Each creature has its own strengths and weaknesses, and terrain plays a real part. Water slows down land-based creatures, aquatic ones swim through freely, and flying creatures just fly right over the mess.
The battlefields are procedurally generated, so you won’t get the same fight twice. You’ll also be involved in mini-games to upgrade your cards. But here’s the twist: permadeath means if you mess up, that powered-up card you spent forever on could vanish forever. Harsh, but it adds a tense edge to each decision.
Honestly, I can’t believe it went from a 48-hour jam to this. If you like card games that require thinking ahead but with a high risk of losing your best pieces, The Royal Writ might be worth your time next month.
