Post Pax Review
Needless to say, we had a great time at PAX and we were happy to have been noticed by a game reviewer who came to have a chat about the game Dolven. Rohan Elliott writes for Couch Soup and you can read his full article here PAX Aus 2023: The Indie Revolution! 5 Games That Stole the Show | Couch Soup
To every one of you who played the game at Pax, we are truly grateful, and if you would like to send us a review of your experience with the demo, we would love to be able to put some reviews on our Steam page. As it stands, our Steam page doesn't have a lot on it yet, but a few honest reviews would be a fantastic start, so if anyone would like to reply with a review, please do. You can reply to this email and we will pick out a few to post on our steam page
Also, we have to apologise. We really thought we would have the closed beta demo ready by December to send out to you all, but alas, that has not quite been the case. It’s getting very close; Andrew has been working on an escape room, new color schemes, and the extermination of a few bugs. We are hoping to get this closed beta out very soon so stay tuned!!
Thanks to Rohan for the inclusion in his article he wrote for Pax Oct 2023.
Dolven – Covyne Entertainment
An archer, mage, and thief walk into a dungeon.
Pitched as an RPG turn-based card deck builder strategy game by the developers, Dolven was the one game on this list I struggled to see the appeal of initially. When I was chatting with Andrew from Covyne Entertainment and listening to him explain how the gameplay works, I was skeptical about how the combination of turn-based strategy and card battler would work when put into practice.
However, once I got hands-on time with the game, it all started to make sense. Don’t get me wrong; I got my ass handed to me for the first five minutes while I took in all the different status effects and ability cards spread out in front of me. After that, my brain switched gears, and I started thinking more like a tactician than a writer/accountant. Unfortunately, my demo was just that one battle and I didn’t get to experience any of the other elements, but even so, I found it to be engaging and gave me that just one more go feeling that I get from playing XCOM.
Developer Andrew Naish had this to say about the inspiration behind Dolven:
“I’m a huge fan of games such as Divinity: Original Sin, Baldur’s Gate, and even classic titles like the Ultima series and Temple of Elemental Evil. Also, since childhood, I’ve immensely enjoyed countless hours of playing card games like Uno, Gin Rummy, and Poker with my friends and family. Dolven is the fusion of these two lifelong passions”.
Having played Dolven, I can see glimpses of these influences just in the short playtime I had. It’s not going to be for everyone, and it might take longer than you think for the gameplay to click, but I’d recommend giving it a go when the game releases.