A turn-based card game mixing strategy and puzzle elements: find approach for each of 78 missions.
Positive
46 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | — | — | Y |
| Russian | — | — | Y |
Excellent
I love this game, I've been playing it since it came out in 2011 (before it was on Steam). From my perspective, the campaign is more of a tutorial for the mage battle mode, which can be played against the AI or in hotseat mode. It's very compelling, but unfortunately it is very unbalanced. Each player is randomly assigned a set of spells/creatures at the start of each match, but you can't see what your enemy has. There are certain spells and creatures which are close to a "win game" button (e.g. Assassination) or very close, depending on what they're up against. Sometimes I know I can't win after 2 or 3 turns. But still, I keep playing!
I've been playing Apus Software games since the original release of Astral Tournament. This one is somewhat different from the other games, focusing more on the puzzle aspect. Enjoyed the campaign. The hard mode was quite challenging.
Not too bad. Shame that the campaign is short, repetitive and does not explore the full potential of tower modules that are available in standalone battles vs AI.
Ну игра давно заброшена нету обещаного мультиплеера не добавили даже возможность начать кампанию заново.
Very fun game, very Apus. If you haven't tried Spectromancer yet I recommend it. This game is very interesting with faster paced play and wonderful strategic depth. Unfortunately the AI is really bad so unlike Spectromancer you might find yourself not having much of a challenge unless you play against people.
Release dates in Steam does not correspond the order Apus Software games were released.
True release dates are in brackets and can be used to determine an order of how to play these games:
Astral Tournament (Astral Masters DLC, originally a prequel) - Steam: 23 Sep, 2022 (Original: 2002)
Astral Masters, Steam: 1 Nov, 2021 (Original: 2005)
Spectromancer - Steam: 15 Oct, 2008 (Original: 2008)
Astral Towers - Steam: 29 Sep, 2020 (Original: 2013)
Astral Heroes - Steam: 20 Oct, 2016 (Original: 2016)
М-да уж, эта игра просто ужасна.
Это же надо было умудриться сделать более простую, примитивную, урезанную, расбалансированную, куцую, убогую игру по сравнению с предыдущим Spectromancer 2009 года выпуска!
То ли пандемия сказалась и на сегменте казуалок за три копейки то ли что-то ещё, но разработчикам игры, имея опыт создания подобных игр, удалось всё же сделать жалкую пародию на предыдущую свою игру десятилетней давности.
Like this game very much to pass some time every now and then. Sometimes more a puzzler than a card game. You can see these are the Spectromancer people. Can't wait for another game from them.
Tedious puzzle game with a random chance of having your solutions work. For $.50 it is worth it as a time waster. If you spend more than that you are over paying for what you get.
I liked it. Beating the campaign on hard was actually quite frustrating sometimes, it always felt like you started 0-3 behind. But succeeding eventually made it feel extra satisfying.
If you like card games which also feels like some sort of puzzle (you just know every scenario has a solution with your cards/powers), you should definitely give it a try.
Просто обалденная игра!
A pretty fun card game where you explore a map, collecting cards and battling the various factions. The campaign on normal is pretty well balanced so that you won't steamroll every encounter. There are also multiplayer options, where you get to play with the various races. Worth the money paid on it.
Gets boring really quickly. The other Astral games are much better.
.
游戏不错，比前作魔幻卡牌游戏性有所提升，强烈建议增加游戏模式，玩法太少。
Active Dev, great game (already played it ages ago, rebought this remastered edition) great fun again!
I really like vs AI and hotseat modes in addition to the story (playable on 2 difficulty modes).
Cheap game, get a coffee or this? This! :)
Provides many hours of casual-gaming entertainment.
Баланс сломан к чертовой матери. На нормальной сложности играется настолько легко, что просто скучно. Щелк-щелк-щелк, прокручиваем битвы. Но есть же высокая сложность, скажете вы!.. да, она тут есть. Но на ней битвы резко превращаются в какие-то адские молотилки, которые можно проходить только строго заданной комбинацией, абсолютно индивидуальной каждый раз тактикой, нащупывание которой - это та еще развлекуха.
[h1] Выбери свою стихию [/h1]
Astral Towers - карточная стратегия от отечественных разработчиков из Apus Software. Оригинальная игра увидела свет еще в 2011 году, в сентябре 2020 года был выпущен доработанный ремастер с улучшенной графикой и скорректированным игровым балансом. За время пребывания в Steam новая версия успела собрать 30 отзывов, большая часть которых дают игре положительный рейтинг. Давайте разберемся, что нам приготовили разработчики.
Для начала, хотелось бы отметить, что сами по себе Apus Software - далеко не новички в создании компьютерных игр. Специализируется небольшая инди-студия именно на играх с карточной механикой, но без намека на коллекционность и донат. Наиболее известными проектами разработчиков являются Astral Masters и Spectromancer, до сих пор приковывающие к себе игроков, и Astral Towers тоже не стала в этом отношении исключением.
По мере старта игры главное меню предлагает нам на выбор ряд опций: сюжетный режим, игра с живым противником за одной машиной, онлайн-партии (пока недоступно) и тренировка с ИИ разной степени сложности. В отсутствие возможности сразиться по интернету, основное внимание волей-неволей ложится именно на сюжетку и ее составляющие.
[b] СЮЖЕТ [/b] Astral Towers прост и не представляет из себя ничего особенного. Отыгрывая роль боевого мага, еще только набирающегося опыта на полях приключений, мы странствуем по здешнему миру, влипая в разные (карточные) передряги. Само собой найдется место и большому злу в черной башне, и его приспешникам, но изюминка на самом деле вовсе не в этом. Каждый бой Вас ждут особые противники и уникальные условия победы. По сути вы не просто играете, а решаете головоломку, имея определенный набор инструментов.
[b] ИГРОВОЙ ПРОЦЕСС, [/b] как Вы, должно быть, уже догадались, представляет собой длинную череду карточных партий. В сюжетном режиме набор карт фиксирован, и может лишь изредка расширяться по мере выполнения особых заданий. В режиме сражений с ИИ набор так же фиксирован, однако каждый бой сочетания имеющихся заклинаний меняются случайным образом, тем самым побуждая Вас не засиживаться на одной и той же тактике и менять подход к сражению. Идея замечательна уже хотя бы тем, что при сравнительно небольшом кардпуле это действительно делает партии совершенно разными, не позволяя Вам или противнику "абузить" одни и те же отработанные шаблоны.
В самом начале любой партии нас встречает карточный стол, по левую сторону которого разворачиваются баталии, а по правую находится весь ваш арсенал. Всего в игре 5 стихий - огонь (нанесение прямого и массового урона), лед (фокус на защитных заклинаниях), природа (исцеление), смерть (вызов мелких существ и уничтожение существ противника), а также ремесло (различные механизмы, здания и существа, с ними синергирующие). Мы начинаем ход с определенным запасом маны каждой стихии, и с началом хода он увеличивается на одно очко. Примечательно, что наборы карт двух соперников как правило различаются, и наличие у вас карты, вызывающей орду скелетов практически гарантирует отсутствие оной в колоде оппонента. Никаких бустеров и коллекционирования - все что можно есть в наличии с самого начала.
В режиме обычного сражения на стороне каждого игрока имеется астральная башня (в сюжетке роль башни выполняет главный герой-маг). От запаса ее прочности напрямую зависит, сколько времени Вы продержитесь в игре. Ваша задача - снизить до 0 очки прочности башни оппонента. Башню можно улучшать, выбрав один из стихийных апгрейдов. В зависимости от отданного предпочтения Вам откроется больше карт определенной стихии, а также уменьшится их цена. Башню можно не только совершенствовать, но и "достраивать", добавляя различные бонусы, будь то постоянная регенерация, нанесение урона сопернику и др.
У игры простенькое, но красивое графическое исполнение, приятное музыкальное сопровождение и скромный ценник, достаточный для того, чтобы купить Astral Towers даже без скидки. Расстраивает пока лишь отсутствие возможности сразиться с живым оппонентом онлайн, однако Apus Software вроде как обещают добавить это в будущем. Посему настоятельно рекомендую к приобретению всем любителям вдумчивых карточных стратегий.
[code] Ищете интересные игры, но боитесь выбрать то, что не понравится? Вступайте в [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/bythefireplace] Таверну "У камина" [/url] и подписывайтесь на [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39473538/] страничку куратора. [/url] Выберем правильные игры вместе! [/code]
По-прежнему ужасный баланс: бесполезность большей части ледяных карт и пятой башни, ломаность льда 12, смерти 11 и т.д. Кроме того, чем больше ваше преимущество, тем сложнее противнику переломить ситуацию из-за фокусировки огня, чего нет в Спектромансере и Владыках Астрала
This is not a card game. It's a cast-spells-when-you-have-mana game. This isn't a bad thing at all, but it is not what I was expecting. There is no deck, no discard, no hand, and no drawing cards. What the game calls drawing cards really is giving you random spells from a specific magic type that, from that point forward, are always available if you have the power to cast them. This "drawing cards" mechanic doesn't even occur in the campaign... you have set spells the entire time, with no choice on what you can cast, what magic types to power up, or anything else except which of a couple branches to take first.
The campaign is about 90 missions long if you do them all. It took me about 5 1/2 hours to go through it. Some parts were a decent challenge and took me a couple tries... most of it was fairly easy. The campaign plays like a puzzle, with just about nothing random about it except the choices the enemy side makes. I haven't tried it again in hard, might come back later for that. For a $4.99 game, I feel this is fine, though I was hoping for a longer game.
The random 1v1 matches are significantly less interesting. Internet mode is locked still, for whatever reason, not that I care for PvP.
I would give this game a 6/10.
[code] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/36948155-Card-Game-KING/] FOR MORE REVIEWS ABOUT CARD GAMES, CHECK OUT OUR CURATOR PAGE: [b]CARD GAME KING [/b][/url] or [url=https://twitter.com/TheCardGameKing][b]TWITTER[/b][/url][/code]
[h1] [b]What is this game about?[/b] [/h1]
Astral Towers is a simple concept that can be described in very few sentences (but why would I do that?). It's card based game, where you have 3 spaces to place frontliners and 2 for backliners. Each turn you gain one of each 5 elements which you can use to play exactly ONE card per turn. Also don't die. That's it.
However, even with such simple mechanics the campaign mode (and the main mode this review is about) can be very difficult (especially so on Hard). In fact, each battle feels like a super tightly designed puzzle and most of them require several, sometimes, dozen of attempts before you figure out the perfect order of actions to win you the day.
There is a gorgeous map, but unfortunately, the game is VERY linear that only sometimes provides you with a side route next to the main one. However, these side routes often lead to major upgrades/cards without which it feels nearly impossible to continue the main path.
The biggest critique I have is that the campaign mode uses only a small pool cards available in the game overall. Card rewards are unbelievably scarce so most of the time you will play with the same dozen of cards.
Aside from the campaign, there is VS AI and hotseat mode where you can play with the full set of cards. It looks like the developer wanted an online mode as well, but at the time it's not available.
[h1][b]The positive[/b] [/h1]
+ Surprising depth for such a simple mechanic. You get one card per turn, which means every action you take can be extremely impactful.
+Challenging (on Hard). If you like a good challenge, this is it. Due to the small amount of cards in the campaign, every combat feels like a puzzle that will require you to think and experiment.
+ Plays super fast. Perfect to be played in short bursts, or long ones if you're very persistent.
[h1][b]The neutral[/b][/h1]
* It has hotseat and vs AI mode. There are pretty cool cards in the game, and I can see people having fun playing it against friends (don't play with sore losers though).
* Difficulty option is a bit weird. Campaign has 2 difficulty options, normal and hard. However, these are separated, so if you find out Hard is a bit too difficult, you will have to start the campaign over on Normal.
[h1][b]The negative[/b] [/h1]
- Small number of cards in the campaign. After almost 15h, I had about 18 cards and that's fairly near the end. I wish there was more card variety here, and ideally, a little bit of deck building.
[h1][b]Conclusion:[/b] [/h1]
If you like puzzle like combat and a good challenge along with a fast paced gameplay, Astral Towers is a clear recommendation, especially considering its price.
Recommended.
Fun game with varied tactics.
Some missions were really challenging.
Fun puzzle game
This was one of my favorite games on iPad. So glad to see it on steam. There's a few areas that could use a bit more polish, but it doesn't take away from the amazing fun. Highly recommended!
Неплохо, но если сравнивать со Спектрашом это к сожалению шаг назад.
Славная переработка старой доброй игры.
Приятная глазу. Способна бросить вызов, при этом берёт плавный старт, обучая основам.
Есть полноценная компания, возможность дуэли с ИИ или другим игроком с одного компьютера.
Сетевые дуэли пока не добавили.
Классная кампания (сначала простая, но потом приходится включать голову), хороший бот для поединков.
В целом интересный геймдизайн
Раньше пиратку прошел на инглише.Сейчас хоть сюжет понял))
It was not fun. Me struggling with one minion at least 4 turns, while enemy summons very powerfull minions each turn, or powerfull curses or heals... It is hard to come up with a strategy when everything you summon is killed in 1 turn (before even acting). Thanks but no thanks.
The game's simple and straightforward, just don't expect a full-blown CCG strategy out of it. At its core, Astral Towers is a puzzle, first and foremost. Some minor strategical elements are present, but there's no deckbuilding or tactical flexibility. There's also no RNG, it might be an important point for some of you. Usually, each encounter must be solved in a very specific, predetermined way with marginal leeway here and there. So, what you do is try and try different approaches until one works. The game is fairly challenging, some missions may seem impossible at first, but throw yourself at the wall enough times and it will eventually give in. The process is moderately enjoyable for the price.
[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35305390-Big-Bad-Mutuh/?appid=262060]My curator[/url]
After my first glance at Astral Towers, I knew immediately that it must've been developed by the same folks that did Spectromancer. I wouldn't call either game a "deck builder," although I found both games when looking for deck builders on Steam. They might more accurately be called "spell casting" games. You have some spells that cast one-time effects, and others that summon buildings or creatures that remain on the board until defeated (I'll call these "conjurations" for the remainder of this review).
In each game, your character generates one "mana" of each element every turn, by default. However, enemy conjurations can reduce the speed that you acquire certain types of mana, and your conjurations can accelerate it. You'll have at your disposal various spells corresponding to each mana type, from which you can cast one each turn. As you progress through the game's campaign, you'll unlock more spells that correspond to each mana type. Not using spells of a certain type will allow you to bank more of that mana type, perhaps building up to more powerful spells later in the match.
The strategy in the game involves two elements: 1) choosing the best spell or conjuration to attack your enemy or counter the conjurations they have on the board, and 2) placing your conjurations in the best spot and/or row available. You have two rows of three spots on your side of the board (six in total). Conjurations put into the front row will be attacked before those put in the rear, while those placed on the left and right will be attacked by the enemies on the corresponding side.
I generally enjoyed the campaign experience. I felt that the cards were diverse and unlocked at a manageable pace that allowed you to gain proficiency with each. The main hiccup for me was with level 54 - The Guardian Tower. Two of my play sessions with the game consisted entirely of playing and losing this level, and it was easily much harder than the final encounter of the game. The objective was to destroy the enemy tower, and your opponent has access to a spell that can quickly and easily return the tower to full health. I ended up following a walkthrough I found on YouTube to complete this level. Although the enemy behaved differently than in the walkthrough that I watched, the tactics suggested by the video remained vital. Although I typically view my conjurations as expendable, just attempting to do as much damage with each as possible before they perish, this level requires you to put out very specific conjurations and keep them alive for the duration.
One other thing that I feel would improve the game would be different animations for different conjurations - for instance, perhaps a sword slash animation from goblin attacks, rather than having all attacks be represented by the same spike projectile.
Lastly, I should mention the skirmish and multiplayer mode. In this mode, players (and AI) have access to many more cards than they do in the campaign, and the emphasis seems to be on evolving and upgrading your tower (hence the name Astral Towers, I suppose). Although it seems that the developers wanted this mode to be a prominent part of the experience, I didn't find it to be as engaging as the campaign - too much is thrown at the player too quickly, and it lacks the story arc (however shallow) present in the campaign experience.
If a turn-based, spell casting strategy game seems up your alley, I'd first recommend Spectromancer. However, if you liked Spectromancer, I feel confident that you'll enjoy Astral Towers as well.
This is a puzzle game, for gamers that thought they wanted to play an action game. It is fun and challenging. The game play is it's strength. Interesting and varying mechanics as the game progresses. Changing objectives keep things from becoming too dry. the deterministic outcome is compelling and makes you keep playing until you win a scenario. I like that the interface is so smooth which allows you to focus on the tactics as you watch the combat play out.
Astral Towers is a fun game, more like a puzzle than a card game. The cards you unlock (in a mostly fixed order, no RNG, you can't seem to get anything earlier) are elements used to solve the battles (who works as puzzles, with many ways to resolve, luckily, but always using the pieces you got). My mistake everytime I got stuck was thinking that I had to use the newest and more powerful cards, when instead sometimes you have to mix and match using the older and weaker cards with the spells and the new ones until you find a combination that works.
I've been playing 13 hours and apparently I'm in the middle of the game, so it seems to be pretty lenghty too. The price is great and you'll get hours of fun.
Механика почти такая же как в Spectromancer. Каждый ход очки стихии и крафт растут, на эти очки играем карты из соответствующей категории. Интересная вещь, дальний и ближние ряды, дальний нельзя атаковать с ближнего (если определенная карта не говорит иного)
На нормальном играется нормально, без проблем, пару раз пришлось сменить тактику. Можно играть с друзьями всеми картами или с AI. Возможно будет онлайн. Приятная, ненавязчивая игра
This game was released some years ago, and released on steam via a Greenlight:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=815924591
It's a turn-based card game mixing strategy and puzzle elements.
The interface is a bit rough, don't compare it to Hearthstone where you can see all the infos you need visually. To know the specs of a unit (besides health & attack damage, you have to mouseover and read the description at the bottom of the screen).
PLAY THIS ON HARD!
You can solve the puzzles different ways, and the process is really rewarding. The price is really low ; it's really good value. If you like the gameplay, check Spectromancer by the same Company.
Recommended 2014 review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uSVq206BRE
by Extra Credits.
Pretty good, puzzles are challenging and interesting.
Wirklich schönes "kleines" strategisches Kartenspiel. Es hat eine sehr angenehme Lernkurve im normalen Schwierigkeitsgrad und ist auf dem höheren Schwierigkeitsgrad sehr herausfordern (zumindest wenn man kein Profi ist). Was mir besonders gut gefällt sind die Punkte, dass eine Duell nicht ewig dauert (zumindest nicht auf "normal") und es im Gegensatz zu anderen Kartenkampfspielen nicht das Element Zufall gibt (auch hier bezogen auf die Kampagne) und zwar gar nicht. Es ist planbar was man an Schaden bekommen wird und wer und was man an Schaden austeilt und gegen wen.
Im Kampf gegen die KI gibt es dann deutlich mehr Karten für einen selbst und so wieder Abwechslung und andere Aspekte.
Hat mir viel Spaß gemacht und macht es noch.
really good game, definitely worth the price
Ещё одна крутая игра из "астральной" серии. Графика аскетична, но это м лихвой искупается механикой.
Ооооооочень казуально, думать почти не нужно, но играбельно.
Игры от Apus Software всегда стояли для меня в отдельном ряду, потому что все без исключения очень нравились и подолгу держали интерес. Главное, что хочу сказать о творчестве этой компании - в их играх довольно большая глубина, несмотря на простоту механики. А самое главное - ИИ у них всегда на самом высоком уровне. Я не любитель мультиплеера и предпочитаю как раз посражаться с компом в свое удовольствие, и в оффлайн версиях таких творений от Apus как Astral Tournament, Astral Masters, Spectromanser и ранней Astral Towers меня больше всего привлек в кои-то веки достойный ИИ. Играть можно поэтому долго, и достигнуть совершенства очень непросто. Данная игра проста в освоении и поначалу победы даются легко, но по мере проникновения вглубь вы почувствуете, что вам все больше приходится ломать голову. Но ничего принципиально нерешаемого там нет. После поражения в конкретной битве вас не выкидывает в начало кампании, вы можете сразу же переиграть с другой тактикой, и после нескольких попыток добиться успеха и испытать понятное удовлетворение) В графике нет особых спецэффектов, за которыми часто гонятся игроделы, но для меня это всегда было плюсом во всей серии игр Апуса. Графика проста, но красива и органична, ничего лишнего, просто радуется глаз. В общем, очень рекомендую всем любителям подумать))
Had this game many years ago on my laptop. Decided to support Apus here on Steam, as I love all of their fantasy card games (Astral Tournament, Astral Masters, Astral Towers, Spectromancer, and Astral Heroes).
Story and theme are based on folklore/DnD/LoTR/MtG.
As an older game, it was part of Apus's evolution which culminated (so far) with Astral Heroes (although Spectromancer is still the best of the bunch and the immortal classic).
Excellent solo campaign (with some puzzle elements) and achievements to unlock. After that, it's all about one on one battles to pass the time.
By the way, I hope the other older games come to Steam as well.
I can't recommend Apus enough. They just don't make games which rely on multiplayer. Their AI is great. Quick frankly, the card mechanics and cards in general were always more appealing to me than Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, and Hearthstone. Apus games are like chess.
Забавный карточный "паззл-пасьянс"с приятными артами, сюжетной линией и неторопливым увлекательным геймплеем.
This game is made quite simple and very rudimentary.
If you want a game that is completely calm and without any special motivation, such as solitaire games, you can buy this game.
I hope the game is updated. I thought the developer, from the experience of Spectromancer, now in 2020, has realized what a good game it can produce, but it is not as good as Spectromancer.
I vote for this game only in the hope that the next update will make the game more attractive and give players more authority.
