Chaos Reborn

Pros: Riveting tactical wizard chess! Effective bluffing Enough randomization/RNG to keep you on edge and permit upsets, but not disfavor the better player Games are often decisive. Timers and limited turns keep the pace moving. Good match-making and multiplayer (local/net) options. Cons: Mediocre single player campaign Music is passive and ponderous, but could use more variation and intensity Limited map aesthetics. As any board game, novelty can wear off. I adored the original Chaos!, and this is a well done update. Treat it like a board game with your friends, and you will have a great time. I have been waiting for this to come to GoG (rather than Steam) and am very satisfied with my purchase. If further expansions occur (real possibility) and add a touch more of everything (music, spells, creatures, maps), this will be a "5 star" must buy. Even in it's current form, Chaos: Reborn is highly recommended to any strategy fans.

This is a remake of the 1985 classic "Chaos: The Battle of Wizards", by the original creator. I have been following it since its kickstarter, and now that I bought it on GOG I'm happy that I did. While a single player campaign was added (a shallow version of Heroes of Might and Magic, where you travel maps and manage resources in between fights with the AI), it's really more of an introduction to the battle system and the different game mechanics; I ditched the campaign once I got the hang of things and started battling other players. This is a multiplayer game first and foremost, and it shows: you can play offline on the same PC (hot-seat), you can join others for 1v1, 2v2, 4-player FFA or anything in between; you can take part in official tournaments, raise a game for others to join or start a private server for your friends; you can even play long-term, offline games (think chess games by mail), where each wizard has up to a day to make a move (this allows playing multiple games in parallel and only making a move when you have the time). The instant matchmaking works well, usually within 30 seconds I'm in an arena with a random hand of spells, facing someone roughly my skill level and ready to roll. Playing other people who bluff, set traps and hold cards up their sleeves is always fun and easily something I see myself playing for a long time. A lot of love was put into this and it's very, very polished, from the sound assets, the fantastic visual design (very colorful and unique), creature animations, spell effects, even the online systems (such as being able to search for a game while playing the campaign, and resuming the offline gameplay when the match is over). The engine is really well optimized too, even with multiple on a large map the FPS never dips, I suspect it could run fairly well even on old laptops. If you're interested I suggest looking up some gameplay footage and trying the demo. For the price I got it ($10 on launch) It's a bargain.

It's excellent multiplayer "RNG chess". There's now also non-RNG "law" mode of game, which I somehow don't get - while the RNG "chaos" mode is sometimes cruel and unplayable when it's one of those bad luck days, it's lot more fun for me. Also for non-RNG chess I simply play ches, duh! It may take couple-to-few minutes to find opponent (in wrong time of day lot more than few minutes), but now after ~1 year after release there're still people playing MP, it's far from dead (actually the "pro" fans of the game play lot of asynchronous MP games, but for casuals like me, who want to just pick a fight or two, the number of opponents is lower). The linux version works well for me, no problem for whole year (about 3-4 versions of game). The singleplayer part of game is ... OK-ish, but if I would want some huge single player campaign, I would probably go for Heroes of Might&Magic (just for the additional nostalgia bonus). I played through 90% of offline campaign, can't get enthusiastic enough about the last one. I also tried few online scenarios (created by other players), and while they are also at least OK-ish or nice, I simply don't really long for playing this game as map campaign, for me playing casually (once upon few weeks) MP duels is enough. The best part for me was watching my 8y daughter playing the game, she loves it a lot, and it made her to understand percentages, chances and statistics in few minutes... Plus the random nature of chaos mode allows here to win few MP fights here and there, even if her strategy is not (yet?) on par with adult player. If you are considering purchasing this, I think the core part is the duelling, so either check some duel videos or try demo (not sure if they updated it, but even the old one should give you good idea what the "chaos mode" RNG duels look like). If you will like that, I'm pretty sure it's worth the price. The other parts of game are IMO just completing the package, but I wouldn't buy it for those.

Its simple, clean, easy to play and hard to win. It is amazing. Julian Gollop did great work with his team and delivered indie gem, which few play or knows. There were some flaws when it was released, but developers worked the whole time and right now it is very well polished. Even people who were bothered by the RNG style of the game, can now be quiet. Because the game support even regular "tbs" style game with HP and stuff. I must say, I kinda hate RNG in pc games now (liked it in TBT games), but this game just nailed it and its the most fun way to play the game. Once you get into it and understand the risk managment, you will be well rewarded. Also the community in the game is very nice, it is small, but I enjoyed playing co-op and against ppl.