Our author Leya has dived into the open beta of Hand of Gods and tested the new card game from Studio Hi-Rez. At DreamHack in Valencia, she met the community manager Kevin “Adanas” Meier. From him, she learned more about the development of the deck-builder game and plans for the future. The game board will play an increasingly important role.
The last time I played Hand of the Gods, it was still in the early closed beta and was called Smite Tactics. That was in March 2017. At that time, I wrote that I felt like I was on a chessboard. Positioning and the right order of moves were the keys to victory.
Now Hand of the Gods is in open beta and I have ventured back into turn-based combat with the gods. Even though the gameplay has changed in the meantime, my feeling from the chessboard has remained.
Hand of the Gods: SMITE Tactics – Now in Open Beta
Hand of the Gods is now in open beta, which was announced last week with the video below. It is now free to download for everyone.
Hand of the Gods: Smite Tactics – Gameplay – Turn-based Deck Builder with Game Board
In Hand of the Gods, you take on the role of a god like Zeus or Ra. With the help of cards, you build an army of mystical monsters and other (minor) gods. With this army, you wage war against another god.
Your deck consists of lesser gods, mystical creatures, and soldiers. But spells can also be found among the cards. With these, you can shove enemy minions back into your opponent’s deck or give your creatures more life or attack points.
Currently, there are 5 god worlds in Hand of the Gods – Smite Tactics:
- Greek
- Egyptian
- Roman
- Nordic
- Chinese
The realms all have different strengths and weaknesses against each other. In the future, more pantheons are to be added.
As a powerful god, you give commands to the forces from above. You place the figures on the game board and control them from there. The minions can move and attack a limited number of fields – similar to chess. They can often also use abilities like stuns or healing.
The different gods have their own abilities that they use on the battlefield. For example, the Greek god Zeus gives additional life and attack to his minions, while the Egyptian Ra heals his creatures.
The cards and abilities cost mana, which you must allocate carefully.
The goal of the game is to destroy the Summoning Stones
Each of the two players has a “Summoning Stone”. The goal is to destroy the opponent’s stone. Whoever succeeds first wins the match. To destroy the Summoning Stones, your minions must attack them. Once the stone reaches 0 points, it breaks, and you have won the game.
To protect your own stone and destroy the opponent’s, you must constantly keep an eye on your positioning.
Hand of the Gods is a deck builder that works similarly to Hearthstone – only that the “cards” do not just lie statically on the game board but come alive as figures.
The game board brings a new level of strategy into play, as the figures are placed across the field, like in chess. A wrong move with the minion can cost a god the game. If you are not careful and your minion stands on the wrong field, your opponent can simply walk by and finish off your stone.
Hand of the Gods – “The heart is definitely the game board”
At DreamHack Valencia in Spain, I spoke with the community manager of Hand of the Gods. His name is Kevin “Adanas” Meier, and his job is to gather and evaluate feedback from players.
Adanas referred to the game board as the heart of Hand of the Gods. At its core, the strategy game is a deck builder with cards. According to Adanas, the game board adds a new layer.
“In most card games, you only have the cards for attacking and defending. With Hand of the Gods, you can block a path with a body, or you can create specific formations with the servants. I believe our team is good at utilizing the game board.” – Community Manager Adanas
Adanas mentioned the goddess Bellona as an example. Her skills are tailored to the game board. She is the leader of the Roman army, and her cards mostly revolve around movement and formation. For example, some of Bellona’s units receive a buff when they stand directly next to each other. Other cards ensure that the opponent takes damage as soon as they move their units across the board. Skills like these add an extra twist of strategy to the card game.
The game board is expected to bring even more tactics in the future
This is precisely the direction Studio Hi-Rez wants to take with Hand of the Gods. The game board should be incorporated into every design decision, whether new god realms, creatures, or spells are added.
You activated my trap card!
Adanas told me that the developers want to work even more intensively with the game board in the future.
The team is currently working on ideas such as invisible traps that the opponent can hide on the game board. Another possibility would be walls that can be thrown directly at your opponent’s feet.
Hand of the Gods: The transformation from a piece of coal to a raw diamond
Leya says: When I played Hand of the Gods in March 2017 during the early closed beta, it resembled more a piece of coal that had the potential to become a strategy gem.
One played with the leader gods like cat and mouse. One god chased the other on the game board and tried to eliminate him. It quickly became tedious. Nevertheless, the game board was already the strongest component of this card game. It gave me the feeling of a mix of chess and cards.
Meanwhile, there are “Summoning Stones” that need to be destroyed instead of the gods. At first, I was concerned that Hand of the Gods would become more static as a result. The gods now stand at the edge of the board and give commands. The “Summoning Stones” are also fixed in place.
But quite the opposite happened: Hand of the Gods is much more dynamic than Smite Tactics ever was.
There are now more options for moving your units across the game board and fully utilizing the field. I no longer had to be afraid for my god, but rather just had to keep an eye on my stone.
With the stone, I can’t run away when it takes damage. This means I am forced to use my units more flexibly.
I played about 10 hours of Hand of the Gods in open beta. It is clear that this is still a beta. Here and there, there are hiccups, such as incorrectly displayed cards. So far, I have the impression that most cards are still quite standard, which could be disturbing for experienced deck-building players.
I additionally had several matches in which a snowball effect occurred. The one who managed to get the most creatures and minor gods on the board the fastest often won the match. However, I do not want to lean too far out of the window with this judgment. It could be that I am not deep enough into the game yet to recognize turn-around strategies.
I was pleased to hear from Adanas that the developers want to further enhance their core – the game board. The board, along with the theme of mystical creatures and gods, could become a strong unique selling point of Hand of the Gods.
Hand of the Gods has transformed from a mere piece of coal to a raw diamond. At first glance, it seems like just another card game. However, the game board brings an extra layer of strategy that will excite board game enthusiasts and strategists alike.
If the team can manage to integrate the game board even more and create new obstacles and tactics through it, Hand of the Gods will become a high-level strategy game.
For those who want to try Hand of the Gods – Smite Tactics themselves, here is a link for the free download.
Have you played Hand of the Gods, and what are your impressions?
At Studio Hi-Rez, there is currently a lot going on: Paladins, SMITE: More heroes, new systems – HiRez is ramping up!
