The unusual battle royale game Spellbreak lets you fight wild battles as a wizard with magical gloves and runes. The game started far more successfully than the developers had anticipated. MeinMMO author Jürgen Horn also finds the game much better now than in the beta. Moreover, the developers explained in an interview how the launch went and what they still want to bring.
What is Spellbreak? Spellbreak is an unusual battle royale game. You play as a wizard who unexpectedly finds himself in the “Hollow Lands”, a devastated fantasy world. There, you must master magic and take down other wizards. Only then can you become the “Ultimate Spellcaster”.
The special features of Spellbreak are:
- Each of your heroes can fly and hover
- You choose a class before the game starts, including Ice Mage, Fire Mage, or Lightning Wizard
- Depending on the class, you start with a glove that gives you access to special attacks and skills. You are therefore never defenseless.
- In the game, you can find a second magic glove and combine the effects.
- Additionally, there are runes that act as utility skills, making you invisible or enabling teleports.
Otherwise, the usual battle royale concept applies. Collect loot, get stronger, kill opponents, and be the last one standing. The game world constantly shrinks due to a magical storm, ensuring you can’t hide forever. Here you can see the launch trailer:
Spellbreak – From “meh” to “Wow, this is really fun!”
My first experience with Spellbreak: Just before the end of the Spellbreak beta, my MeinMMO colleague Noah Struthoff and I played Spellbreak. In the end, we were somewhat puzzled. The game had good ideas. We liked the idea of magic and combos. The setting was original, and flying was also cool.
But on the other hand, the game was not particularly beginner-friendly. We often didn’t know what to do with the magic gloves, and then either there were no opponents for ages, or we were immediately taken out by some completely superior pros. Our conclusion was therefore, “Yes, this could work, but something needs to change and there should be more rewarding moments.”
Mixed feelings about the launch: Since my first sessions in Spellbreak were so frustrating, I wasn’t particularly excited to play the game again at release. “Oh well, what could have changed?” I sighed fatalistically and dutifully installed it. Someone has to do it. And who knows, maybe the devs really improved something. I actually liked the idea of Spellbreak and the graphics style reminiscent of the anime series Avatar.
It was so awesome right from the first game after release: And what can I say? The gameplay felt completely different after the release. As soon as I landed, the action started off big, and I quickly got into the game. I had chosen a lightning mage. She fires off the lightning bolts in rapid succession and feels a bit like a magical submachine gun.
Since many of the noobs who had just started were probably playing the cool-looking fire mage, I quickly took out several opponents shortly after landing. The fireballs do much more damage per hit than my little tickling lightning bolts. But they are very visible, slow, and can only be thrown with observable delay.
I, on the other hand, ran and hovered around the opponents and zapped them repeatedly until they all lay in the dust. I snatched their loot and followed a wild raid through the rest of the map.
I took out opponents with lightning strikes or dissolved them in close combat with my newly found acid glove. It works like a shotgun and is super dangerous in close combat. Combined with an invisibility rune, I could melt some opponents from ambush.
In the end, the last opponent fell under my magical power, and I had won! A complete victory right in the first game. Yeah, that’s what motivating gameplay looks like!
So instead of uninstalling the game angrily after three frustrating rounds, I played nothing else for the rest of the evening and was totally excited.
That’s why Spellbreak is so much fun: Whatever the developers did, the release build of Spellbreak is incredibly fun, and the magic gloves (the weapons in the game) feel much more intuitive to play than in the beta.
Once you figure out how a specific spell works and connect it with a typical shooter weapon, the rest comes naturally. The lightning bolts are rapid-fire weapons, the ice glove is a kind of sniper rifle, and the poison gloves are like a toxic shotgun due to their spread.
Since you can move very quickly with the flying ability and some runes, the game flows quickly, and the fights are a lot of fun thanks to the many effects and the cool cel-shading graphic style. A round goes quickly, and if you lose, you quickly get back into the fray and can continue in a new round.
Developers reveal details about the future:
Who did we talk to? After the awesome first round in Spellbreak, there was also an opportunity to conduct another interview with the developers. Executive Producer Cardell Kerr from Studio Proletariat was available to me again.
How did the launch go? In response to my question about the launch of the game and how it went, Cardell was very satisfied and gave me the following answer:
The launch exceeded all our expectations! It is very difficult to release on so many platforms and in so many regions, and we anticipated all kinds of problems. We thought we would spend the first week just trying to keep the game running. But everything went almost smoothly. We were also really surprised by the initial high demand.
Only a few bugs in region selection and various cheaters caused problems at launch. Otherwise, everything went surprisingly well.
Influencers as a success factor: According to Cardell, the strong start and the lively interest in Spellbreak also stem from the fact that some streamers and influencers had played the game out of curiosity in the alpha back then. Some returned to the release of their own accord and, thanks to their prior experience, showcased strong gameplay right away. This attracted even more players and kept them engaged.
How do the developers want to proceed? After the strong launch of the game, the developers want to build on this. A new content release is planned every week. This will include changes to the map, events, new runes, or even new gloves, i.e., weapons. After launch, runes for Shadow Step and Time Mastery were reintroduced. They were initially removed because they are quite complex and the game is already not easy to grasp.
In October, the popular mode “Clash,” known from the beta, is also set to return. This is not a battle royale but a 9vs9 deathmatch. In the beta, it was still in a 3vs3 format, but according to Cardell, Clash with 9vs9 players will be even more fun.
Additionally, there will be a Halloween event in October, featuring special costumes and events.
Later in the year, the so-called Chapter system will launch. This will include quests that you complete in the game world. Additionally, the complex story of Spellbreak will play a role here. “What are the Hollow Lands and what are you doing there anyway?” This will be gradually explained in these chapters.
What about PvE? I also asked Cardell in our interview if he plans to include PvE elements in the game. This remains a topic, but not for the near future:
This is not something we expect in the near future. The game is already quite complex, and we don’t want to overwhelm players with even more game elements. We first want to deepen the PvP mode before introducing entirely new elements like PvE.
But even without a PvE mode, Spellbreak is immensely fun, and I can only recommend the game to every battle royale fan. You can get it for free on the Epic Store. If you’re looking for more interesting battle royale games, you can find them here in our large MeinMMO list of the best battle royale games 2020.
