Hand of Fate was one of the fantastic surprises last year, with yours truly awarding the game 4.5 stars out of 5. With over 1.9 million downloads, this indie hit is a card-based dungeon-crawler where the cards themselves represent the spaces and encounters in a dungeon. So here's another surprise: Defiant Development has just revealed Hand of Fate 2!
The protagonist from the first game, after winning against the Dealer, has become a tyrant (sounds about right) and the Dealer has now returned to oversee the fate of a new heroine who can stand up to him 100 years later.
This sequel brings along companions that adventurers can earn who provide more flexible options in RPG upgrades and have their own storylines as well. One such companion, the mage Malaclypse who is against the tyrant's decree to outlaw magic, will aid you with shield spells and ranged attacks during combat and can give you a chance to reroll a terrible outcome while moving on the board.
Also new are two additional card suits, the Steel suit to represent the Imperial forces (which Malaclypse opposes) and the Blight suit representing men who have been corrupted and mutated as a result. The heroine will be able to use two-handed and dual-weapon weapons this time around, and several new card encounters will actually have favorable conditions for her.
With any luck, the responsiveness of the combat in Hand of Fate 2 will be improved as well since that was one of the more contentious issues with the original game.
Hand of Fate 2 is slated to release in Q1 2017 on PC, Mac, and Linux.
