Heroes Guard: The Journal Under Byte Studios, LLC In Heroes Guard: The Journal, you are a weary and weathered adventurer. All of your questing and dungeon plundering day… $3.99 Buy Now Watch Media DetailsIn Heroes Guard: The Journal, you are a weary and weathered adventurer. All of your questing and dungeon plundering days are behind you - but that doesn’t mean your stories of hardships and triumphs need be forgotten! By filling this journal with your memories you will allow some of your greatest feats… and failures… to live on. You do remember how your life story went... don’t you? *********************************************** Praise from the Beta Testers: - "You've got a solid hit for a contender!" - "I played the crap out of it last night and had a good time" - "combining CYOA with RPG and CCG is really awesome!" - "absolutely love the game" - "Excellent gameplay, fantastic story" - "neat way to get younger people to read more!" - "REALLY enjoyed the game!" *********************************************** Best described as a hybrid of choice-based interactive fiction, a deck-building card game, and a solitaire table-top roleplaying session. You'll make important story decisions, roll dice to test your abilities, collect weapons, magic, and companions to be used in a card game that will reveal the outcome of your most devastating encounters! Key features that make Heroes Guard different from most interactive fiction titles: + Card-Battle System: Use the magic, weapons, and companions gathered through the story to defeat powerful foes. Perhaps you'll squash that giant spider with your war hammer or perhaps it's a better idea to blast it from afar with a fireball? Your choice, your strategy! + Dynamic Short-Stories: Adventure on an interactive map with random events. Each event is a short-story that will put your strength, dexterity, intelligence, and charisma to the test! Careful, as each short-story can escalate if left unattended and eventually will consume the towns you are meant to protect. + Life Chronicle: In Heroes Guard you are a old, weathered adventurer recalling all his past feats. Perhaps you rose to power as a commander in the guard, or perhaps you lost it all and ended up as a beggar on the streets? Information Seller:Under Byte Studios, LLC Genre:Role Playing, Strategy Release:Jun 24, 2016 Updated:Jul 24, 2016 Version:1.0.4 Size:93.4 MB TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating: (6) Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal ScotDamn Well-Known Member Patreon Silver Jul 8, 2013 1,990 0 36 Wireless Sales Happy Daddy https://twitter.com/ScotDamn #2 ScotDamn, Jun 25, 2016 This looks pretty interesting. So many good games in rotation but I'll keep my eye on this for some impressions hopefully. forsakenxe Well-Known Member Oct 23, 2014 709 0 16 #3 forsakenxe, Jun 25, 2016 Same here, looks interested! forsakenxe Well-Known Member Oct 23, 2014 709 0 16 #4 forsakenxe, Jun 25, 2016 I've found this trailer on the devs webpage and also contacted him to look into this thread if he wants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA1an8b2a6g Dewfreak83 Active Member Aug 5, 2014 26 0 0 Indie Developer Baltimore, MD http://www.underbytestudios.com #5 Dewfreak83, Jun 26, 2016 Developer here! Thanks so much for reaching out forsakenxe! So I had a beta thread on here a few weeks (or months?) back, and didn't realize that Touch Arcade would automatically add my game to this forum - neat! It certainly is a very niche game - but if you enjoy the Inkle games (like Sorcery!), Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, or Dungeon & Dragons tabletop roleplaying, then I think this game can scratch an itch that other games in the genre don't quite fulfil (replayability! strategy!). If you have any questions I'm more than happy to answer them. I'm working with a few writers to add (free) post-release content so feel free to let me know what kind of stories and foes you'd like to see in the land of Argoria OrangeKnickers Well-Known Member Dec 17, 2013 53 0 0 #6 OrangeKnickers, Jun 26, 2016 Sold!!! Will come back with impressions later. Dragan Well-Known Member Aug 21, 2014 365 7 18 Belgium #7 Dragan, Jun 26, 2016 Yes please, waiting impatiently, thanks in advance. mzinn Well-Known Member Jan 5, 2014 770 0 16 #8 mzinn, Jun 26, 2016 Looks really cool. I need to do some research & read a few imps but definitely has my attention. Luci0 Well-Known Member May 9, 2016 103 1 18 #9 Luci0, Jun 26, 2016 Lol! Just couldn't help myself! I HAD to buy! I can't play for a few hours but il post about it asap ashmike3 Well-Known Member May 15, 2014 660 9 18 #10 ashmike3, Jun 26, 2016 Felt very short. The story elements are pretty basic. I like the card battle combat system. It appears that replaying adds progression. You replay the story differently to progress. 1st play took maybe an hour. It's fun, but thin so far for me. pjft Well-Known Member Feb 15, 2011 1,082 8 38 #11 pjft, Jun 26, 2016 Bought! The concept looks interesting Congrats on the release. What's the longevity of the game? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk OrangeKnickers Well-Known Member Dec 17, 2013 53 0 0 #12 OrangeKnickers, Jun 26, 2016 I'm really happy with the game, although the currently available adventure is admittedly rather short. One run took me about an hour, but there is a lot of replayability. You set up your adventurer through a story and choices make up your stats, charisma, dexterity, strength, and intelligence. The actual adventure is a mixture of card battles, choices and stat checks via dice, but they seem to change in each playthrough (not sure how many there are all together). There are two books locked saying coming soon, so there seem to be more story parts in store. I really like the writing, the card battles, and the replayability, but the actual adventure definitely could be longer. imdakine1 Well-Known Member Aug 23, 2011 1,229 22 38 #13 imdakine1, Jun 26, 2016 Wow.. Interesting. Unfortunately as an old school gamer from the days of pong and Atari I just don't have enough time to play games and have a backlog that is 10+ deep. I'll wait and hope to buy this in the future! Congrats to the developer. Dewfreak83 Active Member Aug 5, 2014 26 0 0 Indie Developer Baltimore, MD http://www.underbytestudios.com #14 Dewfreak83, Jun 27, 2016 You guys hit the nail on the head! The game was designed to focus on replayability, and not so much a single long play experience. I'm hoping that I can provide additional short stories, background stories, story-arcs, and items that will make you want to continue to try new techniques! Those two additional unlocks will actually be free game modes (and content)! It just so happen that one of these game modes will actually lengthen the story a bit. Think "King of Dragon Pass" But fret not, the plan is to keep adding additional stories, items, and foes to the first game mode as well! vectorarchitekt Well-Known Member Dec 29, 2013 2,479 169 63 #15 vectorarchitekt, Jun 27, 2016 Definitely going to try this. I like the concept you're going for, quick replay able games. What will the other game mode be? pjft Well-Known Member Feb 15, 2011 1,082 8 38 #16 pjft, Jun 27, 2016 Thanks! In my case, I think it could be interesting to have some sort of randomly-generated stories to continue playing with my existing character somehow. Think something like the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Quest mode, on iOS. In your case, I could certainly see it being small quests you could get in a tavern or something, not very rich in story but more around decisions, challenges and a couple of battles each if needed, by randomly putting together some of the existing "scenes" in your current script. Unsure if this makes sense, or if it's even something that your current architecture allows for, but I suspect it would be fun. Keep up the good work! Dewfreak83 Active Member Aug 5, 2014 26 0 0 Indie Developer Baltimore, MD http://www.underbytestudios.com #17 Dewfreak83, Jun 27, 2016 And that will be the second game mode! Not completely random, but randomly chosen from a large collection: "Daily Journal Entries". Each day, you can play a new short story (not seen in the first game mode). Basically I plan these to be completely new situations that "a character" is placed into! They should be very quick, only taking 5-8 minutes to read and play through the final card combat of the story. pjft Well-Known Member Feb 15, 2011 1,082 8 38 #18 pjft, Jun 27, 2016 Looks great then, can't wait One thought: is the background always the same? Am I always adopted by orcs, or have I just been unlucky in the randomization? Just curious Best. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Dewfreak83 Active Member Aug 5, 2014 26 0 0 Indie Developer Baltimore, MD http://www.underbytestudios.com #19 Dewfreak83, Jun 28, 2016 For now - you are always adopted by Orcs. The first content patch in about a month should add additional backstories besides the 3 adoption stories you have to choose from now. forsakenxe Well-Known Member Oct 23, 2014 709 0 16 #20 forsakenxe, Jul 10, 2016 Last edited: Jul 10, 2016 Finally got around to playing this, after the dev Sent me a promo code, thanks for that Let me start of with the good: - I started the first chapter two times, and after choosing different choices completely different thing happened with none (except a few mandatory pages) to be the same, so good variety. - no typos yet and well written, I like the experience overall. - premium game with no additional iaps, statistics and all of that. - the world changes with time. Depending on what town you go to, situations in others may get unrecoverable bad and that's a really good mechanic. - combat with dice rolls and many choices to be made. To the critics: - I do not really like the art style of the interface, there is quite some space wasted on the edges on my air 2, Text is not blurry but seems upscale instead of a native resolution at points (e.g. Cards in battle) and the general art style seems extremely budget To me. Of choruses this is to be expect from a small dev, but it's still something that left me thinking (oh man ja those would be really sharp crisp and good graphics (think sorcery etc) it would be amazing). - even though there many different scenarios they lack depth for me (at least with only the first chapter released yet). It seems like these scenarios always play out the same: get to a town, investigate what was going on, solve minsters and start a fight, win or lose. The world building and depth of characters etc. lacks way behind the big titles of the genre. Again something to be expected but for the Price of this game you can get sorcery by inkl and it's just superior on every way. - combat seems clunky and to basic. Combat is the part that I look forward to the least. It's just not much fun. The card mechanics are very basic, an it's over in a minute or two. I would really like something better here instead. - this game seems to reward min maxing quite a bit. My mediocre character in may first run lost almost every battle while I have no problems with my intelligence focused one yet. - dice rolls should display which skill they will use before you roll, sometimes I expect a different attribute to be rolled on, and then my expectations are let down. Overall I have a lot of critics but they should serve to make this a better a game and the devs seems like a guy to me that won't take them the wrong way. Also beware that one play through of the first chapter is about an hours, so its very short. But the replayabiltiy is there and will only get more appealing with more content to be added. Overall I like the game despite its issues. I hope that it gets improved on and especially the story telling, giving characters and choice more depth and meaning while maintaining the multitude of choices would push this game quite a bit. If you did not play sorcery yet, go and play it first. If you did already, this could be your style, even if it is a little rough around the edges. 3/5 Sorry for the typos, writing this on a train ride. (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next > Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Do you already have an account? No, create an account now. Yes, my password is: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
This looks pretty interesting. So many good games in rotation but I'll keep my eye on this for some impressions hopefully.
I've found this trailer on the devs webpage and also contacted him to look into this thread if he wants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA1an8b2a6g
Developer here! Thanks so much for reaching out forsakenxe! So I had a beta thread on here a few weeks (or months?) back, and didn't realize that Touch Arcade would automatically add my game to this forum - neat! It certainly is a very niche game - but if you enjoy the Inkle games (like Sorcery!), Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, or Dungeon & Dragons tabletop roleplaying, then I think this game can scratch an itch that other games in the genre don't quite fulfil (replayability! strategy!). If you have any questions I'm more than happy to answer them. I'm working with a few writers to add (free) post-release content so feel free to let me know what kind of stories and foes you'd like to see in the land of Argoria
Felt very short. The story elements are pretty basic. I like the card battle combat system. It appears that replaying adds progression. You replay the story differently to progress. 1st play took maybe an hour. It's fun, but thin so far for me.
Bought! The concept looks interesting Congrats on the release. What's the longevity of the game? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm really happy with the game, although the currently available adventure is admittedly rather short. One run took me about an hour, but there is a lot of replayability. You set up your adventurer through a story and choices make up your stats, charisma, dexterity, strength, and intelligence. The actual adventure is a mixture of card battles, choices and stat checks via dice, but they seem to change in each playthrough (not sure how many there are all together). There are two books locked saying coming soon, so there seem to be more story parts in store. I really like the writing, the card battles, and the replayability, but the actual adventure definitely could be longer.
Wow.. Interesting. Unfortunately as an old school gamer from the days of pong and Atari I just don't have enough time to play games and have a backlog that is 10+ deep. I'll wait and hope to buy this in the future! Congrats to the developer.
You guys hit the nail on the head! The game was designed to focus on replayability, and not so much a single long play experience. I'm hoping that I can provide additional short stories, background stories, story-arcs, and items that will make you want to continue to try new techniques! Those two additional unlocks will actually be free game modes (and content)! It just so happen that one of these game modes will actually lengthen the story a bit. Think "King of Dragon Pass" But fret not, the plan is to keep adding additional stories, items, and foes to the first game mode as well!
Definitely going to try this. I like the concept you're going for, quick replay able games. What will the other game mode be?
Thanks! In my case, I think it could be interesting to have some sort of randomly-generated stories to continue playing with my existing character somehow. Think something like the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Quest mode, on iOS. In your case, I could certainly see it being small quests you could get in a tavern or something, not very rich in story but more around decisions, challenges and a couple of battles each if needed, by randomly putting together some of the existing "scenes" in your current script. Unsure if this makes sense, or if it's even something that your current architecture allows for, but I suspect it would be fun. Keep up the good work!
And that will be the second game mode! Not completely random, but randomly chosen from a large collection: "Daily Journal Entries". Each day, you can play a new short story (not seen in the first game mode). Basically I plan these to be completely new situations that "a character" is placed into! They should be very quick, only taking 5-8 minutes to read and play through the final card combat of the story.
Looks great then, can't wait One thought: is the background always the same? Am I always adopted by orcs, or have I just been unlucky in the randomization? Just curious Best. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
For now - you are always adopted by Orcs. The first content patch in about a month should add additional backstories besides the 3 adoption stories you have to choose from now.
Finally got around to playing this, after the dev Sent me a promo code, thanks for that Let me start of with the good: - I started the first chapter two times, and after choosing different choices completely different thing happened with none (except a few mandatory pages) to be the same, so good variety. - no typos yet and well written, I like the experience overall. - premium game with no additional iaps, statistics and all of that. - the world changes with time. Depending on what town you go to, situations in others may get unrecoverable bad and that's a really good mechanic. - combat with dice rolls and many choices to be made. To the critics: - I do not really like the art style of the interface, there is quite some space wasted on the edges on my air 2, Text is not blurry but seems upscale instead of a native resolution at points (e.g. Cards in battle) and the general art style seems extremely budget To me. Of choruses this is to be expect from a small dev, but it's still something that left me thinking (oh man ja those would be really sharp crisp and good graphics (think sorcery etc) it would be amazing). - even though there many different scenarios they lack depth for me (at least with only the first chapter released yet). It seems like these scenarios always play out the same: get to a town, investigate what was going on, solve minsters and start a fight, win or lose. The world building and depth of characters etc. lacks way behind the big titles of the genre. Again something to be expected but for the Price of this game you can get sorcery by inkl and it's just superior on every way. - combat seems clunky and to basic. Combat is the part that I look forward to the least. It's just not much fun. The card mechanics are very basic, an it's over in a minute or two. I would really like something better here instead. - this game seems to reward min maxing quite a bit. My mediocre character in may first run lost almost every battle while I have no problems with my intelligence focused one yet. - dice rolls should display which skill they will use before you roll, sometimes I expect a different attribute to be rolled on, and then my expectations are let down. Overall I have a lot of critics but they should serve to make this a better a game and the devs seems like a guy to me that won't take them the wrong way. Also beware that one play through of the first chapter is about an hours, so its very short. But the replayabiltiy is there and will only get more appealing with more content to be added. Overall I like the game despite its issues. I hope that it gets improved on and especially the story telling, giving characters and choice more depth and meaning while maintaining the multitude of choices would push this game quite a bit. If you did not play sorcery yet, go and play it first. If you did already, this could be your style, even if it is a little rough around the edges. 3/5 Sorry for the typos, writing this on a train ride.