Battle Waves: Card Tactics is a new card based auto-battler developed by CAGE Studios.
I’m a bit of a sucker for card based tactics games, and tower defence games, and Battle Waves is a bit of both. In Battle Waves, you select a section of various decks which each contain a few cards, you only start off with a small selection but can unlock more as you progress through the campaign. You also select an ‘operator’ which gives various buffs to your deck as a whole.
Each battle is fairly simple. On the left hand side of the screen is a mana counter, which every few seconds, increases by five. Each ‘phase’ which is designated by a moving bar at the top of the screen, you can select use your mana in various ways. You can play cards, draw cards, or level up.
The map is separated out into three lanes, and the objective of each battle is to destroy the enemies base crystal. You do this by playing cards, which in effect is selecting units to place in each lane, which usually spawn at the end of a phase unless a card has an ability which changes that. Each card has a mana cost, which correlates with its rarity and strength, so higher costed cards are usually better. You can combine two cards of the same type to upgrade them into one stronger one too.
When a unit spawns, it auto-battles. Even though the map is split out into three lanes, the units aren’t completely restricted by them. If there are enemies attacking the base they will fight them first even if they have come from a different lane, and ranged units can attack across lanes sometimes too. If you choose to spend your mana on levelling up, then you get to either upgrade a deck or pick a new one, which filters those cards into your draw pile. Each deck has various abilities assigned to it, such as reducing mana cast count, phase time, reducing damage done by turrets, etc. Finally, you can also choose to spend mana to draw cards directly, rather than waiting for your hand to refresh at the end of each phase.
So to sum up, it’s a fairly simple game to understand and not one most afficionados of this genre will struggle with. The strategy really comes in two places, choosing how to spend your mana and how to upgrade. The cards themselves aren’t as important, as whilst they do sometimes have various abilities, you’ll find yourself most of the time just plopping down whatever is strongest in whichever lane you are pushing. Since mana is constantly refreshing and the game is quite fast paced, deciding whether to place all your cards or hold off and upgrade your deck is usually the most pertinent decision.
I did enjoy Battle Waves. I like the fast paced nature of it, and there are lots of different factions to mix and match to suit your playstyle. That being said, I’m not a huge fan of auto-battling. For me, the pleasure in these games usually comes from being able to pull out the right card at the right time and knowing exactly what to do with it, and Battle Waves doesn’t quite scratch that itch. That being said, it is well put together, and still a fun game, but perhaps not suited exactly to my tastes.
I’m reviewing this pre-release, and I did notice a few bugs in my time playing. There was one occasion where the battle didn’t end so I had to restart, and there are a few moments where there seems to be a lack of polish, with cards overlapping and some animations feeling a little wonky. The graphics and music are simple but effective, a game like this didn’t need to go overboard with it and I think they found the right balance.
Overall, Battle Waves is a decent card based auto-battler tower attack/defence game, that I’m sure many people will enjoy.
Battle Waves: Card Tactics is available on Steam here. Game key was provided by Keymailer.
