Game Review: Hoard (PSN)

Hoard's concept is different than what people might expect going in. When one hears it's a tabletop game about dragons waging battle against one another, they probably assume it's a game played with 40-sided die in a basement. Fear not faithful gamer, it is not a game that requires 23-hour gaming sessions and an endless supply of Mountain Dew paired with cheese doodles. It's actually a very fun, arcadey, pick-up-and-play type of game. It also happens to pack plenty of depth for those looking for it.

Each stage of the game is presented in a tabletop format laid out with plains of grass, crops, and towns waiting to have havoc wreaked upon them. The goal is to gather as much gold reaped from your destruction to your -- surprise, surprise-- hoard in a set amount of time. You can only carry a set amount of gold though, so you have to make trips back to your base before collecting more gold. As you collect gold, your dragon levels up and is given the opportunity to upgrade certain aspects of itself. Those aspects being your speed, firebreath (how strong your flame is), carrying (your gold carrying capacity), and armor.

As you go around destroying towns, you can either allow the towns to develop in order to earn a higher cash grab, or just continually pummel them to collect a more consistent allotment of gold. If you allow the towns to develop, though, their defenses grow accordingly with archers or knights. Such decisions can be crucial, especially when playing against a friend or the computer. The towns themselves can also learn to fear, or pay "tribute," to you. If you successfully do so, the towns will send offering carts directly to your hoard. Enemy dragons can steal your tribute by causing more damage to the town that fears you.

Princesses are also brought into play in the game. Kingdoms on the playing field will await princess carriages on the map to reach them. If you destroy these carriages, you can take the princess back to your hoard and hold for ransom. Knights will try to capture her back from your hoard, so it is very important that you keep an eye on it.

Control of the dragon is simple enough. The game uses a dual-stick format in which you control the dragon with one stick and control its firebreath with the other. It works perfectly fine except for the fact that you can't breathe fire and move at the same time. This would make fighting off minions and opposing dragons that much more fluid.

Graphics are simple, but suit the game well. They're lively enough and evoke the style of graphics used in 32-bit era rpgs. The music isn't very memorable, but it's not offensive to the ears. The pricing of the game might be an issue for some though-- fifteen dollars is a bit steep for a downloadable game.

The qualms of the price might be easier to handle if the game provided a level editor. The presentation of a tabletop game lends itself well to providing a level editor of some sort.

For the depth and fun this game provides though, those issues shouldn't be too bothersome. Hoard does provide an enjoyable time that can be played as an action game with as much strategy as you'd like to plan. It's definitely worth a purchase.

Score: 4 out of 5
Confused about our scoring system? Read this explanation.