Nomads of Driftland

Nomads of Driftland is a fantasy RTS, which is a stand-alone add-on to Driftland: The Magic Revival. The Warsaw-based, indie Star Drifters studio, which has developed the main game, is also responsible for its development. The add-on is available for free on the Steam.

Plot

The game takes place on a planet known as Driftland, which as a result of a war between races has fallen apart into smaller pieces. Under the agreement, the warring families used up the rest of their power to keep the new world in balance, but the war had an impact on their lives. After many years, there was hope that civilisation would be restored and the planet would return to its former shape, which filled the souls of the inhabitants with energy and removed their sorrow. The determination to act has distracted attention from the numerous conflicts between cruel mages and those who did not want to submit to their will. The outlawed rebels, known as the Nomads, are exterminated and treated as barbarians. They believe that the new order is an attempt to restore a balance that was once shaken. Now they must fight to defend their values and survive.

Mechanics

For a totally free game, Nomads of Driftland has quite an advanced mechanics. There are 20 different missions in the game, as well as the tutorial. Each mission is assigned a different difficulty level (4 in total): Apprentice Mage, Brave Mage, Great Mage and Archmage. In addition, the game offers 4 different mission types, each assigned to a specific map. The last option to choose the map is to rely on the expected play time (this time 3 possibilities): short, medium or long. Finally, the player can decide on the colour of the flags that will be assigned to his Empire (a total of 12 different colours to choose from). The list of sample missions includes the Cemetery Guard, Against the Council, or Ancient Knowledge.

Each of the maps may have different goals, achieving which are crucial for winning the game. To finish the scenario, the player must, for example, keep his Empire in the game for a certain amount of time (it cannot be destroyed), defeat a certain number of opponents, scattered all over the map, or take over certain objects. Even if the mission succeeds, as long as there are enemies on the map that can be fought, the player can still play. Mission objective is marked with a trophy, located in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Right next to it, there is a 'Path of Progress' option, showing the number of minor goals to be achieved.

The gameplay takes place on the maps on which the islands are located. At the very beginning, a small area of the map is shown to the player, the area on which his main camp and fragments of neighbouring islands are placed, to which he can move his warriors only by using the Thyr's Gate (the gate that serves as a teleport) and a bridge. Both can be destroyed by hostile units, but if they are effectively distracted, they can last a long time.

The visibility of the area is increased both by the player units moving around the available areas and by the camps that can be set up and improved on each of the acquired islands. Magic Eye also allows you to reveal a selected area of the map, even far away from the camps, but for a relatively short period of time. The object floats in space and can be far away from the island, but if it is within the reach of a mage, rifleman or flying craft, it can be easily destroyed.

If a player has already reached all the islands in his range and still does not achieve the goal of the game, he will probably have a much larger area of land to explore, but he will not only get to by teleportation. In this case it can use the Mysterious River, which with the use of mana allows to move the island around the whole map (impossible if the map is connected to another one with a bridge).

There are several different types of camps available in the game, recruiting other types of units. Whether a player recruits dwarves, wild elves, dark elves or humans depends on which island (and in which vegetation) he will set up his camps. In addition, in each camp, the player can recruit three types of battle units: soldier, rifleman and mage. During the game, each unit gains experience points, so it is worth taking care of their balanced development. In addition, each unit has a set of individual abilities that can be unlocked by examining the islands' scattered, interactive objects. If an unit already has a certain skill, the treasure remains uncollected (another character who can acquire the same skill can use it).

Some islands are under the control of hostile tribes, while on others there may be units that are not assigned to any faction: warriors, guarding certain buildings or treasures, wild birds or dragons, which may reappear if their lair is not destroyed. After capturing the relevant objects, the player can also summon guards to his army, which are taking the form of ghosts.

Around the camp you can also build watchtowers (the player can choose between Dwarf Tower, Elven Tower, Dark Elven Tower and Human Tower), which react to the enemy unit's presence in their attack range. They are much more solid than recruited warriors, so they are an ideal support for firing on a larger group of enemies as well as defending the camps themselves. By building one tower a daily cost of 5 coins is deducted, while constructing an additional camp increases the income by 10 coins.

At the end of the game, the player can check out the statistics. Overall statistics allow him to check how many islands were in his possession but also in the control of the camps managed by the computer, how many points of progress were accumulated and how many paths were unblocked (three in total: the path of economics, war and magic). In addition, it can also show statistics about the units, where, for example, the number of kills, destroyed structures or flying units appear.

Technical aspects

Nomads of Driftland has advanced, 3D graphics, with vivid, pleasant colours. The soundtrack, adjusted to the fantasy concept of the game, adds all the charm.