Ratropolis

Release Date: December 22, 2020

Strategy, fantasy, RTS, 2D, card games, indie games, side-scroll, singleplayer

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Ratropolis is a combination of real-time strategy game (RTS) and card game from independent Cassel Games studio. The player's task is to develop the rat kingdom and survive the incoming hordes of enemies, and this will provide us with cards that act as resources.

Plot
Mechanics
Game modes
Additional information

Ratropolis is a strategy card game with a side view, developed by the independent studio Cassel Games, in which we take on the role of a rat town ruler, who must direct his settlement to survive the attacks of the incoming hordes of enemies. The idea behind the game is similar to Kingdom: Two Crowns, with the difference being that we do not command through our avatar, but through playing cards, from which we receive funds, new buildings, as well as soldiers.

Plot

Ratropolis takes us to a land ruled by anthropomorphic rats that have developed a thriving civilization and inhabited huge metropolises. Their prosperity came from the development of technology. However, the scientists went too far and one of the experiments failed. It led to a mutation among the citizens that quickly began to spread, causing an increase in power and aggression among the peaceful creatures. The player takes on the role of the ruler of Ratropolis, the last surviving city and a safe haven of civilization.

Mechanics

Ratropolis is a real-time strategy card game with a side view. Our task is to survive the incoming hordes of opponents and create the largest metropolis in the history of rat nations.

The game from Cassel Games breaks with the traditional turn-based gameplay encountered in many card games, the game takes place in real time, which gives it a lot of dynamic. To prepare for the next 30 waves of enemies we have to constantly play cards and plan our moves.

The first strategic choice is made at the start of the game. At the beginning of the game we choose the type of leader we want to be. Each commander gives us two unique abilities: passive and active. We can choose from Merchant, General, Builder and Scientist, which we unlock as we survive subsequent waves of enemies. Additionally, by playing as different leaders, we get cards assigned to the character's specialization, which will have a chance to appear in the game.

The gameplay in Ratropolis is based on 120 cards, which are divided into economic (increasing our gold stock), buildings (enabling us to build new structures), military (by means of which we recruit soldiers and machines) and skills (thanks to which we increase the attributes of our subjects). We can improve them by increasing their levels with appropriate buildings and random prizes.

Unfortunately, from the very beginning we do not have all the cards available. The game starts with a basic deck, which we develop during the game in three ways: by defeating waves of enemies (each wave leaves behind a treasure chest, and in it prizes to choose from); we can buy them from a merchant who appears in our town from time to time (or on the market, if we put such card in the deck) or obtain as a result of our decisions in various events. Some buildings offer us random disposable cards, which do not permanently expand our deck and disappear after playing.

We use the cards themselves as in any traditional card game. Every 15 seconds (thanks to our decisions and buildings we can increase or decrease this time) we draw from the card stack available to us at the moment, the drawn cards land in our hand and we can play them. If we don't like the deck, or if we have exhausted all our possibilities before the required time runs out, we don't have to wait and can try our luck again immediately, but it will cost gold (the more the further in the game we are). In addition, the cards to be played require a sufficient amount of coins and available subjects, which introduces an economic aspect to the game.

The economy in Ratropolis is not extensive, but very important. There are 2 basic resources in the game: gold and citizens. Each card costs gold to play, and most of them also require a sufficient number of free citizens. Gold is earned through taxes that are collected automatically, through buildings and by playing certain cards. The main source of citizens in turn (although not the only one) is the construction of houses that encourage rats to live within the safe boundaries of our city.

The need to build new buildings makes it necessary for us to expand our kingdom. We do this by constructing defensive walls in pre-determined places. Within the protected area we can build our buildings and defensive structures (towers, catapults and ballistae). We also assign defenders to the walls, which brings to mind the mechanics known from the Kingdom series. The growth of the protected area is connected with the fact that the movement of warriors from one side of our metropolis to the other will become much longer. Moreover, if the wall is destroyed, our units retreat to the earlier one, and in the meantime they are defenseless and vulnerable to enemy attacks. The game ends if at least one enemy reaches the heart of our city - the town hall.

From time to time we encounter random special events. They take the form of a message describing a situation, and our task is to react to them. The decisions we make can have different effects, from yielding additional funds, through obtaining cards, to recruiting an advisor. A advisor is a special unit that does not appear physically on the map, but only as an icon. They give us various passive bonuses.