SolForge Fusion is an upcoming card-battler featuring both PvE and PvP modes, with a little twist. Each card you utilize in a round is leveled up to give you an upper hand in the battle. This adds another layer of unique mechanics to allow players to explore different card options and devise an efficient strategy in each round.
These qualities intrigued us the most, so we decided to speak with Justin Gary, Co-Creator of SolForge Fusion, over an email interview.
Justin: My name is Justin Gary and along with Richard Garfield, I am the Co-Creator of SolForge Fusion.
Justin: The response has been incredibly positive. Players love the fact that every deck they own can exist in both physical and digital form. Playing their unique decks and leveling them up in our roguelike campaign mode gives a whole new way to experience the game.
Justin: In SolForge Fusion, every deck is one of a kind. Every single deck you buy is unique to you. Our algorithm ensures that every faction deck has some built-in synergies and is playable out of the box. You can customize your deck by shuffling any two different faction decks together to form your playable deck. You can also customize the campaign by battling and leveling up your deck.
Justin: This is the heart of the experience I grew up playing Magic and made a living as a competitive player on the Pro Tour for many years. The promise of collectible card games was always that they could provide limitless discovery and replayability. But the truth is that while I of course love trading card games, nowadays most people just copy what they see on the internet. You end up seeing the same decks over and over in competitive play. But with SolForge Fusion, though you can customize, you can’t copy. Each deck has its own unique play pattern, and there are more deck permutations than atoms in the universe!
Justin: PvP games in SolForge Fusion are a ton of fun. It’s the way we’ve played it for most of the history of the game. Even when playing the same decks over and over again, each experience is different because the cards you play level up every time you play them within the game. Thus, your late-game experience will change based on your early plays. Sophisticated players learn to adapt to the cards their opponent levels, adding layers of strategy. But to be honest my favorite way to play now is PvE. The algorithmically generated campaign gives you new powers and abilities along with new challenges each time you play, effectively letting you customize your deck but forcing tough choices each time. It’s meaningfully different from other roguelike deckbuilders because your unique deck can be used in multiple games and gains experience each time. The combination of learning to master your own deck and adapting to the challenges of the campaign is endlessly fascinating and each time you bring a new deck to the experience it completely changes it!
Justin: There are so many challenges in bringing a game like this to life! I wrote a pretty lengthy design diary for those who want to dig deep. (Editor’s note: the link to the design diary is at the end of the article)
Justin: We wanted to build an immersive world that players feel a part of. We use the one-of-a-kind decks to our advantage here. Inspired by games like Legend of the Five Rings, we let players influence the story of SolForge by playing in tournaments around the world. Based on their performance, we change which cards appear in future sets and which factions are dominant. Even better, when you participate in these events and have cool moments, our writers create custom stories for you and tie them to your deck permanently. You can see those stories on our website!
Justin: We are planning to launch on Mac this Summer and on mobile early next year.
SolForge Fusion is a Rogue-like Deckbuilder game, under development by Justin Gary and Richard Garfield, and is planned to be released soon for PC, with the demo already out on Steam. The game was a big challenge for the developers, and they have documented their journey for interested fans.
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Nauman Shah is a VeryAli’s Guide Writer. With a background in Software Engineering along with immense love for video games and three years in Unity 3D games development, Nauman joined the writing media to share his thoughts around the world. Moreover, he likes to smash people with difficult questions on social media and watch shows with a cat named ‘Blep’.
Nauman primarily plays RPG and Open World Games – His Gamer Tag is #Sammich. You can check his gaming library and connect with him!
