14 DAY TRIAL // How many squads do I need to fling at the enemy base and how many do I need to keep behind? Do I have an edge in terms of army research and can I rely on my spells to carry me through? I launch my attack force forward, telling them to flee as soon as their strength is under 50%.
And I hope that I have enough mana in reserve to power some solid spell support from my own wizard. If not, it’s time to go back on the defensive until I can again recruit a full host, preferably with some improved equipment to improve their chances.
Heart of Muriet is developed and published by Microtale and CRATR.games, The game is at the moment in Early Access on Steam and the plan is to continue adding features while listening to feedback coming from the community.
The narrative is built around the youngest sibling of the Senet family of wizards, forced to forge alliances to battle rivals who sneakily attacked his kind. The fantasy setting has potential and it will be interesting to see how the single-player campaign develops. Don’t expect too much depth when it comes to the writing but it serves the action well.
Mechanically, Heart of Muriet is all about base building. There are two types of core resources and a supply limit to deal with. The wizard sits at the center of the base, with slots for a range of buildings spread around.
Make sure to set up defenses as quickly as possible and then build up the infrastructure required to get a constant flow of resources while repelling incoming assaults. There’s a lot of research to invest in, especially when it comes to spells. It quickly gets tricky to balance the need for good protection with the need to massively expand the initial infrastructure.
On the offensive, players can choose which of their squads to send for the attack as well as the tactics and engagement parameters that they will use. Once that happens, troops move and battle on their own, with no direct control. This makes solid preparations, in terms of the mix of forces and their equipment and abilities, crucial for success.
What players will want to do is incarnate their wizard into an avatar, attached to the army and able to support it. With a solid set of researched spells and reserve of mana, it can become the element that turns the tide of battle.
Heart of Muriet uses a pixel-driven look that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has seen Minecraft in action. It’s a good look for the type of world the game is working with and allows players to focus on the base building. The sound design is also pretty solid, although more variety for the soundtrack is required.
Conclusion
Heart of Muriet needs to introduce more twists on the core mechanics and to the story to keep gamers engaged. This will probably be a good entry level strategy title for players who don’t want a ton of complexity. When the 1.0 version arrives, I hope that the lack of direct control is not the only innovation to the strategy formula that the title introduces.
A preview code was provided by the publisher.
