200 Test Matches. Then I Rebuilt EVERYTHING.

After roughly 200 test matches, I realized that things might get repetitive at some point. So I started thinking about how to make the gameplay even more exciting.

Don't get me wrong! Banner Rush is already a ton of fun. Especially against friends and other players. But I wanted to push the tactical depth even further and raise the tension so that no two matches ever feel the same.

I wanted players to be able to shape their tactics around their own playstyle. Defensive, offensive, or maybe specialized in elite units? Those are just 3 of many strategies that will be possible.

Another requirement was to keep the gameplay simple but still allow for deep strategic planning. And I think I pulled it off!

How Banner Rush Worked Before

Every player started with the same cards in hand. Once you played them, all other cards were drawn randomly from the deck. Each card cost a certain resource.

During the match you earned XP through enemy kills or combos. That XP could be spent live in the game to upgrade your cards. For example, there was a melee unit that could be leveled up from a Peasant to a Soldier, then to a Knight, and finally to a Paladin.

The goal was to bring the opponent's Kingdom Points down to 0. That happened when you managed to push units across the enemy border.

The New System

The new system makes Banner Rush even more exciting. Instead of one round that goes until the end, there are now **5 rounds of 3 minutes each**. The number of rounds can even be configured later.

The main goal in these rounds is still to get your units behind the enemy lines. Each unit counts as 1 point.

Comeback Always Possible

What's special is that in **Round 4**, a multiplier of **1.25** is applied to border crossings, and in **Round 5** it's **1.5**. This gives a player who has fallen behind the chance to rally and still win.

And if it's tied after 5 rounds? **Sudden Death**. No draws. Someone wins.

Your Starting Deck, Your Strategy

Before the match even begins, every player gets to pick up to 3 cards from a selection to add to their deck. The so-called starting deck. It grows from there as you play.

XP and the New Card Shop

Also new: the XP you earn from kills and combos can no longer be spent during the round. Instead, you spend it after each 3-minute round. A new Card Shop was built for this. It shows cards you can activate with your earned XP and add to your deck.

There's also a brand new card type: the **Skill Card**. Skill Cards directly affect your units or buildings. For example, there's a Skill Card that increases the damage of all melee units by 5%.

On top of that, there's a new **rarity system** that makes these Skill Cards even more powerful. The same Skill Card as a legendary rarity can boost melee damage by 30%. But these cards are very rare. How do you get legendary Skill Cards? I'll tell you more about that in the next post...

And There's More

There's also a brand new ingame system that makes every round unpredictable. I'll just say this: **Chests**. What they do and why you'll want to fight over the Golden Chest, you'll find out in the next post.

Easy to Play, Hard to Master

As you can see, Banner Rush now offers an extremely wide range of tactical options for how you can achieve victory. Without making the game overly complicated.

**Defensive. Offensive. Elite. Swarm. Economy. Spell-heavy.** Those are just a few of the strategies that will be possible. And every match, you'll be offered different cards.

What do you think? Do you like the new system? Got more ideas? Let me know and I'll check if they can make it into the game.

Wishlist Banner Rush on Steam if you haven't already. It really helps a solo developer like me. 🙏

*Tommy, HexLeaf Studio*