These Boots Are Made For Walking (Devlog 4)

Today, I’m pulling back the curtain on a design challenge that has haunted us since day one: Movement. In a tactics game, movement is very important. In Tomebound we had the additional challenge of finding a system that doesn’t clash with the dual component card system.

In our very first prototypes, we had dedicated movement cards. Too bad we’ll end up wasting this card art.

Eventually, we moved away from those and introduced "Steps." But we quickly ran into a problem: players were juking and weaving very effectively, especially with enemies moving after they attacked.

Enter: The Step Pool

We’ve recently introduced a new system that shifts the focus toward strategy. It’s taking our playtesters a little longer to get the hang of, but the payoff is much more rewarding (and gives us some juicy design levers to pull).

Now, every card you play offers a specific number of steps which are added to your step Pool.

Every card offers a number of steps when played, and these are added to your steps pool.

To make sure you aren't a sitting duck, you’ll still start with one base step by default. This gives you at least one chance to react to enemy moves once you’ve placed your tomes. This might change as we tweak the balance.

The Panic Button (Burning Cards)

There are times where you can’t target enemies with any spells to accumulate steps, or maybe you want to accumulate more steps to set up a strong spell.

In these moments of crisis, you can now click on the "steps" icon and burn a card to convert it directly into movement.

Different tomes, cards, and Curios will now play a huge role in how you generate (and spend) your steps. This is a big shift, but it makes every card play feel significantly more impactful

Cheers!