Floppy Knights - Two Minute Review!

Free from Epic Games between July 11th and July 18th 2024
Title: Floppy Knights
Summary: Hey there, humans. It's me, Carlton! Phoebe's most trusted friend... and coolest arm, if I do say so myself. Now, who's Phoebe, you ask? She's a talented inventor and programmer with a taste for the finer things in life and prefers to work smarter, not harder. Her mission: save up enough cash to finally move outta her parents' place. That's where I come in! Phoebe created me, her bionic arm and best friend, to help her achieve her goals. Not only am I brilliant, handsome, and funny, but I've also got a neat trick up my sleeve - I can take regular old floppy disks and turn them into these handy-dandy projections we call "Floppy Knights!" They're super useful for just about any task especially when it's time to throw down on the battlefield. With the help of our new buddies, the occasional odd job has turned into a steady side hustle... but things are getting a bit more intense than we bargained for! Bigger and badder monsters keep popping up and now Phoebe's not so sure about this whole "hero" role... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's chat about all the sweet stuff you'll get to do in the game!
Release Date: MAY 24, 2022
Rating: Rated E +10 for Everyone +10
Developer: Rose City Games
Publisher: Rose City Games
Platforms: PC, Series S/X, Xbox One, Switch
Genres: Card Battle
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Floppy-Knights is a turn-based strategy game combining grid-based tactical combat and deck building mechanics. Each turn; the player draws from a customized deck of up to 30 cards, and uses their limited energy to summon units, move, and execute attacks. The game features a huge selection of cards you can use to build 3 decks, facilitating different strategies and ways to play.
The core of the game is a 10 hour campaign, with quirky characters and a fairly thrown together story! Although the game starts off fun, the campaign suffers from significant balance issues in the latter half. It's easy to create an over-powered deck, which diminishes the challenge, and the card collecting does get stale! Additionally, level designs are in general uninspired. Many levels are easily beaten due to the extremely poor AI, or cheesable by stacking free attack cards!
The game has some notable design flaws, including poorly described card mechanics, interface bugs, and unclear enemy attack ranges. Rather than crafting well designed challenges, the campaign relies on cheap gimmicks, such as endless enemy spawners that just serve to drag out the fights. Coupled with slow computer turns and lengthy levels, it will make you frustrated, or even bored at times. However, the optional challenge missions which provide set decks, and the side quests, are much more enjoyable, and are generally more balanced and fun.
Overall...Floppy-Knights has the core of a good game, but is let down by a number of implementation decisions, leaving it feel more like a recipe for frustration rather than enjoyment. It's not a bad game, and while it is a decent entry point for newcomers to the genre or casual players, it is unlikely to appeal to the HARDCORE strategy fans.