Duelyst reaches funding goal

Turn-based strategy game Duelyst recently reached its $68,000 Kickstarter funding goal with 23 days to go.

Designed by a team of developers who previously worked on titles like Diablo 3, Rogue Legacy and Ratchet and Clank, Duelyst is a tactical combat title with ranked competitive play that draws inspiration from Hearthstone, Final Fantasy Tactics and Hero Academy. Speaking to Polygon when the game's Kickstarter campaign first launched, studio lead Keith Lee said the development team wanted to make a game in which the player is always engaged, even when it's not their turn. Borrowing from games like Hearthstone, players can see what their opponents are doing in real time, so this keeps them on their toes in between turns.

"So say I start to click on your general a lot, so now you're thinking that maybe I'm going for your guy, or maybe I'm just bluffing and I plan to do a totally different move," Lee said. "We want to keep people constantly engaged and thinking and not feel like they have to wait for the opponent to finish their move."

The development team is now working toward the game's stretch goals, which include additional battle units, spells and Linux support at $88,000, a new faction at $110,000, more battle maps and concept art at $125,000 and improved AI at $160,000.