Kyvir: Rebirth

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a game by Dawnblaze Entertainment
Platform: PC (2021)
Editor Rating: 7/10, based on 1 review
User Rating: 9.0/10 - 2 votes
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See also: Best Roguelike Games, Board Games
Kyvir: Rebirth
Kyvir: Rebirth
Kyvir: Rebirth
Kyvir: Rebirth

It’s not easy to stand out as an indie developer in a crowded field. Sometimes your hidden gem of a game stays hidden forever. Kyvir: Rebirth – created by Dawnblaze Entertainment – is one of those games that may stay that way, but I sure hope not. Before the team at Dawnblaze Entertainment decided to make their first attempt at rouge-like card game, their only experience in the industry was from their creation of 2018’s Yet Another Research Dog – a cute point and click sim about the life of a scientist. Could they really successfully build a deck builder from scratch? While my expectations are low, let’s take a look at Kyvir: Rebirth.

Sweet and Simple

The art style within Kyvir is quite impressive, even for how simple it is. Each character and monster is well detailed, showing even the smallest detail such as a hay straw hanging out the mouth of a mercenary.

Colors pop out at you while you play, reminding me of Hearthstone in a way. There’s never a lack of color and it’s much appreciated in rouge-like games. After all, you’ll be seeing these scenes over and over again.

One of the more likely underrated parts of the game is the user interface (UI). It’s easy to navigate and when hovering over items, you’re given a definition of each statistic or status for that item. It’s actually very intuitive, making it to where you’re not hunting for the meaning of a new status boost you just received. You should never underestimate a great UI.

Not Your Mother’s Minesweeper

You’ll first start by choosing a hero. These hero’s have different cards and play styles, so you’ll need to experiment with each one to find out which one suits you the best. Afterward, you’re presented with the game board. It’s a 7x5 grid of squares that you must click on to progress. When you click on a square, you’re presented with a few different elements. If you ever played Minesweeper growing up, this feels awfully similar.

First, you might encounter a battle on one of these squares. This is where the card system comes into play. Enemies start out quite simple, having little health points (HP) and a basic attack pattern, but eventually get tougher as you progress further. To fight, you’re given a set amount of action points (AP). Each card you have in your deck takes a certain amount of action points, so you need to plan your turn wisely as the enemy will go next.

You may also come across a random encounter in which dialogue and an accompanying picture appear. You are then usually given options. For instance, it may say that a skeleton is in front of you, grasping an item. You can either choose to take the item and be cursed for a while, or leave the item be. These are fun little choices that have a risk/reward to them, although some may just have positive outcomes such as healing you.

Stores can also be found while clicking on squares. These either sell equipment or cards. Coming across these deep into a run is like being a kid in candy store as you’ll find upgrades for both your equipment and your card deck often. Eventually you may reach a boss. These enemies are extremely tough, as you would imagine. They bring new elements into play and of course, they have a lot of HP. Along with the great art style, it’s a joy to come across a new boss to challenge your run.

Cheap and Deep

What will surprise you the most is the amount of depth that Kyvir brings to the table at the cost of $7.99 USD on the Steam marketplace. Games that are very similar – such as Slay the Spire – are priced much higher. So, what makes this game deep? To start, you have your equipment. This is earned through battles as loot drops and purchased using gold or shards. Along with all the usual stats that you’d see in an RPG such as strength and armor, it also provides unique set bonuses that you see in games such as Diablo.

Secondly, the cards. These are the core of the game, although certainly not your focus as in some deck building games. They each have a certain action and AP cost. What’s unique in Kyvir is that you have cards that fit either in your main hand or your odd hand. This means you’ll need to balance both hands when building your deck. Next, you have your skills. These are learned when you level up your hero after battle. They help boost the effect of certain cards. For example, you can unlock “Track: Gain 1 stack of the Aim card and X stacks of the Empowered Shot. X is the stack number of your current Cover.” In synergy with the right cards, these are very effective.

Lastly, there are traits. Once you die in the game, you are reborn, hence the title Kyvir: Rebirth. You are rewarded with a certain number of shards that are based off the level of your character and how far your progressed in the game. The can then be spent on “traits,” which are basically new starting cards. These make your next playthrough with that hero much easier, adding replay-ability to the game.

7

When you combine all of this, Kyvir: Rebirth is a wonderful rough-like card-building game with more depth than one could expect going in. As Dawnblaze Entertainment adds more heroes, equipment, skills, traits, cards, and brand-new content, I’m sure players will continue to come back.

Pros:

  • Lots of depth due to the number of systems in play
  • Price point is already a great value with the limited number of heroes available
  • Easy to use UI
  • Colorful, easy to look at style

Cons:

  • Could use more heroes to increase the already great replay-ability
  • Little to no story

Download Kyvir: Rebirth

PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Snapshots and Media

PC Screenshots

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