The Royal Writ is a fresh spin on deckbuilding tactics with medieval charm.
The Royal Writ came from the independent developer with a clear goal: to make a deck-building strategy game that combines strategic card management with battlefield placement in a small but deep way. It was made by a small but dedicated team, and it quickly gained popularity because it combined tactical unit activation with deck manipulation in new ways that make it feel different from other card games or tactical RPGs.
It stands out in the crowded deckbuilding genre thanks to its unique look and surprising depth. The Royal Writ provides something that is both easy to play and very strategic. In The Royal Writ, you play as a good king or queen who is trying to keep order in a country that is becoming more and more chaotic.
The story slowly unfolds through the battles you fight, involving disobedient lords, peasants, and mysterious council members trying to get away from jail. These story elements raise the stakes and add flavor without taking away from the gameplay. Every battle feels like a part of a bigger fight for control and power, which means that the decisions you make in battle affect a bigger story of rule and resistance.
Managing a deck of cards that shows your units, equipment, and special skills is what The Royal Writ is all about. You place these cards carefully on the battlefield’s lanes to equip and move your units to get advantages or give up units for more power. The battlefield lanes have columns that change the strength of your cards as they move forward. This adds a new level of strategy to where you place your cards.
You will often change the states of your cards to fix damage, make weaker units stronger by giving them, or use short-term power-ups and multipliers to get the most out of them. Every turn is interesting because you have to choose which cards to use, when to move your units forward, and how to get around obstacles on the ground like traps or bridges. When you forever lose a card during a run, the stakes go up, and you have to carefully weigh risk vs. reward with every move.
In The Royal Writ, combat is a fun game of adding and multiplying modifiers and placing units in the right places. As your cards move from lane to lane, they get stronger through base strength, kit bonuses, and effects that multiply their power. Some units, like flying cards, can get around dangerous areas like pits, but others can be hit by traps that weaken or kill them. You should find a mix between giving up cards early on to gain power and keeping them to use multiplier synergies later on.
It’s more tactical if you plan your attacks and use relics and special skills at the right times. When you face a boss, they’ll add new challenges, like specific column threats, that will make you change your formation and protect your valuable cards. Managing terrain effects, equipment boosts, and card abilities to do the most damage while losing the least is what makes the game puzzle-like.
The best thing about The Royal Writ is how well it combines managing cards and planning your moves. You’re not just playing cards; you’re planning how they move and gain power across the map, which makes the game more exciting. The interaction between effects that add to or multiply each other and the dangers of the land makes for interesting complexity.
Still, the system can be hard to get used to at first, especially when you have to figure out timing, positioning, and power all at the same time. There are card combos that are so strong that they can throw off the balance of battles or let you easily beat enemies. Part of The Royal Writ‘s charm and finding factor comes at the cost of this imbalance. There’s always a new combo or strategy to find. But the fact that cards are permanently lost in runs adds real drama and makes every choice matter.
In The Royal Writ, you move forward by winning fights and managing your deck’s power and gold well so that you earn experience points. Over time, your tactical choices will grow as you add more strategic features to lanes and make your deck bigger. As you unlock new gear, relics, and card changes, this makes the game more fun to play again and try new things.
The XP system has a big effect on the game because it lets you change and improve your deck’s skills over time. It’s important to keep track of your resources, since you can’t get back lost cards in the middle of a run. However, persistent treasures and upgrades help you feel like you’re still growing and progressing. You keep coming back to this loop to improve your strategies and take on tougher tasks.
The visual style of The Royal Writ is simple but charmingly medieval. The cards are bright and unique, and the icons on them are easy to read and show things like equipment, terrain effects, and states like “unconscious” or “trampled.” It’s easy to keep track of your units and their bonuses even when things get busy because the battlefield lanes are well-organized and colorful without being too crowded.
Even though the art isn’t flashy or overly detailed, its simplicity fits the strategy nature of the game perfectly, making it a good mix of style and function. Animations and tile effects give the game more personality without getting in the way of making strategic choices. They also make the mood better without being too much for the player.
The sound design goes well with the fantasy scene set in the Middle Ages. A moody music with soft, fitting melodies lifts the mood of the kingdom without getting in the way of the gameplay. When you play cards, equip equipment, move units, or fight, sound effects let you know what you’re doing and give you satisfying feedback.
The sound is just right—interesting enough to keep you listening, but not too loud that it gets annoying or repetitive during longer runs. Music and sound effects work together to make you feel more immersed and speed up and heighten the tension of every fight.
The Royal Writ is a great deck-building strategy game with a cute medieval theme that combines managing cards and strategically placing them in a way that works really well. Each run is a gratifying strategic challenge thanks to its creative mechanics, which include balancing additive and multiplicative power growth, giving up units, and avoiding terrain hazards.
For new players, the game’s complexity and rare balance issues may be too much to handle, but the main gameplay loop is very addictive. The story parts add flavor to the background without taking away from the main focus, and the simple art and sound design help create an immersive experience with no extraneous noise.
If you want a deckbuilder game with real tactical depth, meaningful growth, and a unique medieval twist, you should check out The Royal Writ.
