Last week Resolution Games released its latest virtual reality (VR) title, the turn-based dungeon crawler Demeo for Oculus Quest and SteamVR headsets. Receiving stellar reviews from VRFocus and other publications Demeo has become the biggest VR launch of May so far and if you’ve not bought it yet then you’ll definitely want to enter our competition.
Love a bit of Dungeons & Dragons on a Sunday night or board game sessions featuring fantasy realms, stat cards and some ancient lore? Then Demeo is going to be for you, just in VR of course. Up to four players can team up and head into a three-level dungeon to fight monsters, collect gold and unlock character customisation options. They can either step into the role of an eagle-eyed hunter who loves her bow, a mystical sorcerer who can summon area-of-effect (AOE) spells, a sneaky deadly assassin or a protective knight with loads of armour.
While Demeo is geared around its multiplayer Resolution Games has ensured you can dive in solo as well with a Skirmish Mode. Here you can control three characters through the dungeon, useful if you want to learn each of their skill sets. Each run-through, either in single or multiplayer, is completely randomized so you never know who could be behind each door.
Reviewing the Oculus Quest version of Demeoat launch VRFocus said: “Demeo continues Resolution Games’ run of well-crafted VR titles, moving away from the frantic gameplay of Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale and Blaston into a far more laidback experience. Its slower style isn’t for everyone yet as an example of D&D in VR, Demeo excels.”
So onto the competition. VRFocus has Oculus Quest and Steam codes for Demeo to giveaway. There are multiple ways to enter the giveaway with the standard prize draw entry rules applying: Follow us (or already be following us) on Twitter (@VRFocus) or alternatively, visit our Facebook page or YouTube channel to get an entry for each. The competition will be open until 11.59 pm BST on Monday 17th May 2021. The draw will be made shortly thereafter, winners will be contacted for their preferred platform. Best of luck.
According to Tommy Palm, CEO of Resolution Games, Demeo had an incredibly successful launch last week.
In a thread of tweets, Palm spoke to both the financial and critical success that the game received in the days following its launch last Thursday.
“In 48 hours, @DemeoGame exceeded half a million in revenues, saw a staggering day 1 retention of 63% and has the highest Metacritic score in my career (90),” he said on Twitter (although not specifying the currency of revenue generation). “It’s so exciting to see VR reach this state of maturity. We’re finally in a time when a new IP can sell significant revenues right out of the gate.”
Palm also noted that the launch was not without its technical hurdles and that the game “isn’t perfect”, but that the Resolution team is already working on updates and fixes. More content is also on the way, with the Realm of the Rat King expansion set for a Summer 2021 release.
Demeo is a VR tabletop game that implements some RPG elements and supports co-op play with up to 4 people. In our review, we noted that the game may not have the deepest RPG and tabletop mechanics, but it is easily one of the best social VR experiences we’ve tried to date:
It’s a near-peerless social VR experience, polished to such a degree that it transforms the kinks of its systems into enjoyable, suspenseful quirks. Facing its brutish hordes with friends at your side is a thrilling, collaborative endurance test; defeat is met with entertained cries of anguish while victory — rare as that may be — is celebrated with the sort of group-wide elation you might have been missing in this tough past year.
Tabletop role-playing game Demeo will offer cross-buy between the Oculus store versions of the game for Quest and Rift, according to an update from one of Resolution Games’ representatives on Discord.
The new game is out now for $29.99 on Oculus Quest and Steam, with a Rift store version planned as well. Though the Rift store version isn’t out yet, cross-buy support means players who buy the Quest version should be able to connect over Air Link or Oculus link to a VR PC and enjoy the graphics in the PC VR version from the Oculus Store — when the game is finally out on that platform, of course.
We’ve got a graphics comparison between the Steam and Quest versions of the game you can check out, and if you haven’t made your mind up about the game be sure to check out Jamie Feltham’s review in which he says it is “instantly graspable and endlessly rewarding even when the odds are stacked against you.”
The game can be played with up to four players with a resizable tabletop world in which the game plays out with turn-based strategy. Developer Resolution Games already have an expansion planned for this summer, and there’s no save functionality in the game as of this writing, so you have to try to beat the three levels of the included dungeon in one marathon sitting. The developers are also planning a 2D flat-screen version of the game.
Will you be descending into Demeo? Let us know in the comments below.
It may seem like a long time ago but there was a time when multiplayer gaming purely meant having to physically go to an arcade or pop to a mate’s, especially when it came to dungeon crawling with a team of fantasy warriors. Nowadays, board gaming might still be alive and strong but there are plenty more options if you’re separated by hours of travelling (or a pandemic). In the field of virtual reality, Resolution Games has become somewhat of an expert, with all its most recent projects providing a multiplayer party vibe. Its latest is no different, yet it embraces those old board gaming sensibilities in Demeo.
Unlike a lot of VR party videogames, Demeo isn’t concerned with creating a ruckus, getting the blood pumping, or having players scream at each other to complete a task. What you have here is slow, methodical gaming, where you work as a team to overcome challenges and opponents with one focused goal, to fight through a monster-filled dungeon and defeat the boss at the end.
If you have ever played any sort of role-playing game (RPG), digital or otherwise, Demeo’s setup is about as standard as you could imagine. There are four character classes to choose from, each with its own traits so it’s always wise to have one of each if you’re playing a full roster of four people. You don’t need four as you can dive right in with you and one other mate, however, like any game of this ilk the more definitely is the merrier. From general friendly banter to working out a proper strategy, Demeo really comes alive when several mates are involved.
As for those characters, there’s an assassin who’s good at sneaking around, laying traps, and getting in close for some extra backstabbing damage. Also in the close-range camp is the Knight, with a big swinging blade for some major damage. This class also happens to be the only one with armour, great for leading from the front. If you prefer a little distance between you and whatever nasty creature happens to appear then the sorcerer has plenty of area-of-effect (AOE) attacks whilst the ranger has a trusty bow for the farthest reach. As mentioned, all quite standard when it comes to RPG gaming.
Dungeons are procedurally generated in Demeo, so their layouts and enemy locations always change for each run-through, the only consistency is that each dungeon contains three levels. The overall design and feel remain the same however, a drab selection of bricks and dour colours which you’d kind of expect. This being a VR title there’s more than just a static tabletop to look at, as Resolution Games has gone with a classic D&D gaming theme, hosting Demeo inside a virtual basement. It’s not something you appreciate right away until you’re a few turns in as players are getting into position and then you notice the attention to the background detail.
You’d be forgiven for ignoring the background though, as there’s plenty to keep your attention table side. You’ve got full control over how you view the action, freely able to spin the tabletop around, resize it for a lofty god-like viewpoint or get right in there and step into the dungeon – there’s some lovely model work to admire. You can even adjust the viewing angle should you so desire. And each player can do this independently, which means there are points in the game everyone’s avatar – made up of heads and hands – will be a variety of sizes as they adjust for each situation.
When it comes to your turn you have two action points that can be used for exploration or fighting. Each character has a set number of squares they can move, so teams can decide how methodical they want to be. Stepping onto a door can open the floodgates with a wave of enemies suddenly appearing, whilst others may appear from a flanking location. As you do with a physical board game you can pick up your character, move them to an open spot or drop them right on an enemy. All attacks are decided by a roll of the die, with three outcomes, a standard hit, a critical hit (for extra damage), or a miss. The latter also adds a random chance for you to hit a teammate which is never good – you almost feel guilty for doing it even though it was a random roll of the die.
Those are just your basic moves though, Demeo really comes into its own once you start to use all the magic cards. There are over 60, with some specific to each character, some are single-use whilst others recharge each turn. For example, the ranger can use two bow shots each turn whilst the knight can recharge their armour for an action point. The powerful spells use a chunk of mana that’s shared between the entire group. Hence where that teamwork becomes even more important, use all that mana on a shit move and suddenly there’s none for everyone else – until it’s replenished of course.
Thus, you have all these little strategic elements adding layer after layer of complexity to Demeo. There’s no difficulty per se, it all depends on the random enemy encounters, so a run could take 30 minutes, or you could be there an hour trying to wade through the hordes. It’s thoroughly engrossing and even after several dungeons didn’t feel repetitive, always offering something new to try.
A worry with any type of multiplayer-oriented videogame like Demeo is what happens if there’s no one else to join? Thankfully, Demeo does include a single-player skirmish mode where you take three characters into a dungeon. Admittedly you do lose that ambiance and energy that only playing with friends can bring but it does add a lot of value to Demeo. You can experiment with different characters, learn about the various spells and enemy specialties so you’re all clued up ready for the next online session. Or there’s always the quick match option to just jump in with some like-minded players and see if you can beat the boss.
Having just one boss to fight at the end does sound a little light which would be a concern to the longevity of Demeo. But Resolution Games has already confirmed the next expansion module, Realm of the Rat King for this summer. While that doesn’t affect this overall review, at least you know more content is on the way.
Demeo continues Resolution Games’ run of well-crafted VR titles, moving away from the frantic gameplay of Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale and Blaston into a far more laidback experience. As Demeo is entirely tabletop-based there are no comfort issues to worry about (best played seated), plus as you complete runs you level up and unlock new customisation options, encouraging repeat gameplay. Its slower style isn’t for everyone yet as an example of D&D in VR, Demeo excels.
Is Resolution Games’ most ambitious VR title yet its best? Find out in our Demeo review!
Demeo is one of those times it works. Y’know, it; the whole promise of leapfrogging the miles between friends and family and experiencing a genuine social connection in virtual space via the magic of VR. Resolution Games has always been good at that but, here? The studio nails it. So much so, in fact, it elevates what is otherwise a really rather fun tabletop RPG into something special. Significant, even.
Over the past week of playing Demeo — sometimes with people across the Atlantic, sometimes even further — I feel like I’ve done something I haven’t done a lot over the past year – see my friends. More so than when I call them over webcam and, in some senses, even more so than a socially distanced face-to-face meetup at opposite ends of a freezing park bench. It’s been proper, care-free quality time, a type I haven’t enjoyed in many other VR apps and a type that’s been sorely missing from all our lives of late. That doesn’t just speak to the strength of the game’s core foundations but also the impressive polish of its social VR elements.
Up to four players can tackle Demeo’s randomized run of three dungeon levels in games that can last anywhere from a few minutes for the careless to approaching three hours or more. Each of you hovers above the gameboard as a customizable avatar situated in a dingy basement that doubles as a time capsule for ’80s D&D fanatics and those that remember huddling around a TV to play Gauntlet (one of Demeo’s more direct influences). The game’s controls have been meticulously refined to make movement, scaling and interaction feel seamless – you grab the air to pull yourself through the environment, point and pull the trigger to pick up cards and character pieces and move your hands back and forth to resize yourself from human scale right down to the point you can fit into one of the dungeon’s uncomfortably tight corridors. As you scale down, your avatar shrinks with you.
The combination of intuitive user experience and presence is as potent as you’ll find in VR; there’s very little to Demeo that’s fiddly or frustrating. Something as simple as a flick of a dice invites anxious anticipation as necks crane to watch it roll across the board, success followed with virtual dancing and rare misses met with visible commiserating. Gone are the awkward blemishes of navigating large virtual environments or wrestling with a restrictive play space; Demeo simply feels like you’ve gathered around a table with friends, and there’s real power in it.
Demeo Review – The Facts
What is it?: A multiplayer tabletop RPG in which up to four friends roll the dice to raid dungeons in turn-based combat. Platforms: Quest, PC VR (flatscreen version coming soon) Release Date: Out Now Price: $29.99
It helps, of course, that the nuts and bolts of the game form a moreish strategy RPG treat – instantaneous to pick up but swiftly punishing any temporary lapse in judgment. If anything you’d compare it more to XCOM than you would classic D&D; each player has two action points per turn that can be spent on a combination of moving, attacking or utilizing specials cards. These show up when you flick your palm upward and offer anything from healing to area-of-effect attacks and temporary invulnerability. Classes, meanwhile, have special abilities like an archer that can attack from afar, or a warrior with replenishable armor that serves them well on the frontlines.
To the initiated, this is all fairly routine stuff and, taken on its own, seasoned dungeon raiders may find Demeo too simplistic. It’s light on confusing intricacies like long-lasting status ailments or cover systems and instead heavy on overwhelming odds. These elements are there in some small degree, but never weigh too heavily on your tactics. Instead, it’s pretty common to use a special attack to streamline a small scrap only to round a corner and find the six or seven enemies you really should have been saving it for. And the enemies really do come thick and fast. Groups of five or six huddle around key points, rat nests have high health and spring multiple rodents if they’re not eliminated quickly, while spider eggs hatch upon attack and some unwelcome monsters even teleport right into the heat of battle from afar.
Frustrating as that may sound — and it sometimes is — the threat of what’s hidden in the shadows is what gives any game of Demeo consistent intensity. Anything but the most cautious of strategies and your two-plus hour run will suddenly turn to disaster. Then it’s back to the start.
Cruel, perhaps, but death is an important part of Demeo. Victory is meant to be rare; the payoff of committed, calculated play and understanding of the game’s flow. It provides a genuine sense of accomplishment. And Demeo does give you the tools to overcome almost any situation with the right approach. Each character class brings meaningful variety, and you can have multiples of the same character too. No one class feels particularly overpowered and they all have drawbacks – the warrior is light on ranged options and the mage isn’t able to deliver heavy damage with his base attacks, for example. A team of archers might sound like a safe bet with the right play, but what happens when you round a corner to find a gang of giant spiders and elementals just a few tiles away?
There’s a flurry of possibilities that makes discussing strategies and routes endlessly engaging. A Tilt Brush-style system lets you draw lines through the maze to help direct plans, and maps are dotted with markers that serve as points of interest. One will be the exit you need to escape (though the key will be held by an enemy in another location), while others serve as chests holding more cards and healing fountains.
All of this comes together in a game of collaborative risk-taking that eats up the hours. I’ve had games of Demeo fall to ruin in late stages after pain-staking effort and felt ready and raring to up and go again the second I get back to the menu. It’s simple, yes, maybe even a little unbalanced at times (I’ve found two-player matches to be more of a struggle than games with a party of three or four), but incredibly replayable when you have a group of similarly enthusiastic dungeon raiders at your side.
Demeo Review – Comfort
Demeo doesn’t have large spaces to navigate and is overall a very comfortable experience. The pull-through locomotion works great and scaling up and down works seamlessly. It can strain your neck to be looking down at the board all the time but, brilliantly, Resolution has added the ability to tilt the board all the way up to a top-down view if you want to play that way.
Even if you can lose hours in its recycled dungeons, though, it’s true that the game is a little light on content right now. But Resolution is committed to free DLC including the arrival of a second set of levels this summer and what’s there hasn’t grown stale for me yet. The team is also going to add in a mid-game save option which, no, isn’t there right now and, yes, is pretty troubling when games go extra innings. I also suspect some players will want to see more persistence out of it; even if three or four hours is game enough for one sitting, once you’re back to the menu it’s all a fresh start with only a pile of cosmetics to show for your efforts. The ability to string together games into a long-lasting campaign would be very welcome.
There is a single-player Skirmish mode, too, in which you can control three of the game’s heroes yourself. Again, the strength of Demeo’s systems is more than enough for an entertaining time but it’s undeniably at its best in multiplayer, especially without that progression system.
Demeo Review – Final Impressions
Demeo is not a perfect tabletop RPG. Its turn-based combat isn’t especially deep and its difficulty stems from brute force. But it is instantly graspable and endlessly rewarding even when the odds are stacked against you. More importantly, though, it’s a near-peerless social VR experience, polished to such a degree that it transforms the kinks of its systems into enjoyable, suspenseful quirks. Facing its brutish hordes with friends at your side is a thrilling, collaborative endurance test; defeat is met with entertained cries of anguish while victory — rare as that may be — is celebrated with the sort of group-wide elation you might have been missing in this tough past year. Not built for parties of one, then, but if you have a group of three or four ready to raid, Demeo is one of VR’s best.
For more on how we arrived at this score, read our review guidelines. What did you make of our Demeo review? Let us know in the comments below!
Demeo is a tabletop action RPG that puts you with up to three other players in a co-op battle against pint-sized foes of all makes and models. The basement setting and Monster Manual-esque modules suggest a very in-depth D&D style gameplay experience, but it’s more akin to a more casual turn-based strategy game set in randomized dungeons. It offers a good opportunity to get back into playing board games with friends in a time when it’s not always the smartest idea to do so IRL, but I question whether Demeo has gone far enough to really utilize the full gamut of VR’s immersive possibilities.
Demeo Details:
Available On: Oculus Quest, SteamVR Release Date: May 6th, 2021 Price: $30 Developer: Resolution Games Reviewed On: Quest 2 – crossplay with SteamVR
Gameplay
Demeo offers both an online mode so you can play with up to three friends or strangers, and single player skirmish mode so you can bone up on your strategy. The idea of the game is to pick one of four heroes, traverse three dungeons and defeat the end boss together. You only have two action points at your disposal for each turn, so you need to choose wisely on whether you move or use an ability card to fight, heal, or hide.
At the time of launch, Demeo only comes with a single game module called ‘The Black Sarcophagus’, but as a roguelite strategy game it offers a randomization of dungeon configuration, ability cards, and both entry and exit locations on the map. More modules are coming too, with Resolution Games saying the next module, dubbed ‘Realm of the Rat King’, will arrive sometime in Summer 2021. Demeo is also slated to get regular post-launch updates for free, which will include new environments, enemies, and ability cards.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a quick and dirty how-to on actually playing Demeo, Resolution does a very fair job of explaining all of the basics in the short overview video below.
Foremost, Demeo is a competent tabletop game that hits many of the right beats. Although it only offers one particularly unforgiving difficultly mode, its generally impresses with its fine visual polish, well balanced combat mechanics, and not to mention the ability to bring VR players together in a virtual space for a night of safe and fun entertainment—that last one should not to be underestimated. It also offers hours of gameplay thanks to the randomization of ability cards and dungeon layout, and has just enough depth for anyone to pick up and play.
Image courtesy Resolution Games
When I say it’s unforgiving, I mean you’ll be bashing at ‘The Black Sarcophagus’ multiple times before you hit the perfect stride of good group communication, understanding all hero abilities, and recognizing the range of enemies crawling around so you know just how to attack and who to gang up on first. To finally break through and defeat the end boss, you’ll also need plenty of luck, patience for restarts, and foresight into which cards make the most sense to save and use. The fastest playthrough I had beating ‘The Black Sarcophagus’ module clocked in just under an hour, which doesn’t account for a few hours of failures beforehand.
Image courtesy Resolution Games
Both monster and hero abilities feel well balanced, with the edge going to the monsters for their ability to create enemy-spawning nests, making the onslaught near-infinite if you think you can just stay in one place. Conversely, if you jump ahead too quickly, or someone in your party decides to Leroy Jenkins themselves through a door without checking with everyone else, you may end up with more baddies than you can handle. This makes communication key to surviving and moving on the the next dungeon.
Image courtesy Resolution Games
If you can’t tell by now, I’ll just come out and say it. I like Demeo as a board game. It’s a very well executed game that, with only a few niggles, fits right alongside any other board game you might play with buddies on a Friday night. It feels unburdened from unnecessary fluff, but also isn’t terribly revolutionary either for virtual reality. When it comes to its implementation as a native VR game, it left me wanting more. I really wanted to see more VR-specific mechanics that would set it apart from similar games on a traditional monitor, but I’ll talk more about that in the Immersion section below.
Immersion
Again, I like Demeo for its clear execution and intention as a tabletop game, I just wished there was more reason for it to be in VR and not on a flatscreen. Consequently it’s also going to be on traditional PC monitors at some point too, which may be the biggest clue as to why it’s designed the way it is.
Image courtesy Resolution Games
Let me take a step back for a second though. Everything is dripping with style in Demeo, which includes the cool nostalgia-soaked basement for that suitably ’80s feel. If you get down close enough to the action—that can be done by ‘stretching’ the world with both motion controllers—character models and animations can also be really fun to watch too. It certainly evokes a Star Wars-style HoloChess vibe.
Granted, getting that close to inspect enemies and heroes alike is fairly pointless when it comes to actually playing. After settling into the game, you’ll probably end up ignoring most of those rightfully cool things as you toggle the ability to view the world at a 45-degree angle tilt so you don’t strain your neck from constantly looking downward.
Image courtesy Resolution Games
Avoiding the inevitable neck strain, at that point it basically becomes a game you might well play on traditional monitors, as your motion controller becomes glorified laser pointers to select and move pieces. Hand models just feel too unnatural in how they grip things to make it feel like the obvious first choice—it’s just too damn fiddly to pick up a single piece from a cluster.
That raises the question: what does Demeo bring to VR that a game on traditional monitors can’t? The answer is very little. I was really hoping to see more VR-specific game mechanics, like skill-based interludes, moments for roleplay, or something that would put me more into the game; being able to shrink down to nearly the size of a character doesn’t really cut it.
Image courtesy Resolution Games
I found that playing Demeo is decidedly less dependent on your ability to see your fellow players, and more on your ability to speak to one another without looking and maybe gesture occasionally. Even then, gesturing is abstracted away in multiplayer mode by emphasizing an air drawing tool which you can use to clearly indicate where you want to go next.
Despite avatar accessories (along with different dice and character themes), it’s clear Demeo is putting much less emphasis on face-to-face player interactions. I just wish there was more reason to have that sort of player-to-player connection in Demeo, like being able to pass them something they might need or want.
Comfort
Neck comfort is no joke. The human neck isn’t made to carry unbalanced loads for very long, and stress injury is a real thing. At the risk of harming immersion, you can thankfully tilt the table by a variable amount if you want to get even a full front-facing bird’s eye view of the action. I highly recommend this if you’re going to play for more than an hour at a time. That advisory even goes for users with the Quest 2’s Elite Battery Strap offsetting the headset’s weight somewhat.
You can remain seated and play with a natural view of the table, however you’ll probably want to move around quite a bit to get better angles. This is done by grabbing the world with one motion controller, which feels entirely comfortable. Resizing the world by ‘stretching’ it with both hands can feel a little jarring to begin with, but provided you’re not flying around and resizing constantly, you should have an exceedingly comfortable gameplay session.
With four-player cross-play support across PC and Quest, Demeo is an ambitious multiplayer VR effort from developer Resolution Games. But how does the standalone version stack up next to the might of the PC? Find out in our Demeo graphics comparison!
Demeo is a cooperative dungeon-crawler that plays out as a virtual tabletop board game. Players take turns moving their individual characters through environments, fending off monsters, rolling dice and casting spells. If you haven’t already seen, we’re really rather smitten with it. And, while it’s true that its basement setting and scalable set aren’t as visually ambitious as this week’s other big release, The Wizard: Dark Times on Quest, Demeo is filled with tons of fun, minute visual effects that really bring the action to life.
Demeo Graphics Comparison
And that’s true of both versions. Resolution has done an impressive job cramming as much of the PC VR experience into the standalone version of Demeo as possible. So, yes, you’ll be missing some effects – things like lit torches on the game’s opening board, more splashes of gold liquid in the healing fountains, and extra touches to the explosive lamps. There’s also the usual concessions like lower resolution textures, which are particularly noticeable in the basement setting that surrounds you.
But some of the things we were expecting to be drastically scaled back on Quest, much to our surprise, weren’t. Things like particle effects on spells stick incredibly close to the PC VR version and character models, though blurrier, carry the same details right down to the scars and scrapes on the warriors’ armor.
All-in-all it’s an impressive port, then. We’d happily recommend either version of the game, though perhaps it’s worth mentioning that the marathon gameplay sessions will take a toll on your Quest’s battery, and there’s no mid-game save right now, though Resolution says it’s coming. If that’s a concern for you (don’t forget you can just play with your Quest plugged in), then PC might be the best bet.
Demeo is out today on Quest and PC VR with cross-play for $29.99. A standard PC version is also coming that can also be played with the VR version.
Tabletop role-playing game Demeo isn’t even out yet and Resolution Games is already teasing a major expansion.
Demeo debuts on May 6th for $29.99 on both Oculus Quest and PC VR headsets. The title is inspired by classic tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons featuring turn-based battles with up to four players and dice throwing to determine attack strength. There’s also a single-player mode and you can scale the size of the table and get a good look at the action for careful planning of your strategy with friends.
The game launches with an introductory adventure that sees players picking a role as a hunter, sorcerer, assassin or guardian and heading into an Elven Necropolis to “vanquish the unholy armies of The Mad Elven King and set him free.” Gameplay was recently shown off in the following trailer:
With today’s reveal, Resolution is teasing that its next adventure is coming summer 2021 called “Realm of the Rat King”. The tease comes with the confirmation that the game will be regularly updated with new free content, including new environments, enemies and cards. We’re extremely interested to see how Demeo catches on with players across both PCs and standalone VR, and obviously for the type of role-playing genre the game is aiming for, the depth of content is going to be a major draw over time.
Did you think we were done with the surprises? Oh, how wrong you were, adventurer! Demeo will be updated regularly with new, free content such as environments, enemies, cards and much more. Here is a sneak peek of the next module, Realm of the Rat King, coming summer 2021. pic.twitter.com/Ho4FpVoTip
Virtual reality (VR) board game fans only have a day to wait for Resolution Games’ next title, Demeo, and already the studio is teasing details of the first expansion. In true tabletop fashion, the next module will be Book 2: Realm of the Rat King due for release at some point this summer.
Apart from the obvious that players will have to face the ‘Rat King’, actual details regarding what new content the module will add hasn’t been unveiled just yet. In a Tweet, Resolution Games has mentioned that “Demeo will be updated regularly with new, free content such as environments, enemies, cards and much more,” so that’ll give you a better idea of what to expect.
In addition to Book 2: Realm of the Rat King, the studio also released a new gameplay overview trailer this week, showcasing Demeo in action. The video is the best look yet at what Demeo has in store, detailing the individual characters classes and their traits, getting up close with some of the enemies as well as all the magic cards you’ll be able to utilise – there are over 60 in the videogame.
Primarily design as a turn-based multiplayer, up to four players can team up and step into the role of an eagle-eyed hunter who loves her bow, a mystical sorcerer who can summon area-of-effect (AOE) spells, a sneaky deadly assassin or a protective guardian with loads of armour. Players have two action points to move and attack, rolling a die to see if they hit or miss and opponent. As mentioned, special ability cards can be used to augment actions, healing the team or casting status effects for example.
If there isn’t anyone available or you just want to practice then Demeo does have a single-player Skirmish Mode. Here you can control three characters through a dungeon which is a great way to learn each of their skill sets. Each run-through, either in single or multiplayer, is completely randomized so you never know who could be behind each door.
Resolution Games released a new gameplay overview trailer for Demeo ahead of its release later this week, explaining what to expect and how to play the game.
You can view the gameplay trailer below, which goes into more detail about the mechanics of the game and the different modes available.
The basic concept of Demeo is an adapted version of a tabletop RPG game for VR, playable either solo or with friends. You’ll fight through several floors of the ‘Elven Acropolis’ to get to the big bad boss at the end, using a turn-based movement and combat system to get through each floor.
There’s monsters littered throughout the map, and you progress by locating and defeating the one that holds the key to the next floor. Once you’ve acquired the key, you can use it to open the door that progresses you onwards.
In terms of classes, there are four champions to choose from – the guardian, the sorcerer, the hunter and the assassin.
The guardian is a tank class, with strong close attacks and repairable armour. The assassin is all about stealth, with the ability to perform backstabs and throw poison grenades. The hunter is the ranged class, with a bow and arrow and the ability to summon allies and charm enemies. If you’re looking for more of an all-rounder, then the sorcerer provides you with a mix of area-of-effect and melee attacks with some specials spells mixed in as well.
You can play in co-op mode with 2-4 players, or in skirmish mode as a solo player, which will see you take control of 3 classes by yourself.
The turn-based system grants you two action points per turn, which you can use to move, attack, open doors and more. The strength and accuracy of your attacks is determined by a dice roll, which can result in a hit, a miss or a critical hit.
The trailer also notes that each run is different and randomly generated, so you’ll never play the same thing twice.
Demeo launches for Oculus Quest and PC VR via Steam on May 6.
