I didn't think it was possible to make a Tetris-like strategy game, and yet Drop Duchy's launch yesterday has proven me wrong

I'm a bit of a sucker for weird genre combos. With the amount of games getting released every single day that often combine the same kinds of genres, you start to get hungry for mashups that make you go, "hang on, would that even work?" So when I saw Drop Duchy release yesterday, which mixes Tetris, land-grabbing strategy, deckbuilding and roguelite gameplay, I asked that exact question. Turns out the answer is yes!

Here's the lowdown on how Drop Duchy works: like in Tetris and other falling block puzzle games, you have an area where different shaped pieces fall into. You've got your usual shapes, the long one, the L one, the Z one, everyone's played Tetris, you get it. Except each shape represents a piece of land, similar to what you get in something like Civilization. Here you build paths, building upon those with cards from a deck, to slowly build up an area of control that you then have to send troops to battle on against NPCs.

Drop Duchy - Launch Trailer

Watch on YouTube

Just combining the strategy, deckbuilding, and roguelite elements doesn't feel all that novel, but there's something about the Tetris nature to it that feels quite whimsical and improvisational. You've really got to think about how you're building up that space in quite a unique way. I'm not even a big strategy game player, I just love Tetris and clever ideas.

On top of all of that, there's apparently "over 100 unique missions" to make your way through, with three playable factions to choose from. They all come with their own unique quests and rewards too. Just all very neat! And it's got a 10% discount on Steam for the next week or so, best hop on that now.