Throne of Bone is a spooky mix of Hearthstone Battlegrounds and Slay the Spire from an ex-MTG Arena dev
Out in time for Halloween
Throne of Bone has a name that just rolls off the tongue and, from the look of it, this roguelike-cum-deckbuilder-cum-autobattler will roll off the ol’ mouse-clicking finger plenty nicely when it releases into Early Access next month, too.
Throne of Bone comes from solo developer Pete White, a former lead dev on Magic: The Gathering’s digital app MTG Arena now working as indie outlet Windmill Slam.
White pitches Throne of Bone as a blend of Hearthstone’s autobattling mode Battlegrounds, mixed up with the roguelite progression of Slay the Spire. Players put together a team of undead minions from skeletons and zombies to weird fungus mages and more gribbly creatures by drafting their slick-looking digital cards.
After that, their minions do (auto)battle with enemies, the cards’ combined powers boosted by the player’s necromancer, who is able to help from the sidelines with various spells. Making it through a battle grants the ability to choose from a variety of options that will point your current run in a litany of directions.
There’s a touch of exploration and branching narrative choices as you make your way through the castle, encountering random events that might help you discover new spells, influence your stats and forge helpful items.
The aim is to win back your necromancer’s castle from the pesky adventurers there to put a stop to your necromantic deeds, though it sounds like it might take a few runs to achieve that.
There’s a demo for Throne of Bones live now over on Steam, ahead of the game’s Early Access release in October in time for Halloween.