Support us on Patreon to keep GamingOnLinux alive. This ensures all of our main content remains free for everyone. Just good, fresh content! Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal. You can also buy games using our partner links for GOG and Humble Store.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

After having a few early releases available on the web and itch.io, Dragon Evo is entering the next stage of its life as a free to play competitive card battler on Steam and itch.io in Early Access.

"Dragon Evo is a unique tactical card game blending a touch of RTS with the thrill of RPGs and the best of deck building games. With our favourite elements from role playing, strategy and deck building / card games, it's a game like no other - a truly unique experience spanning across genres."

Not only will you be deck-building, taking part in turn-based battles like other popular online card games but you'll also be dealing with its resource system. With it being free to play, the concern of course is 'will it be pay to win?' and it seems not. You can unlock card packs just by playing but they will also allow people to buy card packs as they explain "our card progression and level-up system is linked directly to played games, putting players on equal footing as spenders".

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

From what I tried of it back in early 2020, it was definitely very promising with some fun battle mechanics. Looking forward to seeing plenty more from this. That said, these types of card battling games with a focus on online play often struggle to find a player-base unless they're an already known name, hopefully this will do better.

You can follow Dragon Evo on itch.io and Steam. No exact date yet for Early Access other than late this year or early next year. We'll keep you posted.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
5 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
5 comments

scaine Nov 9, 2021
View PC info
  • Contributing Editor
  • Mega Supporter
I do love a deck builder, but I'm not a huge fan of online play sadly. For now, I think I'll be sticking with Roguebook runs and dipping into Dominion with my mates if I need a bit of online play (indeed, this is giving me some Dominion vibes).

Looks great though. However, MtG kind of exhausted me on these games.
zegenie Nov 9, 2021
Quoting: scaineI do love a deck builder, but I'm not a huge fan of online play sadly. For now, I think I'll be sticking with Roguebook runs and dipping into Dominion with my mates if I need a bit of online play (indeed, this is giving me some Dominion vibes).

Looks great though. However, MtG kind of exhausted me on these games.

Disclaimer, Dragon Evo dev here. Really glad to get coverage like this, it means so much to us and getting exposure.

One of the most important things to us is providing a great single player experience in addition to the pvp elements. While it's an online game with no offline component, we do provide a huge and (in our own not so humble opinion) engaging single player story, standalone adventures and lots of ways to engage with the game without having to play pvp - if that's what you prefer.

We're gamers ourselves and try to avoid some of the pitfalls and annoyances of modern IA-based gaming, so that's certainly an aspect we're very conscious of.

Anyways, thanks for commenting 👍
scaine Nov 9, 2021
View PC info
  • Contributing Editor
  • Mega Supporter
Quoting: zegenie
Quoting: scaineI do love a deck builder, but I'm not a huge fan of online play sadly. For now, I think I'll be sticking with Roguebook runs and dipping into Dominion with my mates if I need a bit of online play (indeed, this is giving me some Dominion vibes).

Looks great though. However, MtG kind of exhausted me on these games.

Disclaimer, Dragon Evo dev here. Really glad to get coverage like this, it means so much to us and getting exposure.

One of the most important things to us is providing a great single player experience in addition to the pvp elements. While it's an online game with no offline component, we do provide a huge and (in our own not so humble opinion) engaging single player story, standalone adventures and lots of ways to engage with the game without having to play pvp - if that's what you prefer.

We're gamers ourselves and try to avoid some of the pitfalls and annoyances of modern IA-based gaming, so that's certainly an aspect we're very conscious of.

Anyways, thanks for commenting 👍

Well then! I had no idea! Can't hurt to give this a shot - thanks for clarifying. It does look very deep, some really satisfying looking strategy in there. If there's a single-player campaign, I'd love to give that a shot. Not sure how you monetise that experience, of course, but I'll check it out for sure.
Cioranix Nov 9, 2021
With it being free to play, the concern of course is 'will it be pay to win?' and it seems not. You can unlock card packs just by playing but they will also allow people to buy card packs as they explain "our card progression and level-up system is linked directly to played games, putting players on equal footing as spenders".

I really don't understand what this means. My fear is that it means the same as in GWENT or MTGA, that you have either to spend a lot of time playing or spend a lot of money, with nothing in between.
zegenie Nov 10, 2021
Quoting: CioranixWith it being free to play, the concern of course is 'will it be pay to win?' and it seems not. You can unlock card packs just by playing but they will also allow people to buy card packs as they explain "our card progression and level-up system is linked directly to played games, putting players on equal footing as spenders".

I really don't understand what this means. My fear is that it means the same as in GWENT or MTGA, that you have either to spend a lot of time playing or spend a lot of money, with nothing in between.

Thanks for the feedback.

Monetization is always hard, and to be honest we haven't yet fully decided on whether to go free-to-play with all its "baggage" or premium with the challenges linked to that.

Regardless of the model we choose, we think there could (and should) be "something in between". Most free-to-play games are designed to steer you towards and make you use money on IAP, more so than encouraging you to play the game. The game is merely the vessel used to generate IAPs. If we choose IAPs it will be to allow players to exchange playtime for cash but only out of respect for players' time. Not everyone have time to play, but still want to experience the content. That doesn't mean developers (or publishers) *have to* set the grind play time ridiculously high, it's just that many do. It's all a scheme.

Lots of words with little content perhaps, but for us, this is probably the hardest part of monetization altogether. We're gamers ourselves and mobile+IAP has pretty much destroyed everyone's expectations of what a grind should be. We want our game to have a progression "grind" that feels like true progression, not an artificial pay wall.

Our Discord server is a great place to talk about these things, too, so feel free to join there!
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.