Hand of Fate

 PC
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. Quarter to Three
    Apr 9, 2015
    100
    It’s a wonderfully gratifying take on the idea of a collectible card game, on the concept of leveling up, on rewarding failure as well as success, on marking progress through defeat and victory.
  2. Game Rant
    May 18, 2015
    90
    Defiant Development’s Hand of Fate game is not without flaws, but the sheer innovation dwarfs them easily.
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Mar 26, 2015
    90
    Occasionally suffers from a bit of slowdown but otherwise Hands of Fate is a highly polished and idiosyncratic joy. [Apr 2015, p.60]
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  5. RPG Fan
    Feb 18, 2015
    90
    A perfect showcase for the power of indie developers; a deck building, roguelike, action RPG.
  6. Game Revolution
    Feb 17, 2015
    90
    Though the combat and the camera could have given a touch more polish, the ingenuity of the card-based game design speaks loud and clear.
  7. Ragequit.gr
    Mar 6, 2015
    89
    Hand of Fate is not easy to recommend to everyone, due to its uniqueness. However the interesting hybrid of genres is quite original and if you take a look at it, maybe you will find a hidden treasure for your game library.
  8. Multiplayer.it
    Feb 23, 2015
    88
    Hand of Fate worth every cent of it. It's an amazing blend of a card game and a roguelike. Try it.
  9. Game Informer
    Feb 17, 2015
    88
    I noticed a difficulty spike toward the end, but overall the card-based journey is a fun, challenging jaunt that should leave you craving more as you run into disasters and tough battles, taking your tokens and licking your wounds as each attempt brings you just a little closer to the next boss.
  10. The Jimquisition
    Mar 8, 2015
    85
    Aside from some problematic resource balancing and some unavoidable repetition, Hand of Fate is a clever game of risks and rewards that is well worth getting dealt into.
  11. Softpedia
    Feb 20, 2015
    85
    Hand of Fate is an interesting game that will certainly appeal to those who want to see how the card-based approach could be expanded in meaningful ways in the coming years.
  12. IGN Spain
    Feb 25, 2015
    82
    Hand of Fate offers a fresh, absorbing experience with a great fusion of genres and concepts. While its difficulty and fight system prevent it from achieving excellence, this is an intriguing new game made by a promising new team.
  13. RPGamer
    Sep 19, 2016
    80
    Hand of Fate is a rollicking good time that can be completed in under 20 hours.
  14. Eurogamer Poland
    Feb 27, 2015
    80
    Hand of Fate is original, complex and sometimes difficult enough - currently one of the more interesting ideas and an extremely interesting experiment, combining several genres.
  15. 4P.de
    Feb 27, 2015
    77
    Yes, the fights could be more challenging and mechanically more diverse. But in the end the mixture of tabletop, trading cards and real-time action works surprisingly well.
  16. 3DJuegos
    Feb 24, 2015
    75
    Hand of Fate is a funny RPG adventure with a unique gameplay and high replay value.
  17. Vandal
    Feb 23, 2015
    75
    It has some aspect that could have been improved, but it does a great job bringing back some old-school RPG feelings, and its concept is original and fresh enough to become a relevant choice.
  18. PC Games
    Mar 3, 2015
    73
    A fantastic concept that is hindered by unbalanced randomization and monotonous combat.
  19. PC Gamer
    Feb 18, 2015
    73
    A fun, unconventional RPG with interesting new ideas that aren’t entirely overshadowed by its repetitive nature and stale combat.
  20. Games.cz
    Apr 23, 2015
    70
    An interesting blend of card and action games, which is definitely worth attention. To be a top game it needs to get rid of a slow start, improve the card visuals and remove a few small problems during fights.
  21. Eurogamer Italy
    Apr 20, 2015
    70
    A good mix of various elements worth more than the simple sum of its parts.
  22. Gamer.no
    Mar 4, 2015
    70
    Hand of Fate is a really unique game, with a Dungeons & Dragons feel to its excellent cardplay. Its only a shame is that technical shortcomings and lackluster combat kinda break the experience.
  23. Gameplanet
    Mar 3, 2015
    70
    Hand of Fate is a fresh take on the rogue-lite genre that starts off flush with unique ideas, but by the final few hands it's out of trump cards.
  24. Arcade Sushi
    Feb 23, 2015
    70
    Hand of Fate mixes deck-building with hack ‘n slash dungeon crawling in a way that’s fluid enough for casual fans to enjoy, but lacks the complexity for veterans of either genre to really sink their teeth into.
  25. IGN
    Feb 20, 2015
    70
    An experience that generally feels unique and fun.
  26. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Mar 26, 2015
    64
    Defiant Development tried to kill three birds with one stone, but managed only to wound one – namely, deck-building concept of Hand of Fate is a quite interesting experiment. But instead of polishing it, developers spent their time chasing after the other two avians – combat and trap-filled mazes. [April 2015, p.71]
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  27. Riot Pixels
    Mar 19, 2015
    60
    Hand of Fate is ridiculously easy until the few final stages, and even then it’s not a challenge of your wits or skill, but a simple test of luck.
  28. Twinfinite
    Feb 18, 2015
    60
    Hand of Fate has been made to appeal to many players quickly, and that it does. The only concern that sticks between your teeth is one that this desire to make people feel like their being forced to work hard without actually pulling any work out of them will hamper Hand of Fate‘s scale for replayability.
  29. CD-Action
    Apr 30, 2015
    55
    I kept wondering whether the developer first came up with a brawler and then added the whole card game dressing to avoid expanding the arcade component or was it the other way around. Whatever the case may be the game is unique, I’ll give it that, but it doesn’t mean it’s good. [05/2015, p.66]
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Awards & Rankings

88
#88 Best PC Game of 2014
56
#56 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 222 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 157 out of 222
  2. Mixed: 46 out of 222
  3. Negative: 19 out of 222
  1. D0n0van
    Sep 1, 2014
    10
    Other one player games I would rate 10 include the original Doom and Skyrim.

    So I dont give this score lightly. Hand Of Fate, does    Other one player games I would rate 10 include the original Doom and Skyrim.

    So I dont give this score lightly.

    Hand Of Fate, does require quite a few plays through before you can really exploit the many layers this game has.

    But once you know whats going on, this is a very thought provoking experience which really got my imagination going.

    I had a moment while token hunting where I just walked past starving children because I had other plans for my whole sackload of food.

    Sounds horrible, buts its just a pretend card in a video game.
    The children arent real and yet, there is the games power.
    You are forced to make choices, to juggle your resources and risk all, for often the smallest gain.

    Its hard.
    And you are meant to die.
    And yet you come back, again and again.

    The more you win.
    The harder it gets!

    Dont expect a cake walk.
    This is a fight.
    Both using strategy,
    And your reflexes when the game goes into 3rd person battle mode.

    I look forward to seeing more reviews of this excellent game.

    Bring on the boss!!!    … Full Review »
  2. Caviel
    Feb 18, 2015
    9
    This is a game that interconnects several different game genres and combines them in a very successful and innovative way. The core premiseThis is a game that interconnects several different game genres and combines them in a very successful and innovative way. The core premise of the game is a RPG and CCG rolled up into one. The RPG aspect stems from gaining abilities and equipment as you play and explore the card dungeon. Each move/step you make on the board consumes one unit of food and restores a bit of health. Without food, you lose health as you move each space. The equipment you earn as you play upgrades your damage, increases your defense with armor, or unlocks abilities such as gold, food, or healing bonuses in somewhat typical RPG fashion. At the end of each floor of the dungeon is either a boss, or a travel card that takes you to the next level and a fresh floor to traverse.

    This is where the CCG aspect takes over. The dungeon floor is made up of individual cards from an event deck that you build, all placed face down. No microtransactions here, as you advance through the various levels, you earn and collect tokens during events and boss fights which unlock new cards for you to use. If you are not the deck building type, you can also select to have the computer automatically assemble the equipment and event decks that you need for each dungeon/boss run.

    As for the gameplay, every move you make with your figure from one card to the next flips the card face up and triggers an event, either combat or non-combat. The non-combat events can range from a multiple choice event with a "four card monte" mini game that decides if you pass or fail (sometimes epically), or travelers like merchants and healers where you can use earned gold to buy items from your equipment deck, or more food if needed. Some of these events can be skipped if you don't feel like risking health, food, or gold for whatever reward may be in store.

    The combat events are the most straight-forward, and unfortunately where most of the faults lie. Combat works very similar to the most recent Batman series of games, with green lines indicating an attacker can be countered by pushing "Q", or red lines indicating the attack can't be countered and should be dodged by using the Space Bar to roll. You also throw in ranged attackers as the game progresses with attacks that can be reflected or dodged. The problem is that there isn't nearly the level of camera control and attack precision that you find in the Arkham series, you often find yourself rolling in the wrong direction and/or swinging at air. With multiple ranged enemies, this can sometimes make the combat feel more frantic and frustrating.

    Your equipment also plays a roll in how combat works: no shield, no counter. This makes the event deck building both a critical and fun piece as it sprinkles in the dynamic aspect of a rouge-like game, but does allow you to control more of the results as opposed to being completely random. Before you think you can min/max your event deck to an easy victory though, the masked man across the table (Think D&D Dungeon Master and Card Dealer) throws in some of his own cards to keep things interesting.

    Overall a very fun game with a good amount of replay value, slightly hampered by a less than stellar combat experience. Combat flaws aside, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this RPG/CCG/Action Brawler/Rogue-like mashup game.

    (Review based on PC version of the game from GOG.com)    … Full Review »
  3. Odir
    Feb 18, 2015
    8
    Hand of Fate is a mix-up between a Card Game, a Tabletop and a 3rd Person ARPG in this particular order.

    If you are looking for pure    Hand of Fate is a mix-up between a Card Game, a Tabletop and a 3rd Person ARPG in this particular order.

    If you are looking for pure action, pure story and choice driven games, or a complex deck building game, Hand of Fate is not for you.
    But if you enjoy all of the genres mentioned above, you will find a unique game providing just the right amount of everything packed together!

    So what is Hand of Fate about? You build different kinds of decks compiling different kinds of cards, items, encounters and so on. Depending which cards you choose the story you play will change, and your character progression does too. There are cards that will give you more benefits then others, and the beauty of it, is finding out what those cards actually do, because once you acquire them, the effect of those cards are unknown until you encounter them.
    This makes it exiting to progress and reveal every card on the game board. While doing so you have to manage your resources, food, health and gold. There are also little things like buffs, but I will let you find out about that on your own.

    Some encounters require you to fight monsters/bosses, which are fairly different encounters which require different tactics. This happens in the 3D 3rd Person ARPG style part of the Game. Don't expect to much complexity here. Its simple, yet its fun, much like Assassins Creed or the Batman games.
    The Endless Mode allows for multiple Playthroughs, which alter your adventure depending on the cards you choose.

    The overall difficulty of Hand of Fate is always fair, and never seemed to easy or to hard.

    All of this is packed and created with the Unity Engine. Which does a beautiful job of maintaining a modern and immersive look, yet its not "next gen" like AAA titles out there.

    You cannot expect much about the overall Story here, its about creating your own personal adventure by choosing different cards and unlocking more.
    The musics and overall sound/narration is well done, the card dealer is exceptionally voice over.

    Couldn't find any bugs so far. That doesn't happen very often!

    If i would have to rate the different components of this game, I would rate it:

    -Graphics: 8/10
    -Sound: 9/10
    -Balance: 8/10
    -Atmosphere: 10/10
    -Controls: 9/10
    -Size: 8/10
    -Design: 8/10
    -K.I for fights: 5/10
    -Story: 7/10

    Total of 8 rounded.

    Price of 20 $ atm for what it offers to its targeted audience only make Hand of Fade recommendable in my opinion. I was sceptic at first, but was presently surprised.

    Hope this helps people to decide whether to get it or not. I don't regret my decision so far. Doesn't happen very often lately ;)    … Full Review »
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