Grimguard Tactics has all the hallmarks of a megahit mobile RPG, which means there’s a good chance you’ll know it inside and out before too long.
But everybody has to begin somewhere, and this handy starter’s guide should set you off on the right path as you embark on your long journey through the perilous, sprawling, fantastical world of Terenos.
Let’s start with the gameplay.
Gameplay
In essence, Grimguard Tactics is a deep turn-based RPG in which every decision you make has potentially far-reaching consequences.
Your central goal is to build a squad of upgradeable and Ascendable Heroes from the game’s huge cast of richly drawn characters. Each of these Heroes has their own abilities and perks, and they all belong to a variety of different classes and factions.
There are Tanks, Assault, Melee, and Support characters, all suited for different roles on the battlefield. Classes include Blademaster, Mercenary, Barbarian, Enchantress, and Sorcerer, which each hero also has an alignment to Chaos, Order, or Might.
Battles are grid-based, and see you making the best possible use of your units’ strengths. For instance, you can park a Tank character to soak up damage before unleashing devastating attacks with your Assault character.
The format of the battlefields, meanwhile, entails that you can plan several moves ahead, relying on the grid-based movement to confine enemy movements in semi-predictable ways.
But it’s in the combination of different Heroes that the game really grows legs. By pairing up certain Heroes you can unlock hidden synergies and tactical bonuses, which can give you edge in battle—particularly in the PVP Arena, where you can show off your specialist skills on less experienced players (or learn from your betters).
Outside PVP, Grimguard Tactics boasts the usual array of Boss Fights, Dungeon Raids, and even battles with corrupted Heroes.
And then there’s the city building. The last remnants of the human race are holed up in a stronghold called the Holdfast, and you explore the surrounding territory in search of resources to help you fortify this settlement against attacks.
Lore
Lore is a huge part of what makes Grimguard Tactics special, and the background story details we’ve seen run to dozens of pages.
Don’t worry—we’ll let you discover most of that lore by playing the game. But here’s the basic plot, so that you know roughly what you’re in for.
Grimguard Tactics is set in a fantasy world called Terenos, which is made up of several regions that, handily enough, bear some resemblance to a range of different countries in our own world,
For instance, the prosperous, scientifically advanced maritime society of Siborni is a lot like Italy and Spain, while the temperate Vordlands are similar to the nations of Central Europe—Switzerland in particular.
Like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, Grimguard Tactics is set long after its world’s Golden Age, a period that came crashing to an end following a cataclysmic sequence of events culminating in the defeat of Teranos’s greatest warriors.
This cataclysm is in the distant past, but the forces of greed and suspicion continue to seep into the dreams of the remaining humans, and the evil Primorvan hordes are threatening to complete their extermination.
That’s where you come in.
We can’t emphasize enough how deep Grimguard Tactics goes with its world-building and character-creation. Whether you’re playing with the coldly determined Shalziy the Woodfae or the imperious Barbarian Chief, diving into this game will feel like diving into a novel.
To check it out for yourself, download Grimguard Tactics for free on Google Play or the App Store right now.
