Since the uprising of the nefarious Lord of Monsters, Gongol, the world has been cast into darkness. Through a series of daring quests, the party of heroes must level up, gather epic loot, and knock the nightmare off his throne.

Conquest is a turn-based open-world fantasy game that provides the player with a randomly generated adventure using several digital decks of cards. (Both graphical and internal) The experiences you have, the characters you encounter, and the buildings you enter will never be the same twice. Conquest has 1,700+ graphical cards including loot, spells, biome/building details, skill upgrades, characters, and terrain tiles. In addition, it also includes 3,000+ Voice Recordings, 80+ Sound Effects, and 26 Soundtracks licensed through Fesliyan Studios.

The game allows you to navigate between different lands that have their own blend of difficulty and loot. Each of these lands have their own monsters and features that you can interact with. (Such as characters camping in the woods, barrels waiting to be searched, towers begging to be explored, and traps waiting to be sprung.) The game has a structured beginning and end (The call to adventure, the quests you go on, and Gongol’s defeat), but the rest is completely reliant on deck drawing and the players themselves!

The journey between the beginning and end is dynamic providing the player with a unique adventure they can call their own. Characters you encounter in one play session will have different attitudes/personalities in another session. Loot is never in the same place twice, the map itself is dynamic, and even the quests have unique properties that adjust every time you play them!

Conquest is built to be family friendly, silly, cartoony, and just plain ol' fun!

The Game UI: Left Side (Left Top to Bottom)

‘Three Lined’ button that is used as an alternative to accessing the escape menu

A Sword Button that is used to arm the player to attack. (The button toggles on and off by left clicking. Simply click the button to ‘arm your player to attack’ then left click a target on the map to begin combat.) Learn more about combat here.

A Waveform Button that is used to arm the player to speak. (The button toggles on and off by left clicking. Simply click the button to ‘arm your player to speak’ then left click a target on the map to open the speech dialogue.) Learn more about speech here.

A Button with either a Red ‘X’, A House, a Tower, a Fire, a Minecart, or a Castle on it. This button is dynamic and changes depending upon where your player is currently standing. All in all, it allows you to interact with buildings on the tile map. If the button is an ‘X’, you cannot press it. If the button is a House, Tower, Fire, Mincart, or Castle, those are buildings you can enter by left clicking the button once.

NOTE: When you enter a building, the button will change to a red arrow pointing off screen. This button will take you out of the building back to where you were before.

A Purple Spell Book Button is only visible if your party has acquired the Talking Book. Pressing this button will open the spell book and allow you to pursue it’s pages and pages of knowledge.

A Blue Clock Button is only visible if your party has acquired the Time Staff. Pressing this button will send your party back in time.

The Game UI: Top Side (Top Left to Right)

To the Left on the Top you will see a text box called ‘Speech Outcomes.’ This text is designed to alert the party of major changes and events that occur during play. Alerts such as if a trade was successful, if the weather changes, what kind of level up the party received, etc.

In the Top Middle, there is a box filled with player statistics. The red heart means the player’s Health Points (HP), the Sword means Damage Points, the Gold Coins mean the Gold Supply, and the Purple Gem means Magic Points.

Health Points represent how many hits it takes to kill that party member

Damage Points represent how many HP an individual can deal to an adversary

Gold Supply represents how much money the party member has to buy items at shops

Magic Points represent how much ‘magic money’ the party member has to buy spells in the spellbook

**You can impact your Health, Attack Damage, Gold, and Magic supply by receiving ‘Skill Cards’ which are dealt to players after successful combat encounters and during level-ups.

In the Top Right, there are two dice. The left die is a 6-sided die used in combat, the second die is a 20 sided die used to determine how many Skill Cards the party receives when they level up, and on the far right is a number that represents the danger level of the country the party is currently exploring.

The Game UI: Bottom Side (Bottom Left to Right)

On the bottom are four ‘Inventory Dropboxes.’ You can access player inventories by left clicking these boxes once. Or, you can drag item cards to these boxes and when you release your mouse the item will go into that party members inventory. You can also drag Skill Cards to these drop boxes to have those ‘level up’ cards impact that particular party members stats.

The Game UI: Right Side (Right Top to Bottom)

On the top right of the interface, occasionally you will receive a popup bar called the ‘announcements bar.’ Like the Speech Outcomes text on the top left, this is another form of communication for the game to state events that are occurring during play.

The bottom right displays summary text of what the current quest is.

Combat

Conquest uses a 'turn-based' combat system. This means the party attacks in order starting with player one, then two, three, four, then ending with the adversary. Once player 1 starts attacking, all actions are LOCKED for that round of fighting. Before a round begins, you can access the party's inventories during combat and detonate explosives, trigger skill cards, equip weapons & armor, cast spells, heal, etc.

When someone attacks in Conquest, a 6 sided die is rolled (Most of the time. See the 'Monsters' tab for information on monsters who do not use the 6 sided die) 

When a 2 or 4 is rolled, that is a 'Hit' and the damage stat of the attacker is translated to the opponent. 

If a 1 or 5 is rolled, that is a 'stun' which does no damage but can sometimes paralyze victims. 

If a 3 is rolled, this is a 'Miss.' No damage dealt at all.

If a 6 is rolled, this is a 'Crit' or Critical Hit. This will apply double the attack damage of the attacker to the opponent.

Note: Spells and Damage-related Skill Cards (Such as 'Strength') will ONLY trigger if a 2, 4, or 6 is rolled!

When a monster attacks, they distribute their damage evenly across all four party members. (For example, if the monster has 100 Damage Points, each party member will receive 25 points of damage to their health)

It should be noted that in higher difficulty zones (Difficulty 3+ on the main map) monsters have a 25% chance of 'ambushing' the party and will attack first. You can mitigate this issue by upgrading your 'awareness ability' (See info on 'Abilities' in the section "Leveling Up)"

Speech

When speaking the characters in Conquest, there are four different 'tones' they can use: Happy, Angry, Scared, or Madness. These four tones will effect how easily you can trade with them, whether or not they will offer good items in their shop, and how likely they are to interact with you further such as providing good advise and lore.

The player can do the following in the speech menu:

• Players can initiate trade/bartering in the speech menu

  • Simply enter an inventory, drag an item card to the 'Trade Tile' and select the trade option in the speech menu. The character will respond and state whether or not they accept the request. You can increase the likelihood of trades going through by upgrading the parties Charisma. (See info on 'Abilities' in the section "Leveling Up)"

• Inquire about their current quest

• Ask about locations on the map

• Open the characters shop (If the option is available)

• Insult the character to initiate provoked combat (If the option is available)

• Go on a Villager Side-Quest (If the option is available)

Inventory

When you open the inventory menu by left clicking on of the dropboxes on the bottom of the screen, you will be greeted with the statistics for the player in question at the top, four ‘equipping tiles’ (Two on either side of the screen), a center zone (Where you manage your items), and the dropboxes on the bottom to exchange items between players within the inventory system.

Let’s look at these areas in more detail.

Equipping Tiles

The Sword Tile (Top Left) is used to equip weapons. Look at your item cards. If there is a number greater than 0 below the sword icon on that item card, drag it to the sword tile and watch that party members damage value go up!

The Shield Tile (Bottom Left) is used to equip armor. Look at your item cards. If there is a number greater than 0 below a shield icon on that item card, drag it to the shield tile. Note: ‘Defense Points’ are calculated as ‘Current Remaining Health + Defense Points.’ In Conquest, defense is a ‘buffer’ between the damage taken and your maximum health stat. 

For example: If a player has 30 health, but also has 40 Defense points wearing armor, there health stat would read: 70/30 HP. Because their total health is 30, but there is a 40 health buffer due to the defense points. 30 + 40 = 70.

The Spells Tile (Gem Icon Top Right) is used to equip spell cards. Look at your cards. If any of them have a Purple header and has stats on the bottom then it is most likely a spell card (or an item that will give you spell cards) If your party is capable of casting spells (See more in the “Abilities” Section) then drag your spell card to the Spells Tile and when you’re ready to cast the spell, right click the spell card while it is on the tile. Most spells will cast immediately, but if the spell effects combat, it will not take effect until the next round of combat. (Learn more about the Spells in-game by referring to the official Spell List Here)

The Trade Tile (Bottom Right. Can also appear as a 'Dice Tile' depending on where you are on the map) is used to offer cards to NPC’s (Non-player characters). If you are in the speech menu and are offering a tradable item, simply drag an item in any inventory to the trade tile and then select the trade option in the speech menu. This will initiate the trade.

IF you are in a dice game, you can wager items using the ‘Wager Tile’ (Which is where the Trade Tile usually is) Drag an item to the Wager Tile and roll the die to see if you win the pot of cards in the middle of the dice game.

Player 1’s Inventory

In Conquest, the first player in the party (Far left on the inventory boxes) is you. This means you have access to features the rest of the party members don’t. For instance, you can see how many keys your party has acquired, you can change the color of your character on the map by selecting the person icon, and you can view if the spell book or time staff have been acquired by the party.

Cards

Conquest is a card game, which means the entire game and it’s mechanics rely on drawing and discarding cards. There are three things you can do with cards:

1. Left Click + Drag the card to move it around the screen (Picking up the card)

2. Right Click the card to activate a property (Typically stated in the description box of the card)

3. Middle Mouse Click to delete the card from play (Discarding)

In Conquest, the type of card you are dealing with can be determined by the banner color at the top:

If the banner is red, it means the character is a monster

If the banner is brown, it means the character is a villager

If the banner is yellow, it means the card is either an item OR an interactive map component

If the banner is purple, it means the card involves magic spells

If the banner is sea-green, it means the card is a Skill Card and can be used to enhance party members

In addition, if the card is square that means the card is a ‘tile card’ and is used to generate the world. Tile cards can only be interacted with if the tile is highlighted yellow and the Building Button on the UI is pressed. See “The Game UI: Top Side (Top Left to Right)”

You can attack or speak to Monsters and Villagers

You can add Items, Spells, and Skill Cards to your inventory

And you can interact with Map Components.

Let’s give an example of each.

A ‘Snake’ has a red banner. According to it’s ‘stats’, it has 10 Health, 10 Attack Damage, and 0 Defense Points. It can be determined that this creature is hostile and can attack the party. It has 10/10 health (No Defense) and 10 Damage per combat roll.

A ‘Barrel’ has a yellow banner. According to it’s description, it says ‘Right Click to Open.’ It can be determined that this is an interactive map component. Right clicking this card will open the barrel and display what’s inside it.

A ‘Genius Card’ has a sea-green banner. According to it’s description, it provides “+30 HP” to one party member. It can be determined that this is a skill card. Dragging this to an inventory drop box will upgrade that player by 30 HP.

An ‘Absorb Magic’ card has a purple banner. According to it’s description, it provides ‘M- Defense’ or ‘Magic Defense.’ It can be determined that this is a spell card and can be used on the Spells Tile in the inventory.

Exploring the World

In Conquest, you can tap ‘W,A,S,D’ to move around the world. (These keys can be remapped in settings if needed.) In Conquest, the main map has eight countries on it:

• Thorland (Grasslands & Desert. Level 1 Difficulty. Mostly peaceful. Contains Keeps, and some Castles. Enemies do not ambush)

• The Moonlit Forest (A dense forest. Level 2 Difficulty. Contains Keeps and Villages. Enemies do not ambush)

• The Dwindling Marsh (Swamp water and dead trees. Level 3 Difficulty. Contains Keeps, Dungeons, and Castles. Enemies ambush players)

• The Peaks (A mountain range. Level 4 Difficulty. Contains lots of Dungeons and Underground Tunnels. Enemies ambush players)

• The Wastelands (A barren, frozen landscape. Level 5 Difficulty. Contains igloos, frozen dungeons, and castles. Enemies ambush players)

• The Forgotten Realms (Magical forest. Bonus Level. Contains some of the monsters from the 'Time Travel Quests' and can be very deadly! Enemies ambush players)

• The Seas of Minkel (A vast ocean. Level 8 Difficulty. Contains underwater fortresses and villages. Enemies ambush players)

• The Isles (Volcanic islands with black mountains. Level 9 Difficulty. Contains castles & dungeons. Monsters ambush players.)

Outside of the main map, there are also:

• The OVI Lands (Floating landmasses looming over the main map. Level 7 Difficulty. Monsters ambush players.)

• The Tempest (A cloud kingdom on the outskirts of the OVI Lands. Marked by a '?' the difficulty is classified as 'Unknown' Monsters ambush players)

• Dungeons & Castles (Underground tunnels and stone brick structures. Level 6 Difficulty. Monsters ambush players. Sometimes there are traps. Cave and castle walls can be 'detonated and removed' by using SMALL explosives such as Cherry Bombs or regular Bombs to clear a path. This enables the player to get to other rooms that may otherwise be sealed off.)

  • It is not advised to use more powerful explosives, such as Barrels of Gunpowder, in Dungeons, Castles, or any structure because their blast radius is enough to cause the structures to collapse and bury the party with them!

• Keeps (Watch Towers. Level 2 - 3 Difficulty. Monsters ambush players)

• Lairs & Villager Side-Quests (Separate generation from the rest of the map. Typically marsh, forest, or dungeon. Difficulty: 7 due to monsters attacking in groups, but the mini-boss can ramp the difficulty to an 8 or 9 depending on whether the game spawns in a 'Regular Boss' or a monster from the 'Time Travel Quest'. Lairs & Side-Quests also have traps, which can further increase difficulty.)

• Time Travel Countries (The original world before Gongol's conquest. Burning buildings and singed landscapes are common. Highest difficulty. Monsters ambush players. Some monster cards contain "Army's and Troops" of monsters with high 'Mass Health and Damage' Stats.)

Every few times you move, a 'Map Component' may appear on your screen. When this happens, you have the option to drag it around, right click to see if it has any properties, or middle click to delete it. (See more in the 'External Features' Section)

After moving for a while, you will encounter a Danger card. Danger cards typically have monsters or traps on them, but you can also find 'Filler Cards' (That do nothing) and chests/barrels that you can open. If you want examples of monsters, refer to the Monster Index.

External Features

Conquest is not limited to just the main terrain. Details on the terrain can be generated as well and these 'features' can be interacted with.

There are two different types of 'External Features': Map Features and Location Features. 

Map Features include completely new maps to explore (such as Keeps, Dungeons, Castles, and Lairs.) You can typically move around in these places and there is dedicated world generation for them. You can access these by finding cards as you explore and either entering them using the Building Button to the left or by clicking the card itself.

Location Features are features in that area. Though they are not as expansive as Map Features, they do offer a high level of interaction. Such as solving puzzles, talking to characters camping in the woods, or playing a game of dice at a table with monsters. Right clicking this card will bring the user into an interactive interface for that particular feature.

There are a whole list of content to explore in game including:

• Watch Towers (Known as 'Keeps' or Level K)

• Dungeons (Level D)

• Castles (Level C)

• The OVI Lands (Floating Isles above the world. Level 7)

• Lairs (Mini Challenge-Caves with a mini-boss and treasure. Level L)

• Time Traveling to the Past (Multiple Countries to explore)

• Dice Games (A table you can play dice at and wager items)

• Camps (Characters sitting around a campfire whom you can talk, trade, or attack)

• Puzzles

  • Lever Puzzles (Four levers need to be pulled in the right order)

  • Riddles (A trivia question is asked about Conquest lore)

• Villages & Cabins

• Picking Locks (The act of doing so brings up it's own menu)

• Books (Randomly generated stories)

• Shops (Villagers selling merchandise)

• Cages (You can speak to a prisoner and set them free)

• Doors (Seeing what's behind them)

• The Talking Book (A monster-item combo that opens a readable book and can be used to purchase spells)

Leveling Up

When it comes to 'Leveling Up,' there are two ways to do so: Through Skill Cards (Individual Upgrades), or through Abilities (Party Upgrades).

A Skill Card will provide a change to an individual party member. Examples include: +30 HP, +30 Attack Damage, +10 Gold, +10 Magic, etc. Skill cards can be applied to any party member by dragging the card to their inventory dropbox. Some skills are permanent for the duration of the session and others are temporary. (Fortitude, for instance, is a skill card that provides 800 Defense Points TEMPORARILY. Once combat concludes (Regardless of outcome) the Fortitude Card will vanish.

Here is a list of Skill Cards:

• Banker: +30 Gold Coins

• Fortitude: +800 Defense Points (Temporary. Vanishes after combat ends)

• Genius: +30 HP

• Might: +30 Attack Damage

• Intellect: +10 HP

• Magical Energy: +10 Magic Points

• Magical Aura: +30 Magic Points

• Money: +10 Gold Coins

• Resilience: +400 Defense Points (Temporary. Vanishes after combat ends)

• Retreat: Forces your opponent to 'miss' on their turn of combat (One time use)

• Strength: Doubles all party attack stats for one turn

Abilities are a selection of upgrades that effect the party as a whole. For example: The 'Damage Ability' will allow the party to wield better weapons. The Magic Ability will grant the ability to cast more powerful spells which would normally be locked. Abilities are granted at the end of a quest (You can select two from the list per quest completion.) OR by finding the Stones of Power in locked Chests (However, the stones are randomized unlike quests which you get to pick the upgrades.)

Here is a list of Party Abilities:

Awareness: Helps the party avoid traps and monster ambushes

Level 0 = All traps and ambushes are successful

Level 1 = Some traps won't trigger

Level 2 = No traps trigger

Level 3 = No traps trigger AND ambushes fail

Damage: Allows the party to wield deadlier weapons

Level 0 = Party members can use weapons up to 150 Damage

Level 1 = Party members can use weapons up to 250 Damage

Level 2 = Party members can use weapons up to 500 Damage

Level 3 = Party members can use any weapon

Health: Increases the default stats the party gets at the start of a new map

Level 0 = Party members start with 10 HP & 10 Damage each

Level 1 = Party members start with 15 HP & 15 Damage each

Level 2 = Party members start with 25 HP & 25 Damage each

Level 3 = Party members start with 35 HP & 35 Damage each

Intellect: Increases the parties lock-picking attempts

Level 0 = The party gets 2-4 Lock-Picking Attempts

Level 1 = The party gets 4-5 Lock-Picking Attempts

Level 2 = The party gets 6-7 Lock-Picking Attempts

Level 3 = The party gets 8-10 Lock-Picking Attempts

Luck: Increases the rarity of items in Chests and Barrels

Level 0 = Chests and Barrels provide Common Loot

Level 1 = Chests and Barrels provide Uncommon Loot

Level 2 = Chests and Barrels provide Rare Loot

Level 3 = Chests and Barrels provide Unique Loot & Artifacts

Magic: Enables the party to cast stronger spells

Level 0 = No spells can be cast

Level 1 = Tier 1 & 2 Spells Unlocked

Level 2 = Tier 3 Spells Unlocked

Level 3 = All Spells Unlocked

Charisma: Increases the likelihood of successful trading/bartering

Level 0 = Trades are difficult (45% of the time success)

Level 1 = Trades are moderately difficult (60% of the time success)

Level 2 = Trades are simple (80% of the time success)

Level 3 = Trades are childs-play (100% of the time success)

Navigation: Deceases monster encounters

Level 0 = Monsters appear frequently

Level 1 = Monsters appear often

Level 2 = Monsters appear occasionally

Level 3 = Monsters appear rarely

Resilience: Allows the party to wear stronger armor

Level 0 = Party members can use armor up to 150 Defense

Level 1 = Party members can use armor up to 250 Defense

Level 2 = Party members can use armor up to 500 Defense

Level 3 = Party members can use any armor

The key difference between Skill Cards and Abilities are that permanent Skill Cards ONLY last until the end of the map. Abilities on the other hand will last INDEFINITELY even once the map ends. (This means when you start a new map, you will begin with the same abilities you had prior.) You can access the Abilities interface from both the Lobby and the Map itself.

Completing a Quest & Replay Value

In Conquest, when you press 'Escape' you will have access to a page called the 'Quests Page.' The game tracks how often you interact with the game and the more things you do, the closer you will get to your objective. Exploring a building, talking to characters,  fighting monsters, etc will bring the progress bar in "Quests" closer to the end. When the bar is full, a red box with a red pointer in the middle will appear nearby your location. This is where you will confront your quests end.

For instance, if your objective is to defeat the Red Blade Ruffians, when you step on that red marker, the Red Blade Ruffians will come out and attack you. In combat-based quests, you will have 3 chances to defeat your adversaries before the game will reset and you will have to redo the quest.

When a quest is successfully completed, a brass fanfare will sound and you will have the option to select TWO Abilities from the abilities tree. (See the "Exploring the World" & "Leveling Up" Sections for details).

There are 30 Quests in Conquest and you will only play 5 quests per map.

The first four quests are always random, but the fifth is always Gongol's defeat. If you wish to customize your questing experience AFTER playing through the first time you can select 'I Want to Customize More' in the Lobby during map creation and you can manually select the quests you wish to do. Here you will also find options to make the game more challenging. Game Handicaps, a Monster Difficulty Slider, and more can help make the gameplay feel fresh and new.

If challenges are your thing, it may interest you to know that Conquest has over 65+ Steam Achievements that are waiting to be completed as well! When you replay the game, try to look for some of those obscure objectives. (Like defeating a "Cyclopic Chicken!")

Tips & Tricks

• Press 'Escape' and select the Map button. Here you can view most of the countries in the game and view their difficulty level '[L:#]' This can help gauge how far you are so you don't get ambushed on your first run!

• The 'Awareness Ability' in the Party Abilities Tree (Press Escape to view) helps the party disarm traps and catch monster ambushes before they happen. This can be particularly useful if you intend to do Villager Side-Quests or hang around Dungeons or Castles often.

• Ask characters 'Quest-specific questions!' Because the dialogue in Conquest is a required interactive component, try asking questions about the quest you are currently on. Sometimes the villagers will provide lore speech about what you are doing. Not required, but useful to learn about items, characters, and monsters on the map!

• Looking for the Talking Book? He spawns in biomes with a difficulty 5+, however the best place to find him is the Wastelands (Level 5) because there are less monsters in that biome so the likelihood of him being drawn is higher! (Don't get frostbite!)

• Have you seen mysterious portals or have you acquired a pair of Wings? Well, you have the ability to go to the OVI Isles! A collection of floating landmasses looming over the surface of the world below. Here you can find strange creatures like the Cyclopic Chicken (Part cyclops, part chicken!), an Atlas (It has feet on it's hands and hands on it's feet!), or an Island Flower! (Like a flower venus fly trap!) So why would you want to go there? There are a TON of Magic Items here...

• When your 'Objective is Nearby' you don't have to immediately trigger the quest. If the quest is a combat encounter, you can continue to grind until you are ready to confront the quest's end.

• When gearing up to defeat Gongol, remember that he has more than just 'Hit, Crit, Miss, and Stun' in his arsenal of attacks. He has more abilities and three phases so it may not hurt to strategize a little. Perhaps stockpile healing potions so you can revive dead party members? Max out your Magic Stat on the Ability Tree so you can nail him with tons of spells? Stock up on Skill Cards such as 'Fortitude' and 'Resilience' to lessen the blows from his mighty fists? The possibilities are endless!

Key Information

• The Secret Order is a group of 'Secret Police' hired by Gongol to capture potential heroes. They typically patrol the world in groups of three: 1 Captain and 2 Servants. One of the quests in the game 'The Desolation of the Order' involves tracking down their leader and taking him out!

• Gongol is the Lord of Monsters. He is called this because he took over the lands in a vile conquest, murdered the kings of old (King's Phillip, Garter, Vondeer, and Richard), and made himself the 'King' over the world. Every map always ends with a Gongol confrontation and there are special achievements for killing Gongol in different ways: 

  • 'Gongol's Demise' involves defeating Gongol for the first time

  • 'Who's the Monster Now?' involves killing Gongol in the past

  • 'Through the Fire' involves taking out Gongol with the hardest map handicaps enabled

• There artifacts of the Kings of Old on the map such as King Phillips Blade and King Garters Cleaver that are worth a lot of gold if traded away. (Be warned: Some merchants may attempt to steal it by trading nothing in return and taking the item!) For more information about items, please view the Item Index