Hordeguard: Viking Mix of Spellforce 3 and Tower Defense Shows Real Potential

The announcement of Hordeguard: Winds of the North likely immediately piqued the interest of many: Visually and in terms of gameplay, the game bears a strong resemblance to the RPG-RTS mix Spellforce 3, but ultimately takes its own direction. The title is being developed by the two-person indie studio Black Deer Games and published by Daedalic Entertainment.

What Kind of Game Is Hordeguard: Winds of the North?

Hordeguard combines hack-and-slash combat in a Viking setting with tower defense elements, RPG progression, and strategic base building. You control a Viking warrior directly in combat, but at the same time, you must defend your village against incoming hordes of monsters and enemy tribes – hence the game's name.

How Does Hordeguard Differ from Spellforce 3?

The visual similarity to Spellforce 3 is no coincidence: Both games combine genuine real-time strategy with an RPG hero that you directly control. However, according to initial impressions, Hordeguard's gameplay core takes a different direction and places significantly more emphasis on tower-defense style defense and building mechanics, while Spellforce 3 relies more on classic base and unit control.

When Is Hordeguard Releasing and for Which Platforms?

Daedalic Entertainment has not yet announced a concrete release date. So far, a PC release via Steam has been confirmed, where the game can already be wishlisted.

Why Is This Publisher Collaboration Significant for Black Deer Games?

For Black Deer Games, the collaboration with Daedalic Entertainment is an important step: As a small two-person studio, the developers benefit from the marketing and publishing experience of an established partner who has recently made a name for itself primarily with adventure and strategy games. For genre fans, taking a look at Hordeguard is thus doubly worthwhile: Both the unusual gameplay concept and the fresh publisher support suggest that this could be more than just another indie title in Viking attire. Anyone who enjoys mixtures of strategy and action should keep an eye on the title, even if it apparently still takes some time until release.

Source: GameStar

What do you think about the mix of tower defense and Viking action – will Hordeguard make it onto your wishlist? Let us know in the comments!