Children of Zodiarcs

With deep mechanics offering a fun and refreshing take on tactical elements, this indie SRPG provides an overall satisfying experience for the genre's fans.

Children of Zodiarcs is a charming little tale that fits very comfortably in the Venn diagram between tactical RPG's and games of luck.

Children of Zodiarcs is a strategy RPG with a clever system that I find endlessly entertaining. It’s challenging enough to involve some grinding and the story and characters are interesting, even though I’m not finding them to be very complex. Instead, it’s the combination of dice customization and deck building systems that really makes Children of Zodiarcs stand out. I love upgrading my dice to increase the chances of a better roll. Frankly, I’ve barely touched the deck building aspect yet because I am so involved in managing the dice! I have spent hours in a single day (a rarity for me unless it’s Fire Emblem) grinding my characters to build their stats while listening to podcasts, and I can definitely say it’s been a blast.

Children of Zodiarcs is a turn-based RPG that leaves out the most classic style of the genre by adding dice and cards. What does not change is the style of the story, typical of RPGs, but it does not stop hooking and filling us with curiosity. Social criticism is more present than ever, this time with children as protragonists.

Children of Zodiarcs does well to stand with the heavyweights. It has enough uniqueness to it that you won’t consider it another clone. The banter between characters is excellent. While I enjoyed the orchestrated soundtrack, voice acting was missed. It would have done so much to add to this great game.

With so much variety in the Switch eShop I firmly believe there's a place for everything and likely an audience that will likely enjoy it all, it's just tough when I hit a game that doesn't do it for me...

Does this dice and deck strategy title bring enough to the tabletop in order to please a diehard fan of such mechanics? Read on and find out

Simple in its implementation but opening the door to something both unique and complex, the team over at Cardboard Utopia has really done something impressive.

To put it simply, Children of Zodiarcs is a fantastic, challenging and hugely enjoyable tactical RPG; however, a lack of variation in its gameplay stops it from being so much better. Each battlefield, though simple, is a tremendous task to navigate round and conquer, with each mission asking more from you than the last.

There’s several interesting systems at work here that never quite come together and gel.