Blizzard’s Potential Mobile Games
After the massive reaction on Diablo Immortal, I was skeptical in some parts too. However, I’ve also been asking for Blizzard-skinned mobile games. So I decided I could write down a few of them. In this article you’ll find a runner and a match-3 game.
Runners of the Storm / Nexus Run
Recently, Harrison Jones/Brann Bronzebeard has/have made his/their way to the Nexus and discovered a cache that belongs to the Raven Lord. Joined by Chromie and other Heroes of the Nexus, they planned for the perfect heist… except it failed.
Harrison/Brann is not in the immediate vicinity, Chromie does a bye-bye and now Raven Lord is now behind the third/fourth member. They need to run for their life.
Luckily, should they fail, Chromie will turn back time so they have another chance.
This game is a take on endless runner genre. It’s a side scroller like Jetpack Joyride and has a cartoon-y style (not over-cartoony though.)
You will be able to select a hero and each will have a passive (that may or may not be unique) and a unique ultimate ability. The passive will grant them an overall advantage and ultimate will “build up” as they successfully proceed through the game. Once it’s fully built, it can be activated when the player wants.
Behind the player will be the Raven Lord who will summon various minions to act as static or moving obstacles and cast spells that can also pose as obstacles, debuff the hero or manipulate the existing obstacles.
Buffs will exist in the form of the heist team, another Realm Lord or Orphea helping the player. These can occur randomly, at certain points or collected as powerups to be used when the player chooses to do so. The more they run, the angrier the Raven Lord becomes, resulting in a fit of rage where he casts more spells and summon more minions. Past this will be a phase of rest where the obstacles will decrease.
The runners will gather time-coins (Chromie will tell you not to worry about them, some complex time stuff) while running that allows them to buy power-ups. There will also be powerups to be collected during the run. They can also unlock more characters with time-coins (“What if we tried it with…”). There are also cosmetics in shape of skins and tints but some skins can have different abilities too.
Unlike some games, the heroes aren’t dead at hitting each obstacle. Some are deadly and others slow the hero. Slow debuff is temporary and stucks. In addition to slowing, 3 stacks means the hero stops and is caught by the Raven Lord.
Some sample heroes:
Arthas
(Passive) March of Cold Death: Arthas is slower than others but he also slows everyone around him with his cold aura. He will have easier time dodging minions but harder time dodging spells.
(Ultimate) (Long Build-up) Sindragosa: Sindragosa will swoop down and carry Arthas a certain distance. As she breathes frost ahead the minions will wall and of course, Raven Lord shall SUFFER AS HIS PATHETIC MAGIC BETRAYS HIM, meaning Arthas will not worry about damage for the duration.
Li Ming
(Passive) Diamond Skin: Li Ming starts the run with Diamond Skin on and the first time she would normally die, any slow effects are dispelled and the Diamond Skin is lifted instead. Once this happens, Diamond Skin is not regenerated.
(Ultimate) (Medium Build-up) Teleport: Li Ming will teleport a short distance ahead of her, dodging anything between her current and target locations. Anything on the target still affects her.
Gazlowe
(Passive) Robo-arms: Gazlowe’s robo arms can move independently of him, catching time coins and powerups from a longer distance.
(Ultimate) Turretstorm: Gazlowe will deploy a bunch of turrets that will kill minions ahead of him for a while.
Some sample Raven Lord powers:
Summon Lane Minion: Summons one of the lane minions. Lane minions can be ran over, but they have certain rules.
Melee Minion: Stands with the shield and dazes (slows) the hero for a moment if hit.
Ranged Minion: Shoots arrows in regular intervals. Arrows are slow but they’ll slow the hero.
Caster Minion: Shoots bolts that place two slow stacks on the hero but if ran over, they’ll drop an orb that will dispel a slow stack or if the hero isn’t slowed, add ultimate build up.
Catapult: Summoned during Fit of Rage, catapults shoot stones that are deadly. If ran over, they’ll place 2 slow stacks on enemy.
Grow, Minion: The affected minion doubles in size.
Curse of the Raven Lord: For the duration, casters won’t drop any orbs and Ultimates won’t be usable.
Some Powerup samples:
“Get off them, dad!”: Orphea appears and chomps the minions on the screen.
“Cavalry’s here!”: Tracer will join the hero, blocking first three slow stacks. Directly deadly effects will still work.
Singularity Shard: “Star”. The hero becomes invulnerable and faster for the duration.
Shen and the Zannic Cube
A special cube “finds” its way to Coveteous Shen. Seeing the differences compared to the Horadric Cube, he figures it belongs to Zann Esu clan. Having no sorceress around to use it, Shen decides to unlock the power of the Cube himself. Having noticed the cube to create gems has nothing to do with this decision.
SatZC is a match-3 game that probably needs a better name. As you might guess the “colors” are the gems in Diablo series and
There are three main modes to SatZC.
1) Solving puzzles: Shen finds certain pre-inscribed layouts and tries to unlock them. This mod is similar to Candy Crush and the likes.
2) Infinite mode: Some times Shen can find a special gem that allows him to “hack” into the box. This mode is similar to the Gems of War Treasure Hunt. http://gems-of-war.wikia.com/wiki/Treasure_Hunt
3) Test of Will: In this mode Shen tests his will against others who used the Cube in the past and those who wield another Cube. Basically, it’s a versus mode that can be pve or pvp
I guess there could be boosts that you earn and some story unlocks as you do better.
For a gem to appear in Puzzle mode, it needs to appear in Infinite Mode. Higher gems in Puzzle Mode bring higher points, meaning better unlocks. As you unlock higher and higher gems in Infinite Mode, you will see less of weaker gems and more of more powerful gems.
