It’s quite rare that we take time out of our busy schedule to take a look at an Android game, but this is REVIEWMAGEDDON and all everything is on the table. Driland is part of a common group of usually micro-transaction supported card game genre that is becoming more and more common. It is based out of the GREE platform, which operates in a similar fashion as Steam, but for mobile devices. So is the game worth the time to download, is it something you will find yourself spending time on? Or is it just a waste of time and money (if micro-transactions are your type of thing)?
The concept of Driland is very simple, you adventure throughout dungeons, collecting hunter cards and items to improve your team, while also gaining small amounts of bells (the currency in the game). Now when I say that you adventure through jungles, I mean you press a button that says “Quest” while your stamina decreases at a set rate, depending on the dungeon you are in. Each time you quest, you are given a trash item, a helpful item, a hunter card or an enemy encounter. Fighting enemies involves taking your 3 “party cards” and making them “fight” the enemy. You usually lose a little bit of health upon fighting, which seems really inconsequential but after you get to a boss, it can be a pretty big deal. Bosses have you take your 3 characters and also chose 2 allied characters in a much larger and damaging showdown. If you win, you get experience and bells, if you lose, enjoy going all the back to the start, unless you want to use some items. The truth about Driland is that it really isn’t much of a game at all, it’s more like a web-based slot machine. Yet, even as a limited form of entertainment, it does just that. All in all, questing is really just a time killer. You don’t get too much from it (other than in rare event dungeons) and the biggest draw of the game makes this serve as a small distraction.
Where you really find action in the game is through the Dire Monster events. Every few weeks, an event occurs where you build teams of cards and slay powerful monsters for chances at getting pretty awesome cards. The monsters get progressively more difficult as you defeat them, forcing you to reach out for the aid of the allies that you have recruited. These allies are other players that have either requested you or vice versa. You have a limit, so making sure your allies are responsive is a big deal. During these events, you get a real feel of the sense of community that Driland has. Yes, a simple game has a pretty impressive community.
The norm for communication with your allies and other players are by using “kudos”, which happen to be small blurbs that award both you and that player a few points and let you leave messages. These points are used to earn chances for new cards, so daily kudos are pretty important. There is also a GREE forum that can be accessed from your phone. This forum is a great place to meet experienced players, make trades, suggestions or simply just find out more about the game. While getting into the initial phases of the game, I asked a few questions about which Rare Hunters were worth investing into enhancing. I got great advice from the other players on the forum, learned a few tricks on how to make a more effective deck and even traded a few cards for better ones. For such a simplistic and basic game, it’s shocking to see such a solid community supporting it. There is also PvP battle mode that has you simply fight against other players, it’s pretty expensive as far as force goes, so I only did it a few times.
Ultimately, Driland is quite fun. There is a lot that you can do, yet there really isn’t all that much game to go around. It’s something that is worth trying out, though, I’ve wasted small tidbits of free time questing and fighting monsters. If you have time to kill and want a quite game to play around with, Driland just may be the one for you.
Note: We are giving Driland a 5 for audio since it simply lacks it. Less would imply there was an issue with audio.
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How do these ratings work? Click here for descriptions!
Pros:
- In it’s limited form, it still is enjoyable, Even without buying card packs.
- Awesome community
- Doesn’t require almost any commitment
Cons:
- There is absolutely no sound
- A few little bugs can get slightly irritating
- Those microtransactions can certainly help you enjoy the game more