DnD Inspired RPG “Sunderfolk” Promotes Team Play – Game Review

Sunderfolk is a video game that aims to promote DnD-like group play in a digital realm. In my opinion, the game gets a whole lot right to encourage going on an adventure with your friends.

Without mentioning names, a whole bunch of video games out there have tried to emulate the feeling of an actual physical board game session in the RPG genre. But most have failed to hit the mark. Sunderfolk, on the other hand, holds a whole lot of promise. The biggest advantage is that you only need a single copy of the game and your friends can join via their mobile devices. It’s a very convenient way to get folks who don’t own gaming computers or consoles (or want to spend money on a new video game) to pop up and have a couple of hours (or more) of fun for free!

One of the promotional taglines is “Rediscover Game Night”, with the developer Secret Door doing a whole lot to ensure everyone’s welcome, no matter the person’s gaming experience. The game’s been built with the couch co-op mechanic in mind. Your mobile device (phone or tablet) becomes your controller as you move your selected character around in a land featuring anthropomorphic animals, magic, and action.

And yes, the Sunderfolk mobile app is free. The game can be played by up to four people. You can go about it single-player as well, but this title’s clearly meant for a group. I say this because certain missions tend to get repetitive, and the overall gameplay is kind of slow. The banter amongst friends during campaigns, as you all come up with the most effective strategy or try to get to a particular loot before your party member or an enemy does, is supposed to add to the gameplay experience.

Each player’s mobile device displays a hex-grid for movement, their character’s specific hand of cards, rule book, inventory, flavor text, etc. This means that the actual main screen depicting the adventure isn’t cluttered.

You can select from six unique Heroes. The Hero character designs are cute. There’s the Arcanist, Bard, Berserker, Pyromancer, Ranger, and Rogue. Of course, each Hero Class has unique traits. For example, the Arcanist (a crow) can create decoys, teleport, and push around foes so you can manipulate the hex-board for the best attack outcome. Being able to push, pull, or throw foes to particular tiles to help set up for your ally’s attack makes for a nice moment. The Pyromancer (an axolotl) is all about casting fire-based spells. Stepping into a burning Hexagon tile can help make your attacks stronger. The Bard (a bat) can create buffs for allies and debuffs for enemies. Characters also have a Special or Ultimate Ability, complete with activation animation, that has area-spanning effects.

Customization involves deck-building, unlocking weapons, and equipping certain Trinkets or Items to be used during battle. Teamwork is encouraged, with certain abilities gaining buffs when used near allies and such.

A game mechanic I enjoyed were the Fate Cards. They can be thought of the Modifier rolls during a DnD run. When you select an Attack, you also draw a random Fate Card. Depending on what you draw, your Hit Points can be increased, decreased, or remain unchanged. You might also get other buffs, including Strength, Shield, etc. Your Fate Deck can be customized, enabling you to still benefit from drawing a Fate Card that might decrease your Hit Points.

The visuals are bright and colorful. Each character has their own move and attack animations. The artwork on the cards is also nice. I would say the overall visuals have a mobile-game feel to them, but not in a bad way, if you get what I mean. Anjali Bhimani serves as the Game Master/Dungeon Master, which also means she voices EVERYTHING. It’s a fun creative decision that I appreciated.

As for the story, it’s your run-of-the-mill fantasy narrative where your village gets attacked, and an important resource needs to be restored. The village in Sunderfolk is called Arden. It’s a nice place, powered by a giant crystal called the Brightstone. However, the village is being corrupted by the Shadowstone. So, of course, it’s your job to keep everyone safe from the incoming dark forces. As you complete missions, you are also able to upgrade certain buildings inside Arden and communicate as well as build relationships with some of the villagers. Arden serves as your Hub to equip new items, level up, trade, and the like.

Player involvement is increased by allowing you to name some of the structures, items, and creatures. The names you select will stick throughout the game, offering yet another reason to banter with friends.

Sunderfolk should give you around 30-40 hours of gameplay. But then again, it all depends on how fast your party’s able to progress. In my opinion, you’re supposed to take your time with such a game. With each player controlling a different character, coming up with a strategy to complete a single main mission as well as the additional objectives could take very well take your party half an hour if not more (not including snack and bathroom breaks!). And that’s okay because Sunderfolk has been created for such a purpose.

Recently published by Dreamhaven, I highly recommend looking into Sunderfolk. It’s available on Steam/PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and the Xbox Series X/S. The title is currently around $65 CAD. And with how only ONE person needs to have a copy, that’s an incredibly affordable price tag if you have a friend’s group that can chip in a few dollars.

I played the PC/Steam version with a friend who had already bought a copy and wanted me to try it out with them. Downloading the app and linking with this game was easy. I enjoyed the experience of having my deck of cards and other information available to me via my phone. I didn’t notice any lag between my selection of an action on my phone and it being depicted on the main video game screen. I have a feeling (and I could be very wrong here) that the overall gameplay has been designed to be a bit slow to accommodate/hide any possible lag issues that might arise.

A minor gripe I had with the controls involved the hex-grid I had to use to chart my character’s movement on the main Hex-map during missions. It kind of took me a minute to get it right, especially when it came to the Push mechanic that allowed me to shove away foes and certain items.

However, having said that, Sunderfolk is undoubtedly a well-made video game that, in my opinion, achieves what it set out to do. Get your friends on it ASAP!

Have you played Sunderfolk? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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