Summary
Highlights
Spell Brigade stands out in the survival game genre with its emphasis on building meaningful power through a dynamic spell system. Unlike other games, two runs are rarely the same, leading to genuinely powerful builds by the end. The game ensures excellent performance even with overwhelming enemy counts on screen, making it accessible to a wide range of players.
The game features 15 unique wizards, each with a distinct starting spell and passive ability, heavily influencing gameplay. Upgrades offer standard enhancements, but 'augments' truly diversify spells by changing their behavior, such as bombs bouncing an extra time or plants moving towards enemies. The element infusion system adds another layer of customization, allowing players to combine elements like fire and lightning for powerful combination effects like plasma or brimstone.
Mid-run objectives provide a fun diversion and reward players with augments. Each run concludes with a multi-phase boss fight, including a new boss in the 1.0 update. Meta-progression involves collecting gold to purchase enchantments and masteries, which are permanent upgrades that carry over between runs. Wizards also gain ranks and can be prestiged for additional progression.
A significant drawback is the steep grind, with runs lasting 40-45 minutes and yielding gold for only a single enchantment, making full unlocks a time-consuming endeavor. The gameplay can also become familiar after numerous runs. The 1.0 update brought substantial improvements, including a new wizard, boss (Malgoth), map, expanded enchantments with masteries, reworked element fusion effects, and an entirely new soundtrack to address previous player complaints. Additional features like emotes, titles, pins, lobby codes, and trial covenants were also added, enhancing the game's content and replayability.