Sacraboar Demo

Sometimes, a new idea can revolutionize an entire genre when it comes to video games, because simple ideas have the ability to keep people entertained for long periods of time. However, it is pretty difficult to come up with the right elements every time, so not everything that’s original is necessarily good as well. The game at hand is a perfect example of that, because although it sounds interesting on paper, the execution is rather sloppy.

Sacraboar is a real-time strategy game that looks rather similar at a first glance, given the fact that it features the same resource gathering/unit building mechanics as the classics of the genre. However, the main goal of a match is not to destroy your opponent, but to capture his trophy pig, which indeed sounds weird. In essence, this is basically a Capture the Flag mode with a twist, but not enough effort went into it to make the idea fun in any way.

To begin with, the gameplay is rather boring and it gets repetitive quickly, mainly because of the small selection of units and the lack of other game modes to spice up the action. Even the basic mechanics are sketchy and unrefined, because you’ll stumble into trouble trying to control your units out on the battlefield against the computer.

Besides the few units you can train, it is also possible to build towers and use them to inspire more strength into your troops, like some sort of buffs. This is a neat idea, but you barely get to notice the effects most of the time, not to mention that you still have to pay extra attention to your units in order to keep them alive. Hence, while the spells are a nice addition to the gameplay, they cannot fix the rest of the broken elements.

The most annoying thing of all is the fact that you only get to play the ‘capture the pig’ mode and nothing else, which means that every game more or less evolves the same way. It doesn’t take long for this to become repetitive, especially when the quality of the overall product is this low. Speaking of which, the graphics are nothing out of the ordinary either, but the game takes forever to load anyway.

All things considered, Sacraboar does not manage to make a very good case for itself, despite the slightly amusing theme. Hence, unless you want a bit of insight into how not to make a video game, you’d better try something else instead.