Drop Duchy first grabbed my attention thanks to its Tetris-style gameplay. After playing Drop Duchy for over a week now, I know it’s much more than that. My journey began with me building beautiful little landscapes as I attempted to breeze past any strategic bits of the game — like building up my deck, upgrading cards, and figuring out the perfect lineup for battles. I really just wanted to “Drop some Duchy” on the board.

“Build your duchy (a territory ruled by a duke or duchess) by placing geometric blocks that host different types of terrain and structures for your settlement. Expand your realm, earn resources, and build your army while thoughtfully placing shapes on the board to give your people the best shot at prosperity. Positioning is key; placements can set your forces up for an easy win, while careless stacking leaves advantages unrealized.”

-The Arcade Crew (publisher)

Once I slowed down and started to focus on strategy in Drop Duchy, I quickly realized that it is a game of choices.

*Side Quest I: Game Tutorials
Some game tutorials come at you with way too much info before you know your objective. You expect me to read all this and understand what it means in this made up world I’m just starting to figure out? I coasted my way through the Drop Duchy tutorial thinking I would just get it once I played the game. That didn’t work out. Once I started to gain an understanding of the world in Drop Duchy, that’s when I doubled back to the tutorial and it all made sense. The tutorial may have overloaded me with information at the start, but I’m happy it remained accessible so I could jump back in when I was ready — and now I’m much better for it.

A Game of Choices

Game Modes

There are three different ways to play Drop Duchy, and so far I’ve stuck to Classic mode. In Classic mode you work your way through different factions (The Duchy, The Republic, The Order, The Tribe DLC, and The North DLC). So far, I’ve conquered the first two. Each faction introduces new cards, buildings, landscapes, abilities, and game mechanics.

The other two ways, which I’m saving for later are Ascension mode and Trials. In Ascension mode you choose your own difficulty modifiers to create challenging runs. Success leads to unlocking rewards and new tiers. Each Trail mode tosses in a new monkey wrench to mess with your runs.

Anatomy of a Run

Each Drop Duchy run starts off very simple with a peaceful region to explore and gain resources. This is the Tetris-style of gameplay I fell in love with. There aren’t many choices to make. Lay out your tiles and reap the benefits. You may start off with some initial resources, I usually purchase an extra slot when possible.

After that first region, the decision-making begins. Would you like a building or technology card — perhaps something else later on. Buildings can be placed on maps, but technology cards are working in the background.

Next, it’s time to make your way towards the first boss battle. There are a few stops along the way. Would you like some more gold, food, wood, stone, or something else from the depots? There may be a trading fair where you can exchange one resource for another.

The more resources and cards you own the harder it will be to make your choices. That’s why I’m always trying to sell off any excess cards. Before exploring a region you may choose to upgrade cards or gain a slot, then it’s time to set your lineup.

A peaceful region will be easier to explore with no enemy to battle, but the upcoming boss fight will be a little tougher. A hostile region will end in battle, so you may need to reconsider your building and card strategy.

When it comes to battle there are three military weapon types — Arrows, Swords, and Axes. The battle system works in a Rock, Paper, Scissors kind of way. Arrows beat Axes, Swords beat Arrows, and Axes beat Swords. In a hostile region you must build the right collection of military buildings to defeat your enemy.

Rogue-lite Progression

The thing about a round in Drop Duchy is that even when you lose, you still win — it’s called progression. Small challenges allow you to unlock permanent rewards for future runs. You get to start with an extra card or higher-level buildings.

The different factions add diversity to Drop Duchy. With the initial Duchy faction I started to feel like a pro. I had my combos figured out. After beating the Duchy and moving onto the Republic faction I was immediately out of my element. The combos I knew before weren’t working anymore. It was time to master new techniques. The more you play the more you unlock, including new game mechanics.

All In on the Duchy

Drop Duchy has become an exceptional indie for me. I didn’t think I would vibe with the strategic portions of the game from the start. I saw myself dropping off, and maybe even going back to normal Tetris — I still own my Gameboy Color with Tetris.

Recently, I was obsessed with another indie darling — BALL x PIT. I mostly loved the brick-breaking portion of the game and I fell off due to the base-building. I did get a little more into the base-building later on, but I was always rushing through it to get to the part I wanted.

My Drop Duchy journey began in the same way, I was only interested in one aspect of gameplay — the Tetris part. Now, rounds take longer and longer, because I’m invested in my choices. I’ve even taken notes by hand — and that’s when you know you’re really into a game.

Drop Duchy is special because it is a game of choices. There are always several options to choose from, and the wrong decision can lead to your downfall. However, the correct decision will lead to victory — and glory!

My current goal is to conquer all the factions, clear all objectives, and unlock the full skill tree. I don’t need to beat each faction in every difficulty, I’m fine with beating the game on Normal.

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*myVGBC was given a review code for Drop Duchy: Complete Edition by the publisher (The Arcade Crew). Drop Duchy is out now on consoles and PC.