Kaylyn Hohn 
You know the concept of battle royale games, like Fortnite, PUBG, and Call of Duty Blackout. A number of players are dropped onto a map, and they must scavenge and survive as the map grows smaller, in order to be the last man standing, and earn the title of “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” or “#1 Victory Royale”. An upcoming game from an indie studio, though, is looking to bring a new spin to this old concept.
Spellbreak, a new battle royale game by Proletariat Games, will feature magic combat and RPG elements. According to their website, players will “weave spectacular spell combinations and craft strategic builds in your quest for survival!”. By incorporating RPG, or role-playing game, elements, Spellbreak will allow players to flesh out their battlemages, in terms of which classes they choose.
“In each match, you are given the opportunity to select and develop two classes. Each class contains a passive ability and three scrolls that you choose and level up over the course of a match. At the moment, we have 11 classes (one for each school of magic and then five others),” Proletariat Games said, in a post on Imgur.
So far, the indie studio has announced the Pyromancer class and the Conduit class, from the fire and lightning schools of magic, respectively. The passive ability for the Pyromancer class, for example, is called Phoenix’s Rebirth, which allows players to come back to life with 50% health after the first time they die. As for the Conduit class, that passive lets characters run 20 percent faster, and only breaks when they attack or take damage.
Depending on the chosen class for your character, you can equip certain enchanted gauntlets that deal elemental damage, including lightning, poison, fire, ice, stone, and wind damage. Each magic type has a primary spell and secondary sorcery, according to the studio’s Imgur.
Equipping different gauntlets of damage opens up the possibility for combo attacks, like casting a poisonous cloud and then setting in on fire to create a “green flame burst”. More combos can be seen in the picture below. One must be careful with their spells though, because casting a toxic cloud and walking through it can still cause damage to your battlemage.
As for gameplay, all Proletariat Games has released is this very short video, highlighting magical combat between real players testing the game in pre-alpha. You can see how the magical gauntlets work on the battlemages, which the video focuses heavily on fire, ice, and poison damage, and the type of attacks that can be performed. The video also introduces a fantastical scenery for the battle royale game, featuring large towers and open grassy fields to traverse, in order to be the last one standing.
Spellbreak doesn’t currently have a release date, but if you’re wanting to cast spells and hurl magic fireballs or poisonous clouds at your opponents, you can sign up here to try it out. Follow Proletariat Games on Imgur for the latest updates on Spellbreak.
