DEEP DIVE
Gaming’s next big hero is here
Legend of Solgard
Battle & Collect Epic Heroes!
This isn’t the kind of matching game you might be expecting from King, creator of Candy Crush Saga.
Legend of Solgard is still a matching game, sure, it’s just more in-depth and a bit more of a ‘gamey’ game. And yet it retains the easy-to-understand mechanics and polished-to-a-shine presentation that have become the company’s trademark.
You're the flame-haired hero Embla, and you’re in charge of a grid of colourful characters. To vanquish beasties and break the portal at the top of the screen, you need to drag and drop them into lines or groups of at least three to trigger attacks. This means thinking carefully and making the right matches at the right time.
Depending on how you organise your army of Roughpaws, Elflings and Grimchops, you will trigger different moves. Line up three of the same character vertically and they will combine for a more powerful attack. Matching three horizontally creates a defensive shield, while dropping four characters down into a square creates a bigger, broader attacking force.
The more you play, the more you unlock new heroes – a mage, a honking great masked beast, a snooty goat – all of whom have their own abilities and special powers. And then, of course, there are a ton of different ways to upgrade your squad.
After sinking many an hour into the game, it’s clearly a meaty prospect. So we asked Tove Lindholm, level designer at developer Snowprint, for three tips to get you started on your journey through Solgard.
“As fun as it is to look for the juiciest matches on your side of the Battle Board, be mindful of the enemy side too,” says Lindholm. “Sometimes it’s critical to weaken a strong Frost Wolf before they come at you. Hitting a strategically placed Sun Bomb is also sometimes worth an extra move.”
“If you’ve fought hard, the winning strategy might be to just sneak past any enemies and obstacles, going straight for a weakened Portal to finish off the level,” says Lindholm. (We found this strategy really useful – just line up some quickfire matches where the path to the portal is clear.)
“Summoning more creatures [by tapping the bottom of the screen] can sometimes be the best move, even though there are still plenty of unmatched creatures on the field,” adds Lindholm. “If you prepare some partial matches and put your faith in lady luck, she might reward you generously when you hit that Summon button.”