[](https://kon.gg/2GaXbtt) *Have you ever considered how similar courtly intrigue and highway robbery are? Grey Alien Games definitely has. Their game [Shadowhand](https://kon.gg/2GaXbtt) blends strategy, ccg mechanics, and politics with the amazing game graphics to create story-driven adventures with quick wit, cool outfits, and elaborate wigs. Check this game out!*  *Grey Alien Games is an indie microstudio that has been creating downloadable PC and Mac games since 2004. This husband-and-wife team of Jake Birkett and Helen Carmichael worked together to develop Regency Solitaire & Shadowhand. We got to sit down with them and talk about their studio and the development process on this deeply-engaging card game!*  **Tell us about your development team!** Jake always knew he wanted to be a game programmer, since he got his Spectrum 48K computer in 1984. Around this time, Helen was hacking into her school’s BBC computer to alter the stories in educational games. As a couple they particularly enjoy playing RPGs together, although Helen is also drawn to narrative-heavy games and Jake loves a good shoot-em-up.  **Where did you get the inspiration for Shadowhand?** Major game influences include Bejeweled for our earlier games, and solitaire for our later games. RPGs like Dragon Age Inquisition and Dark Souls have also inspired us.  Shadowhand is a card-battling adventure game, unique in that it features battles driven by strategic, solitaire-style cardplay. The game setting and characters evolved from Grey Alien’s earlier title, Regency Solitaire. The battle mechanic is inspired by titles such as Puzzle Quest and Bookworm Adventures, and the game also features RPG elements in terms of character customisation and inventory.  The central theme of the game involves battling outlaws as a highwaywoman by night, while navigating life as a genteel aristocrat by day.  **What sort of experience do you want Shadowhand players to have?** Shadowhand is about building a better highwaywoman so that you can win fights with outlaws. With many layers of items and mechanics to choose from, strategy becomes increasingly important. Tense fights and satisfying looting are some of the most rewarding parts of the experience. There are also some great outfits and weapons to choose from.  Grey Alien Games is now collaborating with Jim Rossignol (Big Robot Games) on Ancient Enemy, a project supported by Bithell Games. This is a strategic RPG card game about a mage battling twisted folkloric foe, inspired by British mythology. It is due out in 2019. **What programming resources did you use?** Shadowhand is built in BlitzMax. Grey Alien Games has built its own proprietary engine using this object-oriented programming language. We use Photoshop to make placeholder art and to edit final art delivered by the artists. We collaborate by sharing files via Dropbox. **What made you want to post the game on Kartridge?** Kartridge seems like an interesting evolution out of Kongregate. We are interested to see how it does, and the upload process seemed simpler than Steam.  **Tell us something else interesting about yourself!** [We both] live in the UK and both love to explore historical sites. Many real places in England feature in both Regency Solitaire and Shadowhand, and [...] have cosplayed in Regency and highway robber outfits at game shows!  *[Shadowhand](https://kon.gg/2GaXbtt) is available on Kartridge for $14.99. You can earn 3 badges for 250XP!*

I was sort of expecting a sort of CCG when I picked this one up from the Kartridge store. While this was in no way a CCG, it still was pretty fun. I would say this game is much like [Fareway Solitare](https://www.kongregate.com/games/BigFishStudios/fairway-solitaire) on Kongregate. The gameplay and rules are basically the same. The main difference is that Shadowhand has is a way to equip your main character with abilities, weapons, gear, and equipment to give you bonuses while playing. Some levels you try to clear the board of all the cards (again, similar to Fareway Solitare) in other levels you are taking turns clearing a board vs an AI character. The AI character is also equiped with weapons, gear, and equipment that gives similar bonuses to yours (so there is some stragity/benfit to equiping weapons that they don't defend as well against and wearing equipment that defends against their attacks). You charge up your attack by clearing cards from the board. You and the AI take turns doing so, and you have to bring the AI's life to zero before they do the same to you (you get more stars by doing this quickly). However, while theoritically intresting, doesn't really play that big of a role in gameplay. Fundamentally, the game is just about clearing cards off the board similar to Fareway Solitare. I found the game pretty easy. Most of the time the game set you up with long runs of cards that you can chain together (it was just a matter of spotting them). I am not sure if the game is programed this way, or if the rules just mathamatically lend itself to these long runs of cards. However, the AI (even at its most difficult setting) generally didn't take advantage of this. There are 22 levels in the game, each level consists of 2-8 of these solitaire games that you have to clear (about half you play "alone" and half you play "head to head" style vs the AI). The earlier levels have 2, and each one gets longer until you get to 8 solitaire games to play. There are 3 difficulity levels that can be chosen (however, I didn't find that much difference between them). The levels do get somewhat repeatitive. All in all, it was a fun game (if not what I was expecting). It had a nice story to it. It kept me entertained for something on the order of 15 hours of gameplay. Had I known what the game was like before I purchased it, I would have probably skipped it and gotten something else. But, as I said, I did enjoy playing it. If you are thinking of purchaseing this game, check out Fareway Solitaire on Kongregate first. If you like it, then you will also like Shadowhand. Happy Gaming, Pip ------------------------ [Download Kartridge](https://www.kartridge.com/download?referral=7c31f044-e2b2-414f-b258-489bddce85fe) now to earn a special Kongpanion and 10 Kreds on Kongregate. This link will even get you an additional 15% off coupon that you can use to purchase Shadowhand!.