Skulls of the Shogun Gameplay

The game is very different from turn based strategy games in terms of unit control, that is, the game removes the grid system and gives the player direct analogue control over the unit. Units can do multiple things, they can haunt structures or rice fields, attack enemy units, and defend allied units. As far as restrictions on what players can do, this game follows an action point system, that is, everything a player will do will cost a scroll, be it building, moving, attacking, haunting, or otherwise.

Properties are much different then the typical factories and cities found in other turn based strategy games, instead, there are three structures: rice paddies, shrines, or summoning areas. Rice paddies are where the player gets the main currency of the game, rice. A player can burn an action by making a unit "haunt" the rice paddy, giving resources, but also burning up the rice paddy. And so, in effect, the resources in the game are finite. Shrines are used to summon special monks who are units with special abilities and spells they can cast, one that was demonstrated was the Fox Monk, which is defense based. Unlike other turn based strategy games with unit building, there is only one unit building in this game. A summoning area where players can use rice to summon units.
Units mainly come in three main flavors:

• Cavalry
• Archers
• Infantry

Unlike other games, there isn't a set balance of a unit against another, that is, there's no rocks, papers, scissors categories. A cavalry won't always be the best thing against infantry, and archers won't always beat cavalry, it lies more on how a unit is used and managed by the player. However, those are just the core units. As said above, there are special Monks which can use special spells. Additionally, there are the Generals, which are the centerpiece of every game. If the General dies, the game ends. The General, however, is also a very capable unit, and every turn he's not used he gets more powerful.
Unit upgrading will come side by side with unit killing. When a unit is killed, its skull drops, which another unit can devour. A single unit can eat up to three skulls, which boost abilities-- the first skull boosts defense, the second skull boosts offense, and the third skull turns a unit into a completely new, more powerful and strongly upgraded one, in the form of a Demon.

The UI is very simple and straight-forward, and designed to be as easily accessible as possible. Commands are displayed in the corners of the screen (depending on the person, as once it was in the bottom left and the other time it was shown on the bottom right.) On the opposite side of the commands is where a long scroll is displayed with statistics during an attack, of how much life a unit has, how much damage will be dealt, and how much damage will be taken. Additionally it displays the amount of rice, units, and the round. Otherwise, unit health is displayed by a flag that the unit carries with a bar showing health.

Skulls of the Shogun Game Info

Skulls of the Shogun is an upcoming turn-based strategy video game developed by 17-BIT. The game is inspired by Advance Wars and features turn-based combat between undead samurai. Skulls of the Shogun is planned for a 2012 release on Xbox Live Arcade and Windows 8.

Skulls of the Shogun is set in a feudal Japan setting, with an undead twist, that is, all the Samurai and whatnot are undead. The game is described by one of the devs, Jake Kazdal, as an "arcade style turn-based strategy game." The devs claim that they were influenced by Advance Wars, but wanted a less rigid form of gameplay. What sets this game apart is that it doesn't use a grid, instead going for analogue controls. Additionally, the devs didn't like the "rock, paper, scissor" system seen in the aforementioned Advance Wars and many other strategy games, instead opting for three different and flexible core units with pros and cons that can be used against any other units, depending on how they're used. Additionally, the property based parts of Advance Wars have been streamlined for simplicity and to go with the faster "arcade approach" the devs are going for.