Warbands: Bushido

Mobile card game, obscure UI, login every day shenanigans, transactions, also took $$ and went "free".

There is no balance in the game.

3 legendary card/miniaturs owners are forced to fight 8 legendary cards owners. And devs sell in game cards/miniatures for real money. Singleplayer is as short as only an hour play-time. This is definitely wasting of a good game on account of greed.

It's pay to win, and the parts that aren't are very grindy. The aesthetics and theming are nice, but the story for the campaigns are hollow; some containing no intro or dialogue. The menu is unintuitive. It's hard to tell what certain parts are until you get used to it. There is also art assets missing for some of the cards, and just show a default image.

I purchased this game during Early Access, as I rather liked the idea of a card-based games with miniatures. Like many EA games, I didn't bother putting much time into it, rather waiting for release. Upon release, it still needed some work, so I held off for a while. When I returned, I found it had been converted a "free to play" model with in-game transactions. At that point, there was no need to go any further other than to uninstall the game. Ergo, why my play time is so low.

Though there are a select few "free to play" games I enjoy, they are few and far between, and were created with that business model in mind. However, companies that end up switching to that model after the fact immediately lose my business going forward. In the end, it is akin to a "bait and switch technique". Though it is understandable that many small companies use the "free to play" model as a way to fund additional development through microtransactions, the practice of doing so has become far too commonplace in my opinion. It is like a disease that now even AAA companies are attempting to adopt, despite customer outrage.

Perhaps if the paid content were provided free of charge to those who purchased the game during EA, I might feel differently, though I doubt it. I have a very negative opinion of in-game purchases, and though that business model is likely to continue, I recommend consumers send a message by simply leaving such games "in the dust" to discourage other companies from adopting the same practices. The bottom line is the business model is a cash grab that can lead one to spend hundreds of dollars, far more than the game's worth, over a period of time.

I've learned the hard way that one must be very cautious about Early Access games. Personally, I'd rather see a studio "admit defeat" and abandon development than to switch over to the "free to play" business model. Poor business planning is not an excuse to milk consumers for more money. Essentially, it is asking the consumer to pay for a company's poor planning. My primary concern is for the younger generation seeking immediate gratification, wasting money on this type of garbage instead of planning for their future.

Red Unit Studios has certainly lost my business going forward. I know I am but one of many who feel not only betrayed for my initial support, but disgusted with the final product, simply another cash grab. No game lasts forever, and if one simply does the math, it becomes clear that when the game finally dies out, a substantial amount of money ends up being invested, with absolutely no tangible return.

Frankly, I'm loathe to write negative reviews like this, but the in-game purchase model needs to come to an end, one way or another. Though some countries and US states are passing laws to ban loot boxes, the fastest way to eliminate this cancer is to simply delete the game and never look back. Most games rely heavily on multi-player, and once the player base dies, so does the game. Looking at reviews, it appears that I am one of many that are quite displeased with the change in business model.

I paid for this game in Early Access and then it became free to play. Now I have to login everyday and wait until I have enough gold to unlock things that I previously paid for to be unlocked. Never buy anything from these developers. Save your money. Do not reward people who do this with your money.

This really is an increadible game that I've dug since beta. The mechanics are great and I've put in... hundreds of hours? That said, if you dont have the more powerful ranged unit, you have to attack and it's much harder to win. I think the game would benifit from something that drives both teams out earlier - maybe spawning some grindstones, water, old helmet cards right away - or have more boards that play to a mele team's advantage just to make people put the right value on an expensive ranged unit. Its not a bug or broken, but after hundreds of games its like "oh - I have a teppo ashigiru and they just have the hunter, i can hang back and i'll win." Or "oh damnit, they have the... And i habe to attack." It's automatic and kinda wearing thin. Still a fantastic game with soooooooooo much potential. I really do like it and will continue playing. Also, i won the chest this last month. No post giving me props - or was that just for the first winner?

This game had potential. I played it when I couldn't get friends togerher to play a table-top skermish game. Perfect. I really enjoyed it at first. But with 550+ hours of play I'm sick of waiting for te developers to get it right. With much tinkering for so long they have not managed to get the basic rock/paper/scissors working properly. The game boils down to 1 strategy that reliably works. The guys who load up wth multiple ranged troops, hang back and defend win 98% of the time. All the game mechanics works in their favour. As a result the game feels empty.

I've amused myself for months with an all-melee army trying to find a way round it. Sure, sometimes the dice just fall my way. But, in military strategy terms it just makes no sense. No cammender would attack an entrenched enemy with an equal force. The developers have to give bonuses to the attacker or the outcome is all but enevitable and there is no fun in that. I would suggest a remidy something like: if the defender remains in base-to-base contact with most of his troops and fails to accumulate a combined movement distance of a certain amount, then the attacker perhaps gets a certain number resurrections of kiiled troops or perhaps dice rerolls.

With the potential I see in this game I'm still hoping the developers will see how stuck it is and do something creative about it. As it is presently I think the frustration level is too high, the outcomes are too predictable and you might as well spend you money on something else.

I actually really like this game. It looks beautiful, the aesthetic is very well presented in every little detail. The gameplay is easy to understand and easy to master yet satisfying when you win. Not a huge time commitment for each round, but plenty of content to dive into if you so desire.

so what's the problem?

It's a port of a mobile game that has the bait/in game purchases removed but the adjustment that has been made to the reward system is insufficient. So in a game that's designed to have parts that can not be beaten until you attain better units, goading you into a purchase. You are stuck and forced to grind to obtain the ingame currency, which is very very limited unless you are able to win multiplayer matches, of which there are few because the game has so few players.


They have written in updates that the mobile versions have reduced drops, but i've played both and the grind is just as bad on the computer. Really rubs salt in the wound that you paid for a game on faith only to find out there's a free version. I'm not even going to ask for a refund i'm going to leave this review up to let people know to not waste their money.

I hope the devs see this and consider a rebalance of currency, or perhaps a larger assortment of units and cards upon purchase, more frequent drops of rewards.
I would buy a dozen copies of this game for my friends, but I don't want them to be stuck after the first campaign like I am. Whatever, it needs something to make the game progress feel like actual progress.

I think this game is great except for a couple of things that I feel might make other players not even bother.

1. Your units don't gain honor (xp) in the single player campaign. I don't really mind playing the multiplayer except that the Arena (which is a second multiplayer mode) doesn't seem to have anyone playing it and after playing 150 hard-earned coins for access I just sit waiting for a player. This also means that the arena quests are mostly worthless as there doesn't seem to be anyone playing. Again, all this would be a non-issue if I could just level up my units in the single player campaigns which are fun (if short)

2. I don't mind grinding the single player campaigns to get coins through quests/achievements but you only get three quests at a time. One is a regular multiplayer quest (like kill 10 enemies in multiplayer), the second is an arena quest that after the initial one, you will never complete. The third is a single-player quest but there's a catch. The quests require you to complete the same campaign in all the difficulty levels before you get quests for the other two campaigns. When you get the "Complete Cutthroats Campaign at Insane difficulty" you will need to have leveled up your units to max level to even have a chance of completing that quest. Since Arena is dead and the single player requires leveled units to complete the quest, you're stuck grinding the regular multiplayer for hours and hours. This gets especially tedious once you've completed 50% or so of the acheivements (which also give coins)

Since the arena multiplayer community is pretty much dead, this ends up being a great game that you can't really get all the best from. If the devs would enable leveling in single-player and perhaps add more quests then this game would be on my all-time top 10 pc games. Even then, the single player is so fun that I'd easily put it in the top 20.

This is a great little gem of a game, with a great price. It's a mixure of chess, table top wargame & collectible card game. It's a turn based thinking man's game. If you're an RTS junkie, stay away. The game is primarily PvP so:

BUYER BEWARE: If you are looking for PvE...Stay Away from this right now. The main PvE campaign is not present at this time. There are 3 mini PvE campaigns that can be purchased for in game gold(Ryo) only. The game has no cash, pay to win micro-transactions. However, these campaigns require a great deal of PvP grinding to unlock before you can even play them. So again, if you loathe PvP....stay away for now.

Didn't realize you can't just play a campaign against the game. I have no interest in playing against other people especially when I just started the game. Didn't realize I had to get the scenarios with the earned coins, which I now can't seem to earn enough of to get a scenario pack. After a few skirmish battles it was just boring and repetitive. I don't want to have to collect coins just to actually play the game. Don't see any reason to keep playing. Another game to add to my Steam-ing pile of wasted money.

THIS GAME HAS NO MEANINGFUL PVE - just need to get that out the way, to avoid any disappointment.
The core of the game is collecting & levelling troops, and PvE doesn't contribute to either (negligible loot & no XP) - in fact, aside from the tutorial, you really shouldn't even attempt PvE until you have PvP'd yourself some stronger troops.

** Pros **
Really interesting videogame concept, well executed with a very nice price point.
The game is heavily random (as dice based), but there's nonetheless plenty to do strategically.
The PvP seems to be very pick-up-and-play; you don't have to socialize and there's no chat.

** Cons **
Seeing as how quick PvP skirmishes form the bulk of gameplay, it gets pretty repetitive for a game that needs to be played a lot to make progress.
While well presented, afraid I just found the setting & units very bland and hard to distinguish; there's no fantastical units (e.g. sorcerers or oni), no ninjas, or even simply unique characters - nor is there any world-building of note.

In conclusion: excellent value 'hobby game' if you are in the market & don't want the temptation of microtransactions, but don't expect memorable PvE or story-telling - really hope that the developers plan expansions, or to use this engine/model for miniature games in livelier settings.

Wow... at last a game tailormade for me and people with my profile: Strategy, TBC, boardgame, collectible figures and cards... and in medieval Japan! Couldn´t ask for more!

The rules are easy to get but hard to master and the gameplay is a delight, fast paced combats (at least in the first levels). It has sooo much potential, can´t wait to see the final version in the official release.

Also great graphics and music, always a plus.

I think I´m gonna play a nice bunch of hours to this gem. Thumbs up for the developers!

Unfortunately at the current state of the game I cannot recommend this.

The game itself has great potential, it is a little too luck based and such but all this can be fixed, overall it is a promising game. The animations and graphics are great and the gameplay is very diverse with the available figures. In addition building up your warband and adjusting it to what you have available after earning some booster packs feels great and is a lot of fun.

However, in the end the game is focused on the multiplayer aspect. I have played the game for around 6 hours but yet I was not able to find a single human opponent in the skirmish mode.

Essentially the game is therefore dead, as without any humans to play against you are left with farming the bots you are paired against which is fun for a little while, but not enough to make playing worthwile and interesting. The exisiting PVE content itself does not make up for this, it may only fill another hour or two.

Long Story Short: The game could be great, but without a playerbase the game has essentially nothing to offer.

Artwork is nice.
At present, the storyline isn't complete.
A grind game for the patience.
Rely heavily on luck on RNG in battle and spending precious gold on cards from the packs.

Basically a pvp game since the Decks and the Storyline does not relate.
Pvp may be fun for some, but bland for others, too random dice throwing.
RatRace game for one who enjoys grinding lots of hours grinding on skirmish battles for gold and cards, accumulating exps for the units.
' He who puts the most efforts would most likely win with a stroke of luck. '


Fails to meet my expectation, playable for a short period.
Recommend if its on sale only.

I read the reviews. Some people stated that some of the scenarios were next to impossible, being drastically outnumbered. They also mentioned how they'd just get wrecked in matches, fighting enemies that are much stronger than themselves. Let me reassure you a bit : ).

1. The AI is incredibly stupid in the scenarios and you have very defensive cards : ). Let them come to you and attack you and watch them kill themselves. Simple ^_-.

2. You are matched with players in your same rank. Many beginners go with a card called Ronin with 2 swords. This card has 4 attack and 2 armor, which is the highest attack of any other card in the game. Beginners that don't know how to counter this will just run up to it and die to the 4 dice. One, this card can't be ordered around. You can easily surround it, placing the opponent in a bad position. While you can stand back and force the opponent to lose a card, they are forced forward due to this ronin. Being surrounded, hurts the attack, lowering it by 1-2 depending on how much you've surrounding it. Furthermore, you can boost your own abilities, increasing your attack by 1 and countering 1 miss. This all helps you take out their primary threat. If you happen to have cards, like ranged units or certain units that can't be countered, that easily takes the Ronin out too. Don't be stupid. Be smart.

3. People mentioned that you'd run into players way above you. This is incorrect. You run into players in the same league as you. The first league is level 1-5. From being a brand new player with meh cards, I went up to rank 6 with only a couple of losses. In the next league, you may start running into legendaries. I know I do. However, I am definitely not killing people without getting hit or without losing any units anymore, lol.


This is a very good game. It's not as deep or as tricky as a game like Shardbound, but you can definitely misplay.



The game has absolutely no cash shop. All currency must be earned.

I like the mechanics of the tactical game, but I'm leary that the current design direction could turn it into a grindy, unbalanced, mess. Tactical games don't have to be symetrical, but they should offer either side a chance of winning.

Right now you earn gold by playing (and undoubtably in the future by paying) for random cards and miniatures. You can also convert your cards and miniatures to "dust" and buy specifically what you want.

Playing is also rewarded with experience for both units and the player. Experience allows players to level up and control more units and cards. Your miniatures also level up and get a bit better as you play them.

All-in-all, I'm afraid that this system will either induce grinding or pay-to-win. Both horrible aspects of this kind of game.

There's enough in early access that I like to offer a reccomendation. There's hopefully time before a full release for the devs to offer a better underlying framework for the game then grinding. We don't need or want "WarGrind: Bushido."

Sadly i cant recommend this game.

I played it for 3h (nah wait before you say something) and i really love the game and the mechanics. I played the 2 avaiable tutorials (took me 15 minutes) and then played the Game which is ONLY designed for multiplayer matches.

And thats the point. I played nearly 3 hours nonstop multiplayer matches with a waiting time of not even a minute and my loose win rate is clear. I won 2 Games and i loose all the other games. Not because bad luck on dices, because i dont own leveled chars nor the chars that where brough against me nor did i own all the god mode cards (yet) they bring up against me.

I had games where i not even scratched an enemy before he runs me over with his tank. Up to 4 possible damage to all my warriors around is just one nice card to encounter. Also the enemy units have way more dices than me. I got a game in which my enemy runs over me as i was just chicken in Zelda. Run to me - one hit 3 damage unit dead. Runs to next unit 1 damage. My turn i had (for any reason) only 1 dice he got 4 to defend and killed my unit in defense. then ran to my last unit one hit unit dead...

Thats not fun... really... i dont want to play multi player games just to get beaten up like this. And the worst thing is i not even get ANY kind of reward from it. Only if you win you can level to buy new units and new cards.

So the game follows a very simple rule. If youre on the ground stay there because you never can get up....

EDIT:
And the VERY BEST thing is - if you loose to many battles you get a level DOWN wich means less points for your setup... i really CANT recommend the game

Do you like board games, tactical combat, or feudal Japan? If you answered "yes" to any of those options then you may want to give "Warbands: Bushido" a try. Steam recommended it to me, and based on the low Early Access cost of $7.00 I decided to give it a shot. I am very pleased with the Early Access quality, game play, and the direction in which development seems to be going. Even though the game uses a board game approach and aesthetic, it is mostly a turn-based tactical combat game at heart. Characteristics like toughness and agility are inherent to each unit, and each unit gets a turn to move and attack each round. The board game aspects are overlaid on top of this, with dice rolls that are used to determine the success of the attack/defense, card draws that enable the units to perform special abilities, and morale points that must be spent to put cards into play. Currently there is only one single-player campaign in the game (which from the start I found to be difficult), but if you take the time to read everything the developers plan to include in the release version, there's a lot more content to come. The current state of the game attests to this, with in-game currency (ryo) earned and spent in a "store" on unit and card booster packs, and on more yet-to-be-released campaigns. I suppose the game's degree of success will determine how many more campaigns and how much other content will follow, but based on what I've seen I hope the game enjoys success and that there will be much more content to come.

So far my only concern is that most ryo appear to be earned through Skirmish Mode, which at the time of this review is only PVP. While I don't mind occasional PVP, I don't want to be forced into it to earn the currency necessary to acquire more content. Hopefully they will come up with more diverse ways to earn ryo, or implement a Skirmish option to play against AI.

A few other reviewers have commented on things like dialogue errors and the like, but I would point out that the game is still in development (the version we're playing is not a finished product) and that Red Unit Studios is a Russian developer, so it's understandable that there are some very minor (but still noticeable) translation errors in the Early Access version.


--- UPDATE, 7 FEB 2017 ---
Now that I've had more time to play I've discovered more about the game, and IMHO it's all good news! To expand on my comments about the in-game "store" ... the two items people will spend most of their in-game currency (ryo) on are new unit/miniature packs and card booster packs.

Each miniature pack gives you 3 new units of random quality (common, rare, epic, legendary). None are more powerful than the others when you receive them, but the better the quality, the higher it can level, which means more stat points and abilities for that particular unit. This is great for someone like me who likes to have in-game goals to work toward. Without unit leveling, the game would be kinda like Monopoly--the same game every time you take it out of the box--but the ability to level units gives players something to look forward to, and to work toward.

I also discovered that everything you buy in the store can be sold to help earn more ryo to buy your next booster pack. If there is a coin icon in the top right corner of the item, just click on it to open a "sell" window. To date I've spent most of my ryo on new miniatures (there is a surprisingly wide variety of units). When I finally realized the difference in unit quality, I noticed I had numerous "common" units, some of which were duplicates of "rare" units I already possessed. Since one logically wants a warband of superior quality, I sold all my common units (5 ryo each), moving closer to my next booster pack purchase.

I haven't sold any cards yet, but they work the same way. Got too many of a type, or some that you just don't like? Sell them!

I also have a comment on Skirmish mode now that I've played it more. I take back what I said before about not liking the idea of being forced into PVP to earn ryo. After playing more skirmishes it doesn't bother me at all. A skirmish match is so short--like 5-7 min per match--it's pretty much over before you can develop a dislike for it. Normally I hate PVP games in which I'm hopelessly outplayed or outmatched, but skirmishes are so short I don't even have a chance to get worked up about it. And to clarify, I haven't been hopelessly outmatched so far, just outplayed. Your chance at winning any given match is determined mostly by the units used and dice rolls. Tactics just help tip the scale. In that sense, I suppose if you're looking for a game in which tactics (i.e. movement) plays a deciding role then this might not be the game for you. But if you like "tactical-style" board games (which tend to have a more casual feel), it's definitely worth checking out.

Last--as if I haven't sung enough praises for this game already--when I downloaded it, the file size was like 150 MB ... that's right, MB, not GB. I'm thoroughly amazed at how professional the game looks and feels for such a small file size. I'm adding Red Unit Studios to my "watch list". If Bushido is typical of the quality I can expect from them, I'm eager to see what they come out with in the future.

--- UPDATE, 25 Feb 2017 ---
A change, and a new discovery.

First, the devs changed the ability to sell unwanted minis and cards. Now they are "disenchanted" (if that is the proper word to use) and turned into dust, which can then be accumulated and used to craft "legendary" minis and cards. Under the previous model one had to keep spending ryo in the store, each time getting random results of random quality. Under the new system, the dust can be used to craft legendary items (and only legendary items, which is what players want anyway). But of course, it takes a lot of dust to make a legendary mini. In the end I don't know which method is better, having to build one's collection through store purchases and random results, or giving players the dust resource so they can save toward exactly the minis and cards they want. There is a certain thrill to buying things in the store, because each time I open a package, I wonder, "Will I get a legendary or elite mini this time?" In the end, I find myself wondering, "Could players have both?" I.e., why not use both systems, so players have the option to sell their unwanted items for gold, or disenchant them into dust to save and craft exactly what they want? Whichever direction the devs choose, it won't lessen my opinion of the game since it doesn't affect actual gameplay. I can live with whichever decision they make.

Now for my latest discovery ... this may have been in the game since the beginning, but I just noticed it today. As your minis gain xp they gain levels, which appear to be permanent. However, each player also has a level based on wins/losses, but the player level appears to work on a sliding scale. Naturally, the more you win, the higher your player level, but if you lose too many skirmishes you lose player xp and your player level will drop. While that sounds negative, so far I haven't found a downside to it, because each time a player levels--even if it's reaching the same level repeatedly--you get the gold reward for leveling. It's not a huge amount, but every little bit helps if you like buying items in the store rather than saving dust to craft them.

-Best Feature: NO microtransactions, though it smelled a little of it at first everything is in-game money with no real money option. The RNG goddess will decide your luck with boosters, not the Visa and Mastercard gods

-Samurai themed without being really weebie

-Collectible miniatures and cards for online play.

-Your miniatures level up as you use them. Named my archer Cpt. Bad***

-Daily Quests that get added every 12 hours. You can stack up to 3 of them

-No private matches (mayhaps they are just well hidden?)

-Enough randomness that you stand a chance against better players with better gear, but you gotta be smart to take advantage of it. I'm looking at you Hand of Destiny

-Good chance that you'll pick up a nemesis that you'll hold a 50/50 win loss with as you level up

-Felt the skill gaps tighten up about 3 hours in to where every match was a close affair

-Main complaint is that you don't get coins based on matches, but by completing daily quests. Although the base units will push through just fine for a LONG time

Overall I loved it. Worth my $7

Don't let the "Not Recommended" review fool you too much - you might enjoy this game. I will say that while overall I do not recommend it to everyone, if you are a fan of tabletop games, miniature wargames (Warhammer 40k, Warmachines, Infinity, etc) you very well might love this game. I did for awhile, and then the lustre wore off. It was certainly worth the $7 I ended up paying for it. I do not feel cheated out of my money and enjoyed my time with it.

Basic Mechanics - the most basic rundown of the mechanic is that each unit has "strength" which is the number of dice you roll when you attack - and if you attack in melee your enemy hits you back for his "strength" in dice. These dice rolls are compared, and whoever has more hits does that much damage to the other. Ranged attacks, and some special attacks allow you to roll dice unopposed. The dice, as of typing this, are 50/50 chance to hit or miss. Six sides, with a miss, miss, miss, hit, hit, hit + morale (morale are points you use to fuel abilities).

PROS
- A nice representation of a miniature wargame on a table. The models look nice, and the aesthetic works.
- The game plays smoothly without a deluge of bugs, keep in note it still is early access though. There are many quirks and language errors that pop up, but overall the game has been incredibly playable since day one of it's early access release.
- Enjoyable tactical gameplay with a low entry cost.
- A pack opening/loot system which in it's current form isn't too obtrusive or pay to win. Devs have stated that they do not like the idea of any pay to win systems in the game.

However, the downsides are ultimately why I cannot give it a full thumbs up.

- The game relies on random dice without much of a way to influence them. There are abilities and cards you can use in battle, but they often just add more dice - to which your chance to hit on a dice roll is still 50/50. In short, this means that your enemy can play poorly, but still win on his dice rolls and while you may have set yourself up for a victory, the dice can sway the other way and your plan will quickly fall apart. In a way, this game is about making the best of totally uncertain situations. It's 50/50 between tactics and luck, and luck can destroy your tactics. That said, the better reactionary player will still win - you just need to be creative. This game ends up being twists and turns of luck and abusing the mechanics that reduce your chance of failure. In it's current form, this is what drives me away from this game the most. There needs to be more mechanics in the game to allow certainty.

- Low playerbase, which in a niche game like this doesn't seem like it'll ever truly blow up. This is alleviated by the fact that the developers have included bots in the game to play against with the guise that they aren't labeled bots and try to mimick players names. Only after realizing certain enemies made incredibly odd choices did I realize this game included bots.

- While not pay to win, each unit has a Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary tag on it. Common units can only level up so many times, whereas the others have a higher level cap. This higher level cap gives these units more movement speed, more armor, and an extra ability - which is going to be a big deal down the line. To me, this sort of muddies the waters for long term progression. People are going to get a bit miffed when they come up against somebody with all leveled Epic units, as even +1 armor means quite a bit in this game.

Do some researching into this type of game and see what you think for yourself. It has potential, but I believe it needs quite a bit of working to make it palatable to a decent sized audience.

I don't want to totally pan it however, because I do believe tabletop games turned digital can be quite fun and I certainly got my monies worth for this purchase.

It is a tactic board collection game catches by easy and interesting gameplay, with nice graphic design and music, and also i like Japanese theme with samurais etc, definitely it's worth to play some hours, + if you like board games and throwing dies - you'll totally like it!