[Dev] After 4,000+ hours of solo dev, my Portrait Card Battler 'Grimoria' has officially reached Full Launch today! (2v2, Battle Royale, Zero P2W)
Hi everyone.
After almost 3 years of grinding, learning, and over 4,000 hours of work late into the night, my passion project Grimoria is officially live on iOS starting today.
First, I want to say a massive thank you to this community. The feedback and support you gave me during the pre-order phases and android launch helped me polish the game, and get across the finish line. As a solo developer from Italy, seeing people showing interest and playing my game is amazing.
I wanted to create something new, not just another big studio copy. The core gameplay is actually inspired by a popular local card game called "Watten," which is heavily played where I live. I wanted to bring that social, bluffing energy to a digital format, but with much more accessible rules and mythical creatures.
I tried my absolute best to hit "Studio Quality" visuals and effects. One of the biggest challenges was making it a true real-time multiplayer experience. I built the entire backend server architecture and code completely from scratch to ensure smooth, fast-paced PvP, all while keeping a tiny install size and minimal data consumption.
The game is 100% Free-to-Play. There are no forced ads. There is exactly one optional ad for bonus loot, which you can permanently remove with a single premium purchase. There is absolutely zero Pay-to-Win.
For those seeing Grimoria for the first time, here is how it plays:
- Its a fast-paced PvP Card game with multiple modes: Classic 1v1, 2v2 Co-op, and 4-Player Battle Royale.
- The Basics: Everyone starts with 10 Life. Each round, all players play one card simultaneously. Highest strength card wins. The loser takes 2 damage. Last one standing wins.
- Strategy: Cards have abilities like Shield, Heal, Negate, or bluffing cards that only reveal at the end of the turn.
- Elements: Ties are broken by elemental counters: Fire > Earth > Water > Fire.
- Teamwork: In 2v2, you actually share a life and shield pool with your ally!
Overall, Grimoria takes few minutes to learn but offers strategy for competitive, ranked gameplay.
Grimoria features full Cross-Play, so iOS players can instantly match with the Android player base! (A Steam PC version is planned next).
Download on iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/grimoria-online-card-game/id6761027516
Downlaod on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emberveilgames.onlinecardgame