Shadowhand Shows Its Cards With First Trailer

Regency Solitaire took Castle Shotgun by surprise, and transformed it into a Victorian mansion for a while, all gossip and idle chat and falling in love with the cold and distant guy who secretly has deep passions but cannot show them because it's not cool.

A few months ago, devs Grey Alien Games announced they were going to spice things up a bit and throw some action into the mix. Shadowhand [official site] reiterates on their card-game-plus-visual-novel formula, but pairs it with a darker setting of villains and outlaws, "mysterious woods and gloomy manors." And now there's a short trailer to show you how it's shaping up.

Considering it's a card game, that trailer is surprisingly fast-paced. No words, all actions. A much needed respite from all that Jane Austen nonsense.

Unfortunately, it hints at a lot of things without necessarily showing any of them in depth. Clearly there are some RPG elements thrown into the turn-based card battles, like choosing your gear and special abilities. And while the animations reveal a very low budget, I'm actually quite fond of the art in the background, and delighted by the fact that the appearance of the protagonist will change depending on her equipment. It may be a minor thing, but one I always enjoy seeing - at least until fashion sense and gameplay needs come into conflict.

Shadowhand promises 180 levels of "elegant and intense card action" set in the dark interesting side of 18th century England. And if you're worried about the CCG elements turning sour, do not be: like its predecessor, it will be a fully self-contained single-player game, so no unlocking cards with real money.

There is no release date for it quite yet, but Shadowhand will be coming to Windows and Mac via Steam.