Here’s a very intriguing title that just came to my attention, featuring not only a striking visual style but also a highly original concept. As usual, I gathered some details to get a better sense of what Hound Riders has to offer.
Most card builders have you build around what you’ve been given (the cards that are drawn). Hound Riders introduces a new issue; your cards are bullets, and there’s only one way to fire them off in a row in the revolver without ruining all you had going on.
Hound Riders is a roguelite deck-building game being developed by Morganic Games. The game takes place in the scar lands, a devastated frontier where witchcraft, old technology, and gun metal coexist. A hound rider travels through this world looking for information about his own curse. Along the way, he will encounter bandits, corrupted creatures, and many other dangers.
A Deckbuilder Built Around a Revolver
It was obvious from the get-go that Hound Riders takes its ammo economy very seriously. Ammo isn’t just some fancy card design with a “gun” theme; it’s an actual limited resource you have to find, select, put in your gun, and fire off in an optimal sequence.
You can have multiple guns in a load out with many variations including caliber, special ability type and effect, magical sigil types and even different weapon types.
When you go into battle, all the ammo gets inserted into a circular space. It matters what position you insert them in. This is due to the fact that when you shoot one round after another, you’re creating part of a blood magic combination that activates with each pull of the trigger.
Each round can be used to attack immediately, but most rounds seem to be used to set up your revolver for a better shot down the line.
Sigils provide passive power and allow you to attach additional properties to specific gun slots. This provides players with two separate strategy layers. First, you need to find enough ammo during the run so you don’t die early in the duels.
Second, you need to properly sequence and use that ammo when a duel starts. Firing a strong round too soon can ruin your combo or leave your chamber empty for the next turn.
Every Shot Has a Target
Enemies are not just pools of health; enemy body parts can be targeted. A hound rider gun will allow you to target an individual enemy’s body part with different shots, potentially damaging, disabling, or otherwise affecting that particular threat.
This should also make selecting your target as important as how much damage you do. One dangerous attack may be interrupted by hitting the right body part, and another enemy might require a carefully prepared bullet sequence before its defenses can be overcome.
Furthermore, since ammunition is limited, firing specialized rounds without a clear purpose may create problems that last beyond the current encounter.
Riding Across the Scarlands
The journey to the next battle continues on a non-linear map while you are traveling to the next engagement.
There will be multiple ways of approaching each location (encounters, supplies, etc.), and they will have varying degrees of risk/reward. In addition, if you need to spend extra time recovering by camping out in the wasteland, there will be consequences to this action.
There is a calendar included within Hound Riders that increases the combat difficulty level with each passing day.
This allows for an element of urgency vs. exploration. Although a longer route may provide you with ammo, a build-defining sigil, etc., every additional stop provides the Scarlands with additional time to increase the danger. If needed, you may have to rest; however, resting will not allow you to recover all your lost health points.
The steady advancement of the calendar may add complexity to the decision-making process of which path to take, especially as a depleted ammo supply forces riders to decide whether to find ammo and/or reach the next destination quickly.
The Half Cursed and His Hound
The site describes the Half-Cursed as the player’s first rideable. When The Half-Cursed breaks free from the casket that he was laid to rest in with his trusty dog, Banjo, revenge is all that can be said about his motivations.
But his anger is part of a larger story; there is a bigger question to answer about who put him in the casket and what the curse on him means.
In the beginning, the players will find themselves in the dry and desolate area called the Scarlet Plains. There are small settlements within this region (established by the descendants of families who were once successful scavenger clans), and it serves as a haven for ghosts, corrupt creatures, and outcasts.
Game visuals take a heavy illustration approach for a Post-Apocalyptic Western style. The overall visual aesthetic includes sickly green tones, dusty yellow tones, large dark shadows, and bold red tones, giving the game an eerie, comic book feel.
Morganic Games cited Mad Max, Red Dead Redemption, and Fallout as some of their influences for creating atmosphere in the game. However, the mystical guns with blood sigils on them, along with the massive hounds, help create a sense of distinction for The Half-Cursed.
Release Details
Hound Riders is currently in development for Windows PC, with its Steam release scheduled for 2027. Morganic Games has also opened registrations for a Steam Playtest, allowing interested users to request access and receive a notification when additional participants are invited.
Deckbuilding roguelites are no longer unusual, but Hound Riders has found a strong mechanical hook. The cylinder-based sequencing, targeted shots, finite ammunition, and day-driven exploration system all reinforce the same central idea: every bullet is both a card and a resource that may be difficult to replace. Below is the teaser trailer.
