We are really excited to bring you Pocket Paragons character previews! In this Pocket Paragons design blog, we wanted to talk about how each of these characters is truly different. Let’s start with one of the Print and Play characters, Zowie!
– Chris Solis
Zowie is one of the main characters of the Temporal Odyssey series, and she and her brother Jin were chosen to be the demo characters for the online Print and Play and to be given away at conventions (those plans were made back when conventions still existed!).
It’s tricky building a demo character because this will be many player’s first experience with the game. The kit needs to be on the simpler side so they can easily understand how the game plays, but you still need to have something special to show off the game’s magic.
Character Strengths:
- Powerful passive leads to lots of healing, if predicted well
- Self-readying ability and anti-exhaust abilities help keep your options available
Character Weaknesses:
- If your opponent predicts your moves, your passive does nothing
- Anti-exhaust effects useless against enemies without those types of effects
The original version of this card was worded more strongly that you high-fived your opponent and then got the health, but then we entered a time where that seemed less and less of a good idea. The high-five is not and never was mandatory, but I still encourage you to do it when it’s safe to do so. Even without it, the spirit of friendship is still there. Wow, you and I played the same card, that’s so cool! Only I get the life of course, but you still get the high-five!
I really like this passive because it rewards you for reading your opponent in new and different ways. Outside of the usual counter triangle, you now have to take all the pairings into consideration as well. Repeatable free healing is nothing to ignore and helps Zowie play the long game.
“Blink and You’ll Miss It”
Zowie was designed to be the opposite of her brother, Jin. Jin’s kit has a lot of ways to exhaust your abilities, so Zowie fights back with her own tricks! Blink doesn’t do a lot of damage, but it lets you get ahead of cards in hand, putting the pressure on your opponent instead of you. Her weapon, Hope, protects her from exhausting effects, and once you’re ahead on cards, Zowie’s Ingenuity allows her a second way to punish Rest even if you missed getting the Execute.
If you think you can handle Zowie’s Intensity, you can receive her for free by signing up for the Pocket Paragons Print & Play!
Check out the Solis Game Studio Instagram here.
Stay on the lookout for more character previews in our Pocket Paragons design blog series!
– Brian McKay