Elemental Lands is a deckbuilder that puts its cards to work as battlefield orders instead of damage numbers. The free Steam Next Fest demo is live now, giving players a first look at how a conquest map, base-building, and turn-based grid combat fit together. Developer RikerRiker targets a January 28, 2027 release.
Cards that command a party
Battles play out on a grid where you position three heroes. Many cards work as orders rather than attacks: Focus Fire sends the whole party at one target, and Flank has the front row strike the enemy back row. That is a different feel from a deckbuilder where every card deals damage, and it is the part that reads most like a tactics game.
Strongholds and mana
The map layer is a base-building game. You raise up to three Strongholds with limited build slots, choosing between structures such as a Camp that heals units, an Obelisk for world and siege spells, a Spellforge, and a Siegeworks. A Mana Well fuels your spells in battle, so mining mana on the map and playing cards in a fight feed each other. Elemental hordes expand across the map every turn, which puts pressure on how quickly you build.
What carries between runs
The store page lists 66 hero units with 55 distinct abilities, plus more than 50 battle and siege spells. Heroes defeated in one run are lost, but the roster persists: every faction you beat and boss you slay adds a hero you can recruit in a later campaign. RikerRiker estimates runs at 60 to 90 minutes.
The demo is the first public chance to test whether the strategy layer has real depth. The order cards and the link between mining mana and fuelling spells give the game a clearer identity than most Next Fest deckbuilders, but how much the map choices matter only becomes clear after a few runs.
The demo is free on Steam through the end of Steam Next Fest.
Sources
- Reporting source: GamerHeadlines
- Elemental Lands on Steam
- Elemental Lands Demo on Steam
