As soon as Lucas finished speaking, the whole crowd went wild.
In just a few words, he had dropped some surprising info—
Both games had mobile versions, and they could be downloaded and played during the convention.
And on top of that, there was going to be a big surprise event at the end.
To be honest, though, most people didn't really care about that part.
It sounded kind of vague, and while Nebula Games had made a few hit games,
None of them were huge releases—nothing that made people super hyped.
But the key part?
This meant you didn't have to wait in line to play!
Now everyone noticed the giant screen at the Nebula Games booth was already showing gameplay footage and promo content.
There was also a big QR code on the screen, clearly meant for people to scan and download.
The crowd in front of the booth all pulled out their phones to start scanning.
After all, most people come to game expos to try out new games.
If you could just scan a code and play without having to line up, of course you'd give it a shot.
Most of the male players chose to download Legends of the Three Kingdoms first.
Compared to the cutesy style of Fall Guys, Legends of the Three Kingdoms had a look that appealed to them more.
Plus, the Three Kingdoms setting was already super well-known and had natural appeal.
On the other hand, many of the female players were drawn to Fall Guys because of how cute it looked.
Of course, not everyone followed that trend—some guys with a soft spot for cute stuff tried Fall Guys first, while some girls chose to check out Legends of the Three Kingdoms.
There were also some players who still wanted to line up and try the PC version to see what was different.
Others preferred to skip the mobile version altogether and play with the physical cards on-site.
After all, board games feel different when you play face-to-face.
Since they arrived early, Zack and his group were among the first to try the demo.
All five of them lined up for Legends of the Three Kingdoms, because they had read that
The game supported five players at once—perfect for their group size.
Fall Guys, on the other hand, only allowed teams of up to four, and non-team modes split players apart,
So they decided it made more sense to try Legends of the Three Kingdoms first.
Also, they were still a little traumatized—
After all, they had personally experienced the so-called "lighthearted, fun, and full of love" that Lucas kept talking about.
Even though the art style made the game look simple,
Zack had a feeling that the actual experience might be totally different.
Instead of using physical cards, the group decided to try the PC version.
It was way more convenient, and according to the staff nearby,
the physical version only had written rules you had to read yourself,
but the digital version had a tutorial mode that helped new players understand the game better.
After a short opening cutscene, they entered the game.
For the Legends of the Three Kingdoms intro, Lucas didn't go overboard with flashy animations.
It was just a simple motion comic, showing off the generals from the game.
After all, this was a card game.
Once in the game, the tutorial started with a practice battle.
The player was the "ruler," and the general was Liu Bei.
"The voice acting is great! And the visuals are actually really good too!"
Zack quietly said that with surprise.
He had never played any card games before.
Well, unless you count Chinese poker.
But in Legends of the Three Kingdoms, you could really feel the little details.
For example, when you successfully used a "Slash" card to attack,
you'd see a red heart (representing health) get knocked off,
and a flash of sword light would hit the character art — very satisfying.
The sound effects and feedback were also really well done.
When losing health, the general's portrait would get splashed with blood,
and when their HP dropped lower, their character art would show battle damage.
Clearly, each card character had more than one version of their art.
Healthy or wounded — they each had visuals that matched.
Different equipment cards also came with unique effects.
This made what looked like a basic card game feel surprisingly fun and lively.
The game continued on.
The tutorial was simple — players just followed the instructions on screen.
The goal was to teach players how the basic controls and card functions worked.
Since the core gameplay of Legends of the Three Kingdoms is its card battle system,
if the tutorial didn't explain it well, players might not even understand what made it fun.
At the same time, on the big screen above the Legends of the Three Kingdoms booth,
Zack and his friends' gameplay was being shown.
People in line were quietly chatting and discussing what they were seeing.
"Kinda reminds me of poker!"
"This is way more complicated than poker though!"
"Yeah, and I think playing as the spy is super hard. Everyone else has two players, and the spy is all alone."
"That's not totally true. Think about it — if you're the spy, whether you help the ruler or the rebels can totally shift the balance. That's actually pretty cool!"
"But what if both sides gang up on you?"
"Then I'll just help the side that didn't attack me and take out the others!"
"Feels like the spy is really meant to control the game —
whether they take out the loyalist or the rebels, the other side has to work with the spy or they'll lose."
"The reward for winning as the spy should be better, right?"
"For sure. It's basically a 1v4!"
"Look, the ruler has an extra skill! And more HP too!"
Even though people could just download the game and try it themselves,
some players chose to just watch the big screen and enjoy the show.
The rules of Legends of the Three Kingdoms weren't too hard to get —
the tutorial was just there to make sure players understood the basics.
Things like factions, basic moves like Attack, Dodge, Peach, and how weapons and horses affect attack range—these were all part of the beginner tutorials.
As for the more advanced stuff, like hero skills and team combos, or sneaky plays like taking someone's pending "Lost in Thought" or "Lightning" card using "Steal" or "Dismantle"—those were left for later side tutorials.
At the expo, there was no need to show all of that.
In the official release, players would unlock generals and a permanent skin by completing those side tutorials.
That's the usual three-step strategy in multiplayer games:
Give out rewards to draw players in, use tasks to teach them how the game works, and then keep them around with even more rewards.
This kind of setup was overused in mobile games in his past life.
Things like "100 free draws at launch," "60 pulls on day one," "free gold and legendary cards"—all followed this same pattern.
It even led to a whole industry built around "starter accounts."
Studios would create tons of new accounts, use the free pulls to try their luck, and then sell the good ones.
But to be fair, it did work really well.
At least in the early stages, it was a great way to attract players.
(End of the Chapter)
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