Playing people who aren't there (yet)
Most of your opponents today are ghosts, so why does the game need a connection at all? A fair question with three answers, an honest admission, and live play on the way.
Here is a question we expect to hear, and would rather answer now: if I’m mostly playing against ghosts, why does Glødkeeper need a connection at all?
What a ghost is
When you start a versus game, you choose an opponent from a list of players near your rating. That player usually isn’t online. You play against their ghost: their real team or deck, set up the way they set it up, played by the game on their behalf.
The result counts for both of you. Their record shows a game their ghost played; yours shows one you played live. Your team plays other people the same way while you are asleep or at school. It is real multiplayer that doesn’t need two people awake at the same moment, a bit like chess by post.
While the alpha is small, the ladders also have house players, so there is always someone near your level to play.
So why online?
A ghost is a real person’s team, as it is today. When they improve their deck, you face the new one. That only works if the game knows what everyone’s team looks like now.
Results have to mean something. Your collection is shared by every game, and wins feed ratings, leagues and prizes. If your phone decided who won, a tampered phone could too. The server referees every game, so a win is a win and a rating is earned.
The world is shared. Friends, mini-leagues, territory rounds and stories change while you are away, and a new story arrives without an update.
The honest part
All of that is true, and it is also true that a dropped signal shouldn’t cost you a game, and that some games don’t need a connection for every single move. So:
- Games already survive you closing the app and pick up where you left off.
- In Glødstone, the game plays your turn if your signal drops. That is spreading to every versus game this winter.
- Solo games that can carry on offline will, starting with Smashlings, and settle up when you’re back.
Live play is next
Ghosts are where we started because they suit a small game: there is always a real opponent, whatever the time, and nobody waits in a queue. But playing someone who is actually there, turn by turn, is a different kind of fun, and it is on the roadmap for this winter, starting with the card games.
Ghosts won’t go away when it arrives. On a quiet Tuesday afternoon they are the reason there is still someone to play.
Friends
You can also challenge people you know. Friendly games and mini-leagues keep their own head-to-head record over the month, the year and all time, and never touch your rating, so playing your little brother can’t cost you a league place.