Hoard sees the player taking the role of a dragon. The main purpose of a match in Hoard is to amass as huge a pile of treasure in your hold or castle or whatever it is, and beat your opponents. A match in Hoard is generally 10 minutes long, and the dragon with the most treasure at the end of that game wins. The main fun comes from the multiplayer modes, where you will be competing against other players who have taken up the roles of dragons.

You can extort people to send their treasures to you, or burn villages to the ground and take the loot. Or you can intervene in your competition’s missions and steal his/her treasure or stop him from taking it with him. Regardless of whichever way you take, Hoard turns out to be a very enjoyable game, with, surprisingly, quiet a lot of strategy thrown in. Every piece of gold you bring back to your hold will give you experience points that you can spend to make your dragon faster, stronger and the like.

However, stats and experience points from one game of Hoard don’t carry over to the next. There is no campaign in the game, and nothing from one session carries over to the next. Hoard is a game that is meant to be enjoyed in short bursts.

Currently, though, you won’t find many people playing Hoard for the PC. So usually, you will either just be waiting for someone to come online so that you can join a game, or you will be playing the much less interesting single player mode, which has you doing the same things as the multiplayer mode, but is less fun due to the lack of the competitiveness.

Your statistics can go up on the leaderboard however, so that you can compare yourself with other dragons across the world. However, the leaderboards of the PC version are glitched, at the moment, since most of the times they just don’t show up. The graphics, while pleasing to look at sometimes, are still mostly drab and dull, and they just add to the limited experience and the restricting feel of the game.

Ultimately, just how good is Hoard? It’s pretty good. You will find yourself coming back to play matches, and hopefully, maybe in a couple of weeks, there will be enough people playing Hoard for you to enjoy the multiplayer, and hopefully, the glitches and the bugs will be fixed as well. However, if you do have access to the PSN version, there is no reason for you to go with this one. If you don’t have access to the PSN version, there is still no reason for you to get this one. Just get the PSN version for a reasonably fair price, and enjoy the better version.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Today, gamers on PC and Mac finally get their hands on Big Sandwich Games’.  HOARD is available for purchase on Steam.  Purchasers who act now can take advantage of a limited time discount off the retail price of $9.99 (€9.99).  4-packs are also available for a deeper discount, encouraging friends to take advantage of HOARD unique and compelling multiplayer action.

All popular Steam features are employed, including over 100 achievements, leaderboards, multiplayer matching, friend invites, stats, and Steam cloud saving.  Steam Play is also supported, meaning users who own both a PC and Mac only need buy the game once.  Several impressive new features are also making their appearance in the Steam version, including graphical boosts like Night mode and a crisp winter tileset.

“If you like dragons, gold, princesses, knights, burglars, giants, medieval villages, wizard towers, gems, or fire, you’ll probably like HOARD,” says Tyler Sigman, Executive Producer. “But if you like great games and great value, you’ll definitely like it.”

Check back with us later today for the full review of the game.

The box art for HOARD has been revealed, and is given above.

Hoard puts players in the role of a dragon, fighting against towns, knights, giants, wizards, and thieves in a quest to gather as much gold as possible. The game includes over 35 levels, single player challenges, co-op and competitive multiplayer (PlayStation 3 system), and 90+ badges to earn. The gameplay is a cross between a dual-stick arcade shooter and an RTS, with significant elements of strategy and deeper systems.

Big Sandwich Games announced today that their award-winning strategy title HOARD™ is available for purchase in North America on the PSP and PS3.

Both versions are currently selling for the low price of $9.99, although the PlayStation 3 system discount is for a limited time only. The titles can be purchased via the PlayStation Network.
Hoard puts players in the role of a dragon, fighting against towns, knights, giants, wizards, and thieves in a quest to gather as much gold as possible. The game includes over 35 levels, single player challenges, co-op and competitive multiplayer (PlayStation 3 system), and 90+ badges to earn. The gameplay is a cross between a dual-stick arcade shooter and an RTS, with significant elements of strategy and deeper systems.

“It’s hard to find this much destruction and fun for such a low price,” observes Tyler Sigman, the game’s designer. “Torment villages, kidnap princesses, and burn down castles – all for the cost of a muffin and a latte!”

Big Sandwich Games today announced the upcoming release of the Steam version of their (reasonably) well acclaimed strategy arcade game Hoard.

Hoard will release via Steam for your PC and Mac on April 4^th, and will retail for $9.99. Pre-sales will begin on March 21^st with a limited time “fire-sale” discount of 25%.  In addition, sharing with your friends is rewarded, as a 4-pack of Hoard can be purchased for the low price of $28.00.  Steam Play is supported, meaning Steam users who own both a PC and a Mac only need buy the game once.

Here’s some info of the game as provided by the devs:

“The Steam version includes the same fire-breathing fun as the console release plus some brand new features.  The game has 4 modes, over 35 levels, leaderboards, full multiplayer suites (4-player co-op and competitive), and 100+ Steam achievements. In addition, never seen-before features such as Night Mode (for vibrant fiery goodness), a Winter tile set, and new maps are added as a reward for PC and Mac fans’ patience.  Finally, cross-play allows PC and Mac users to compete or cooperate in their quests for gold.”

Today’s PlayStation Network update will include the long-awaited demo for HOARD, Big Sandwich Games’ critically acclaimed action strategy game about dragons and their treasure. The full game is already available for purchase on the system.
Hoard is at its strongest with a controller in hand,” says Tyler Sigman, the game’s designer. “We know that the addictive gameplay really sells itself when players get a chance to try it. We also know that a lot of consumers still don’t know HOARD™ exists, so we’re glad to finally make the demo available and remove that obstacle to new people trying the game!”
The demo will allow gamers to sample their fire-breathing, gold-collecting skills on several maps and game modes, including a 2-player local (“couch”) co-operative level. The full game includes 4 game modes, over 35 maps, leaderboards, trophies, and any combination of local and online multiplayer making HOARD™ one of only a few great options for 4-person couch-party style play.
The full version of Hoard  is for sale now on the PlayStation Network for $14.99, and includes dozens of hours of gameplay and over 100 unique badges to be earned.

PS3 owners can now purchase HOARD from PSN for a new discount prie of $7.49, Sony announced. Check out the full press release below:

“The PlayStation Network today announced an “11 for 11” sale featuring 11 critically acclaimed titles reduced to half-price for one week only.  Included in this mix is Big Sandwich’s thrilling dragon-themed game HOARD, where 1 to 4 players compete or co-operate to gather the most gold possible in a limited amount of time.

HOARD combines action and strategy elements to create an innovative gameplay mix unlike anything else on the store.  The game features over 35 levels, 4 game modes, 100+ badges to earn, trophy support, leaderboards, and any combination of couch and online players.  Best of all, HOARD puts the dragon in the hero’s role, where he must strive against cruel knights, fierce wizards, conniving burglars, and even rampaging giants.

“If you’ve been keeping an eye on HOARD but have been waiting for the right time to try it, now’s officially that time,” says Glenn Barnes, Big Sandwich’s Creative Director.  “For less than 8 bucks you get a proven, acclaimed game with over 20 hours of gameplay.  It’s a no-brainer.”

Gamers can purchase HOARD on the PlayStation Network for the discount price of $7.49 through January 31, 2011.”