As a seasoned RTS (Real-Time Strategy) enthusiast with decades of gaming under my belt, I can confidently say that Skylords Reborn is a breath of fresh air in the current landscape of neglected RTS games. Being a fan of the original BattleForge and lamenting its demise back in 2013, I was thrilled to discover this project that not only resurrects but enhances the gameplay experience.


Enthusiasts of Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games have been feeling somewhat overlooked by publishers recently, leading many to take matters into their own hands and preserve old school productions of the genre. One intriguing outcome of this trend is the Skylords Reborn initiative. It’s a no-cost game that represents an updated version of BattleForge, a unique blend of strategy and card gaming, developed by Phenomic studio, famous for its Spellforce series. The project breathes new life into this title as the original employed a free-to-play model and its servers were deactivated in 2013.

Skylords Reborn not just reinstates the game’s complete online interaction, but it also modernizes numerous aspects of the game. The balance in gameplay was fine-tuned and technical glitches were addressed. Most significantly, though, all free-to-play elements have been eliminated, meaning that upgrades can now only be earned through game progression.

For a while now, this project has been growing and evolving over several years. However, I believe it’s timely to discuss it further, since a fresh update was just launched that introduced an extended storyline for the very first time.

  1. Until now, the authors have focused on improving the multiplayer, but the latest patch has finally added two new missions to the story campaign. They play out parallel to the main storyline and focus on the armies of the Armii faction (which simultaneously received several additional units), allowing players to experience the conflict from a different perspective.
  2. The update also added a new PvP mode to the game called Battle Arena. In it, players do not use cards from their deck. Instead, they receive spell-activating devices and gradually get increasingly powerful creatures that they must use to defeat enemies. The mode allows players to play in 2v2 and 3v3 variants.

Screen from the new Battle Arena mode.

Skylords Reborn is an independent, self-contained game that doesn’t require the original BattleForge files. You simply download the installer and set up an account to play. The developers continuously update the project, with more updates on the horizon. Notably, they have Electronic Arts’ approval for their work, as EA was the publisher of BattleForge.

  1. Skylords Reborn – download the game The authors have given us permission to host the mirror)

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2024-09-26 20:01