Last Updated on Apr 29, 2026 @ 11:01:51 AM.
Back when I was a child in the 90s, there was far less choice of titles in the gaming world than there is today. One of the most famous, and arguably a big gateway for a lot of children, was Tetris. Perfect at inception, seemingly impossible to improve and unnecessary to change… until now. If you’ve ever wondered, ‘what would happen to Tetris if we threw in some roguelike, deckbuilder attributes, factions and a combat mechanic into’, then you’ll be glad to hear of Drop Duchy. Dropping onto consoles after an earlier PC release, Drop Duchy answers that question and many more with its Complete Edition, which includes the additional DLC of two factions, The North and The Tribe, as well as the OST.
While it does have tutorial, you’re better off throwing yourself in the deep end with this one, and learning on the job, as it was. The definition of easy to pick up and hard to master, Drop Duchy quickly grabbed me with its gameplay loop, and is yet to let me go even as I write this. Playing like Tetris, each round intends for you to match up the shapes and complete a line in full. Each shape can be a variety of things, beyond the shape it is. Field, forest, farms, neighbourhoods, in fact, a huge variety of production, military, religious and more buildings, each with unique stats, attributes and effects, affecting the way you approach each run.
Whether it’s a peaceful or hostile round (hostile has combat encounters, more on that), your main aim is always to complete and ‘explore’ as many lines as possible, increasing your resources and, if you’re setting down military pieces, ensuring you maximise the amount of troops you’re amassing. At the end of any hostile run is combat, and this is where it really differs from its progenitor, and makes steps to become its own thing.
Once you’ve completed the first stage, on hostile rounds you’re now going to have to do the combat. The combat isn’t the deepest mechanic in the game, with it essentially coming down to who has the most troops. There’s a simple rock, paper, scissors system in place that does afford some advantage on the type of troops you have, between axemen, swordsmen and archers, but beyond that, it really is just ‘I HAVE MORE’. The amount of troops largely comes down to where the military pieces have been placed, and if you’ve used them to their maximum capabilities. With each of them having different activation methods, just like the exploring of lines, it can take some time for you to really get to grips with what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and if you’re doing it well. Have more troops and win the round? Well, move onto the next.
This will repeat for three acts, with each ending in a boss with a massive amount of troops. No matter the difficulty you’re on, beating this boss is far from easy, and will usually represent the main chance of failure. Not only are there three bosses, but those bosses can be a variety of different stages with different, unique obstacles that’ll cause you to rethink everything you’ve learned so far. This was one of my favourite curveballs with my time with it, and whatever form the boss node took, I had to amend my approach compared to everything I’d already done so far.
If you manage to survive the three main acts, you then have the opportunity to either end the run and start a new one, or continue on with your current deck in Endless Mode. Different to the main mode in that there’s no resource or building hubs, but every encounter is a hostile one, and it’s entirely down to your skill how long you will survive. The longer you survive, the higher the score, and the more unlocks you’ll get for future runs. It’s a little less tactical in the sense you don’t have to think beyond the combat of it all, but it’s important (and fun) nonetheless.
The best thing about Drop Duchy? The more you play it, the more it changes. With multiple factions, each with their own positives and negatives (big shout out to the powerhouse that is The Republic), and each faction having a huge amount of unique cards, which can then be added to with the constant drip feed of new general card types, no two runs are the same. It kept and keeps me engaged as much on the recent runs as it did on the first, except now I’m slightly quicker and better at it.
The TLDR of it all? This is Tetris on steroids.
Drop Duchy
Build your duchy piece by piece in this refreshing hybrid rogue-lite game. Use block-dropping mechanics to collect resources, recruit troops to fight against belligerent armies, and let every block shape your realm, leading your path to victory!
Summary
Drop Duchy scratches an itch that I didn’t realise needed itching. The randomness of nodes, variety of deckbuilding cards, boss battles and the simple, if unexpected combat mechanics add a different flavour to proceedings. No two runs being the same keeps it feeling fresh, and after a few, you’ll find yourself thinking less and acting more on instinct. The different factions also provide starkly different experiences, with how I played during a Duchy run incredibly different to that of The Republic, or The Tribe, for example.
HOURS PLAYED: 23
PLAYED ON: PS5
- Tetris-inspired gameplay is both innovative and nostalgic.
- Easy to learn, difficult to master.
- Hue amount of variety with the deckbuilding aspect.
- The combat system is overly simplistic.
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
