Orcs & Elves - Gameplay

Gameplay

Orcs & Elves' is a turn-based role-playing game, played from a first person perspective. Each individual action by the player counts as a "turn", whether that be movement, using an item or weapon or casting a spell in which other foes will also move and attack in turns following each. Each forward move by the player is done on an invisible grid that makes up each level in order to retain the turn-based element while appearing more like a first person adventure due to its fast paced nature.

Each level is set in a maze environment such as a dungeon or cavern with a start and end point, containing multiple corridors and rooms that can be visited at any time. Many paths are cut off and require certain objectives to be completed in order to advance, such as activate hidden switches, locate helpful ghosts and opening rune gates that require a code of four runes. Some foes also require different strategies in order to defeat with some being resistant to certain attacks such as magic.

The RPG elements, along with those of dungeon crawlers, come in the form of basic leveling up of the player and collecting and trading items and gold. As the player progresses they will level up, increasing their overall stats such as health, strength and defense, through slaying foes, completing objectives and locating hidden areas and items, many of which can be repeated. Although to begin with the player is equipped with just a basic sword and a wand called "Ellon" they can also find various items, along with gold, throughout each level, which they can spend on new equipment by visiting "Gaya the Dragon", located by entering portals at the end of each level. Equipment can have both passive and active effects, such as armor to improve defense, repair kits for damaged armor, magic rings and potions that improve certain stats or heal and stronger weapons like war hammers and crossbows or spells for the wand Ellon to be used in combat like lightning and fire attacks.

In the Nintendo DS version of the game, spells can be cast through drawing runes on the touchscreen for each spell using the DS' stylus. Movement, item management and menu navigation can also be done using this feature along with the option of button controls.