Ganging up on Gary – Cooperative Card Hunter

We’re happy to say that, thanks to the tireless efforts of Farbs, this will now be possible. You’ll be able to form a team of two or three players and adventure together through the campaign or in multiplayer.

How does this work?

In co-op each player controls only one character. Let’s say you, Amanda, are playing with two friends: Bert and Charlie. The round starts and you, Amanda, can now either play a card or pass to Bert. If you play a card, that ends your team’s turn. If you instead pass to Bert, he can now either play a card (thus ending your team’s turn) or pass to Charlie. Whether Charlie passes or plays a card, his action ends your team’s turn, since you’ve now all had an opportunity to do something.

To stop Amanda hogging all the play, the first player on your team will rotate each turn, so if Amanda played a card then Bert will get to play (or pass) first on your team’s next turn.
 

What about two player co-op?

You might notice an issue with two player co-op: you only have two characters instead of the usual three. Naturally, this is a bit of a disadvantage. To compensate, both characters on your team will draw an extra card each round. In playtesting, we’ve found that this compensates quite well for the missing character.

How do you form a team?

You can form a team at any time in game by clicking on player’s names (in the chat box or friend list) and inviting them to your team. There’s a handy new “co-op” button on the world screen that brings up the chat box and friends list.

If a player accepts your invitation, your team will form with you as the leader. Once the team is formed, you, the leader, will direct them onto adventures or multi-player battles.

The easiest way to create teams is to friend the people you want to play with, so you can quickly find them via the friends list.

How do you pick which character you want to use?

When you are in a team, your party will be temporarily set aside and you must pick a new character to use (from your existing roster). You can pick any character as usual – from the keep or by “modify party” at the start of an adventure. Your regular campaign (and multiplayer) parties are not affected by these choices.

Do teams persist?

Teams will disassemble as soon as every member of the team logs out. If the team disassembles mid-adventure, you’ll have to start that adventure again.

If one team member logs out or disconnects, the team will hang around waiting for them to rejoin.

The team leader can dismiss team members if they wish, but that will disassemble the team and cancel any current adventure.

How do you get into an adventure?

When the team leader starts an adventure, every member of the team is informed and given the option to join. If they don’t tag along, the team leader will have to wait until the members click on the adventure themselves. Once everyone is assembled, the adventure will start. Battles will also not start until everyone on the team has joined.

How does loot work?

Loot works in pretty much the same way as it does in single-player play. Everyone on the team gets whatever loot they normally would have got for completing the adventure or battle.

As a bonus, the whole team will get quest rewards for helping their team leader complete a co-op quest, even if some of them have finished that quest before.

In addition, if you’re lucky enough to find the loot fairy or hidden bandit when playing co-operatively, you’ll all get two extra Rare items!

What if a team member hasn’t unlocked the adventure?

Because the team leader can start an adventure, it’s possible for a member to have not unlocked that adventure yet (or not have bought a treasure hunt). It’s also possible for a team member to get invited into an “exhausted” adventure that they have already completed that day.

Team members are allowed to play these adventures that they haven’t qualified for, but they will only receive loot for each battle – no special end of adventure loot will be awarded to them. They won’t get treasure hunt rewards for hunts that they haven’t purchased (yes, they can still go back and purchase the adventure and get those rewards later).

Can you get experience and level up in co-op play?

Yes! It’s possible to play through the whole campaign in co-op, should you wish to.

You do have to finish the tutorial before you can start co-op play though.

What about competitive multiplayer?

You can play casual and custom multiplayer games in co-op mode. Ranked and league games do not support co-op play at this time.

One side can play multiplayer in co-op mode and the other can play alone if you wish.

If your team leader starts a co-op multiplayer game, you do not need to join that game – you will be automatically joined to it when an opponent (or opposing team) joins.

Don’t forget that you have to select a co-op multiplayer character to use in the multiplayer keep.

More questions?

Ask on our forums. Co-op is a complex new feature, so there may be problems or bugs. Please don’t hesitate to report these.