Game: Drop Duchy
Genre: Puzzle, Strategy, Roguelike, Indie, Logic
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer | Publisher: Sleepy Mill Studio | The Arcade Crew
Controller Support: Yes
Price: US $14.99 | UK £11.28 | EU € 12,80
Release Date: May 5th 2025
Review code used, with many thanks to ThinkyGames and Sleepy Mill Studio.
Drop Duchy is a charming roguelike that combines Tetris gameplay with tile placement and deck-building strategies. By completing lines, you’ll collect materials and gather troops to prepare for battles in an addictive gameplay loop.
Conquer the Lands in Three Acts
When you first start the game, you can only play as the Duchy, but the Republic and the Order can be unlocked as you progress through the game, while the Tribe and the North can be purchased as downloadable content. Regardless of your chosen faction, your goal is to progress through three acts by making your way through different locations while preparing for the boss battle at the end of each map.
Gameplay locations are split between peaceful regions, where you can focus on gathering materials, as well as hostile regions, where you will also have to contend with enemy troops. Even though it may be tempting to skip battles, the game incentivizes players to take on hostile regions by buffing the act’s boss for each battle skipped.
In the preparation phase, you can modify your deck as needed based on the terrain types present and the enemy buildings present in hostile regions. For example, if you are exploring a peaceful region, you may choose to bring mostly production buildings to focus on gathering resources instead of military buildings.
Tetris with a Twist
Just like Tetris, the main gameplay of Drop Duchy has players dropping blocks down onto a grid, though at a much slower and more relaxed pace that can be customized in the settings. There are terrain blocks, which follow the traditional Tetris shapes, as well as production and military blocks, which include smaller 1×1 and 1×2 pieces, for instance. When lines are cleared (every square in a row is filled), you’re rewarded with materials based on the terrain of each square.
Plains, forests, and mountains respectively produce food, wood, and stone, which are then used to upgrade your faction’s cards. The effects of production and military buildings can also activate during the round to increase your resources, transform terrains, and increase or decrease military power.
Players continue dropping pieces down the board until either the deck runs empty or a placed block crosses the top border. This would be the end of a peaceful round, but there’s an additional step if you’re exploring a hostile region. You now have to strategize and organize your military groups to engage with the enemy troops. Drop Duchy‘s combat utilizes a simple rock-paper-scissors combat triangle with light beating ranged, ranged beating heavy, and heavy beating light. At the end of the battle, any troops you have remaining will be converted to gold, but any troops the enemy has remaining will cause damage to your faction’s health.
Upgrades, Upgrades!
Building locations are also found in each act, allowing players to collect specific resources, trade one resource for another, or obtain new cards. This is a good opportunity to look through your deck and check which resources you’re missing to upgrade certain buildings.
As you explore various regions, you will also obtain crowns, which are used in the progress tree to purchase new features. These global upgrades range from new terrain and building types to new game mechanics to new playable factions and persist after your run. The progress tree is also where you can banish certain cards in order to more easily draw the ones you need for a particular strategy or build.
A Tabletop Aesthetic
Drop Duchy‘s visuals are designed with an aesthetic that reminds me of traditional tabletop games. For tabletop players, the artwork of the map tiles and building cards is a delight since they look like they could be game pieces pulled out of a box of Catan or Carcassonne. The music and sound effects also complement the fantasy kingdom environment quite well.
Conclusion
Wrapped in a charming tabletop style, Drop Duchy successfully combines simple Tetris gameplay with deck-building strategy into an addictive roguelike. I greatly enjoyed experimenting with different decks and strategies throughout my various playthroughs, all while falsely promising myself, “Just one more round!”
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up: 
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