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Riot Games has used the League of Legends client to host other projects before, like new game modes, summer events, and associated visual novels. It’s a fun way to interact with the universe beyond just playing League of Legends. For instance, Arcane was accompanied by a point-and-click adventure game in the League client called Jinx Fixes Everything. On March 19, Riot added a new game to the client called Demon’s Hand, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen from Riot before — although it does bring the surreal, twisting card game Inscryption to mind.
Demon’s Hand is diegetically set in the world of League of Legends, specifically on the ancient Noxian plains. A mysterious, bandaged man sits across from me at the card table, and feeds me morsels of lore on the conquest of Sahn-Uzal, the demon Atakhan, and my own, mysterious identity. I don’t know who I am, but after I beat the first boss of Demon’s Hand, I look down at my hands as they sprout wicked claws and clench with a hidden fury.
This strange, unsettling narrative is backed up by the mechanics of the card game, which draw a lot from poker. As someone who spent far too much time recently on Balatro, I took to Demon’s Hand fairly easily. The game itself is stylish; I play with painted, wooden slabs, each showing the face of Noxian soldiers or creatures. Low horns and drums punctuate the action, making each turn feel important and ominous. My masked, mysterious guide sits with his back to the sun, which slowly warps and shifts along with my body. It’s a really cool little game, though a short one — my first playthrough lasted about 20 minutes, and I can’t see myself doing more than one or two more runs.
It was surprising to see an Inscryption-like narrative experience in my League of Legends client, but I’m certainly not complaining. League and Demon’s Hand are both free-to-play, and it’s worth giving this weird experiment a spin if you’re into card game roguelikes and League lore.
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Kurt Indovina
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