The Origin Story
Greek mythology is so rich and vast and it is not explored enough despite countless titles. I thought it should have a CCG that can eventually have a card for every single character. There are so many good stories! That was my starting point years ago. (Now, there are already 600+ cards, with many more to come!)
But the typical "I have my side, you have your side, everything fights and dies" formula of such card games is boring. Instead, 4X and RTS gameplay offer much more strategic depth, long-term planning, and interesting decisions. Thus, this game is an attempt to capture all of that with known CCG card mechanics on a 2D board.
Furthermore, just fighting isn't enough. Greek mythology and ancient Greek history are about farming, hunting, love, aesthetics, law, and so much more. All of life! So you win by having more Arete (victory points), and all ways of life offer a valid path to victory:
Build Farms, optimise your harvest, and celebrate the Eleusinian Mysteries with a Demeter deck. Play Huntresses and Hunters and go on the hunt for hares and boars across the map with an Artemis deck. Build Harbors and Ships, go fishing, and explore the Seas with a Poseidon deck. Or just play a bunch of Warriors and attack your enemy with an Ares deck.
Those kinds of strategies exist for all 12 Olympian gods, all of their combinations, and so much more in Areteion.
And we must not forget about the Olympians themselves. They always want to have their say. Favor is another resource you'll have to manage. If you fail, their anger can derail your entire game plan, but some strategies may also be able to work around it.
Game Modes
Solo: Relaxed gameplay. It's only you and the gods. Build the best deck and work your way up to higher and higher Arete scores. The map brims with barbarians, pirates, game animals, encounters (e.g. the Sphinx), and monsters (e.g. Lernaean Hydra). Endless variety is guaranteed.
Versus: More competitive, with a pre-defined map structure and 1v1 games. Test yourself against the neural-network-trained AI, play against friends, or play ranked online multiplayer.
Hero's Journey: A roguelike mode where you iteratively build your deck facing ever-escalating challenges. Lots of different opponents on always different maps.