Dead Man's Draw goes free-to-play, physical version available via PDF

Developer Stardock has made its risk-and-reward iOS card game, Dead Man's Draw, free-to-play this week. The involved press release states that those who purchased the game at its previous price of $1.99 have been given a "generous sum of in-game currency" as a sign of Stardock's appreciation for their support.

In Dead Man's Draw, players end their turn whenever they want to. Getting too greedy can lead to drawing a suit that has already been seen though, which results in losing everything that was gained during that turn. Stopping a turn to bank cards helps avoid a total loss, but different card types call for a bit more strategy. The Hook allows players to play a card from their bank for example, and drawing the Kraken forces a player to take two additional cards. When the deck is depleted, players add up points from the highest valued card they have in each suit, with the greatest total winning the game.

Stardock's recent Kickstarter for a physical counterpart of Dead Man's Draw ended about $3,000 shy of its goal on November 9. Instead of canning the project, Stardock posted a PDF of the full card set several days later as a "thank you for everything." If you've got enough apps on your phone, you can instead partake in the local multiplayer experience the developer was hoping to deliver on a commercial level.

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DEAD MAN'S DRAW NOW FREE TO PLAY ON APP STORE

Critically Acclaimed Risk-vs-Reward Gameplay Now Free in All Territories

PLYMOUTH, MI. – Dec. 10, 2013 – Stardock announced today the conversion of its well-received debut mobile title, Dead Man’s Draw, to a purchase price of free.

Available immediately through Apple’s App Store for iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad® devices, Dead Man’s Draw offers simple but strategic gameplay that boils down the elements of strategy games into a single decision: whether to draw another card that can multiply your riches or lose them all.

Since the launch of Dead Man’s Draw in October, Stardock has added 14 additional tournaments for players to conquer in free updates. That additional content, plus the entire base game and all of the other improvements that have been added since release, are available without spending any real money in the new, free-to-play incarnation of Dead Man’s Draw.

Dead Man’s Draw has an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 500 user reviews on the iTunes store, and has been praised by critics from QuarterToThree.com, 148apps.com, PocketTactics.com, and more.

Stardock has gifted players who purchased Dead Man’s Draw for its original $1.99 price a generous sum of in-game currency as a thank-you for their support.

To learn more about Dead Man's Draw, visit www.deadmansdrawgame.com. For more information on Stardock, please visit www.stardock.com.