Buying another roguelite deckbuilder after just feeling like I can't take any more StS clones was a risk, but I had heard that this was different and it is! This game actually doesn't really play anything like StS. Instead, you're presented with a block puzzler style level where the row closest to you can attack you and you have to stop them before they do, by playing cards that manipulate the board somehow. The dagger can be chained for as many daggers as you have and the axe can only attack once, but can kill the whole front row. The other interesting quirk is that cards are spent permanently when you play them, so you have to constantly redesign your deck based on what you find.

That's really about it. It's simple but quite neat, refreshing and not at all a StS clone. It's also got a unique art style and color scheme that just works, as well as a personal atmosphere combined with the dark story of a bullied kid finding her pride in designing... Well, I think she's designing the game we're playing?

Because the problem is that I will never see the ending to this plot since I felt like the first campaign was all I needed. The game doesn't even really clarify very well that there are three campaigns - there's just a menu selection that says "Path of the Giant" by default and I only found out that you can click that button and switch to a new campaign with a new story and new cards by random exploration and not because the UI invited me to - and so I thought I was done with the game when I finally beat the giant after maybe 10 hours of trying. I was satisfied and felt like I had completed a fun, if perhaps too simple, little diversion and I was actually a little annoyed when I realized that I had really only begun.

The issue is that this simple design is too simple and after one campaign, you start feeling like you want more complicated decks, like how it'd be cool to combine the dagger card with more cards that let you draw cards and more complicated combos. On top of the simplicitiy, it also becomes clear with time that the base design doesn't truly work. Permanently spending your cards means that you're left to RNG a little too often, and you can lose because you got to the stage where you absolutely must have strong ranged attacks without lucking into very many ranged cards, which isn't very fun in the long run. The game can also create some impossible scenarios, like how two copies of the creature on the anvil will just give each other armor every turn, so you get stuck in a loop where you turn is spent knocking off the armor they will then give themselves on their own turn and you can't get out of that loop since cards are finite.

I will still recommend this game as a neat little diversion with an interesting idea and a personal story and theme. It's a strong little title that just doesn't survive further scrutiny, but I will say that I think this game should be the new standard intro deckbuilder that we recommend to newbies. It's still got challenge and it'll still teach people deckbuilder logic, but with a more personal touch and simpler mechanics. I liked this one even though I found a few major flaws and won't be playing it to the end.

An interesting take on the roguelike "deckbuilding" genre, where the key difference is that cards in your "deck" are lost upon use and so your collection of actions is ever shifting as the game progresses. The combat in each room is heavily tactical, with a focus on turn to turn decision making over long term strategy. It's neat, and complemented with a unique visual design. I wouldn't pick this over a true deckbuilder like Slay the Spire, but it's unique design gives this one its own small space in the market.

Iris and the Giant was one of those little niche games that I got with it via a PC code bundle. Thanks to Steam Deck there was finally time and space for it and...I didn't regret it!

Overall, Iris is a very interesting card-based roguelite that has too fast a progression due to the low difficulty. I played through the game far too quickly because the unlocks became too powerful through a single run. As a result, the game never got past the moment where the constant repetition stopped bugging me and the gameplay sucked me in again and again.

At the same time, there are too few useful options within the duels to make the gameplay variable and varied. The infrequently used memories, which are supposed to give the game world a narrative framework, don't manage to do that either. If they weren't quite so clichéd and had more depth, they could possibly carry it.

Has a pretty charming art style and soundtrack.
The gameplay is an acquired taste though.
Rather than retaining cards from previous encounters, once a card gets used, it's removed from your deck and you'll have to acquire a new copy.
This adds a layer of strategy, but can make things frustrating if luck isn't on your side.
The thing which irked me the most is that card and enemy descriptions were rather cryptic and you could often get yourself screwed if you didn't know beforehand. Took me a few runs before I figured stuff out properly.