About 20 hours into the game as of writing this review, and I can kinda tell where this one will fall for me in the pantheon of rougelike deckbuilders.
It's great, but the runs can feel WAY to dictated by rng (especially in the early stages of a run) because of the games design around poker mechanics. There are tools in the game to let you stack the odds in your favor, but I have had countless runs so far where I just died in the first few rounds due to bad rng when I didn't even get the chance to access any of those tools.
What elevates this game above others I have disliked for the same reasons is the variety and ease of getting into each run. There are so many different variations of jokers (cards that provide unique abilities), enhancements and powerups that each run can feel unique even when you are playing the same few poker hands. And when you do lose, it's so quick and easy to jump back in. I've found myself in the "just one more run" mindset basically every time I sit down when I have time to spare.
And once you are past the early stages of a run, choices start to matter more and you can mitigate rng with careful planning. Every round comes with a dozen or so different choices, all of which can impact your run in various ways. The strategy is quite deep in these moments, something I love in a deckbuilder.
It's great, but the runs can feel WAY to dictated by rng (especially in the early stages of a run) because of the games design around poker mechanics. There are tools in the game to let you stack the odds in your favor, but I have had countless runs so far where I just died in the first few rounds due to bad rng when I didn't even get the chance to access any of those tools.
What elevates this game above others I have disliked for the same reasons is the variety and ease of getting into each run. There are so many different variations of jokers (cards that provide unique abilities), enhancements and powerups that each run can feel unique even when you are playing the same few poker hands. And when you do lose, it's so quick and easy to jump back in. I've found myself in the "just one more run" mindset basically every time I sit down when I have time to spare.
And once you are past the early stages of a run, choices start to matter more and you can mitigate rng with careful planning. Every round comes with a dozen or so different choices, all of which can impact your run in various ways. The strategy is quite deep in these moments, something I love in a deckbuilder.