This absolutely enters my hallowed hall of top-tier roguelike deckbuilders, alongside the Monster Train and the crown jewel Slay the Spire. It captures the specific magic of the form where you create builds that feel more and more unbeatable as you fight enemies that feel more and more unfair. The particular conceit of having the final boss (until the very endgame) be your own last winning party is especially brilliant.
What really pushes this over the top is the art style. It is bursting at the seams with charm, every little character portrait and monster design and background detail just intensely appealing. Who doesn't want to hang out with Big Berry? Who wouldn't save a poor Naked Gnome? For a genre so mechanically focused that it would be 80% as fun with purely abstract symbology (as early access Slay the Spire players are well aware), there was no need to go this hard on making the game this cute. But they did and I'm delighted.
What really pushes this over the top is the art style. It is bursting at the seams with charm, every little character portrait and monster design and background detail just intensely appealing. Who doesn't want to hang out with Big Berry? Who wouldn't save a poor Naked Gnome? For a genre so mechanically focused that it would be 80% as fun with purely abstract symbology (as early access Slay the Spire players are well aware), there was no need to go this hard on making the game this cute. But they did and I'm delighted.