After several hours and experimenting with a ton of decks/joker cards, I FINALLY got my first win. I think I can talk about it now seeing as it's simple and I "beat the game" in a sense.

This game is fantastic. It's the textbook definition of "beauty in simplicity." Everything is streamlined and the overall harmony of the visuals and audio (like the weird film grain, the pixelated art for some of the Joker "cards," distortions to the main theme when you play cards) is perfect. The Joker Card system is brilliant in that it can be expanded on indefinitely with new cards and it rewards investment and creativity. I pulled a Blueprint Joker and continually moved it around my Joker Card deck to get buffs and multipliers that best suited my situation rather than getting locked into one "build" for example. It's so satisfying.

The ONLY critique I have, hence the half a star missing, is the boss mechanics. I understand that you need to keep a semblance of a challenge when I can theoretically get a 500 bazillion multiplier. That being said, some boss mechanics are absolute bull. The "only being able to play one hand" boss has ended so many of my runs and I'm not sure how I could have played better. I had one run where I invested in hearts and flushes and the second boss was debuffing hearts. There's not enough stages/time to realistically counter some mechanics, so it just feels bad to see the boss mechanic and know the run is likely over.

Absolutely worth your time and giving it a try if you like roguelike deck builders.