Griftlands
Updated for Flourish & Mettle Update
My opinion of Griftlands is largely unchanged from my original review (below). The combat is tight and you’re frequently just a misplay or two away from losing a big fight, but the RPG elements get increasingly gimmicky the more you play. It’s sort of sad that choosing whether to help someone or not really depends on whether the passive bonus they give for loving or hating you is important or not. At higher prestige runs then you feel somewhat punished for taking an in-character action that ends up giving you a malus - I understand that’s a strategic trade off you have to make, but it highlights where the RPG and strategic aspects clash jarringly in Griftlands.
– Real player with 45.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Card Battler Roguelite Games.
TL;DR: Slay the Spire meets RPG. Production values are high but card gameplay is inferior to StS. Not a game I expect to play over and over again. Passable.
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Have you ever played Slay the Spire adn thought to yourself, “Man, this game could use more story”? Well, Griftlands is that game! Narrative, great writing, flavour, design, environment, Griftlands has all you’d want from a card battler rpg!
…Kind of.
I like Klei. I do! Their products, while not always for me, are usually quite innovative and interesting. So I’ve been keeping a close eye on whatever they produce. In this case, they borrowed the card battling mechanics VERY VERY heavily from Slay the Spire, and added in all the essential elements of RPGs and made it well. In these ways, the production value of Griftlands is significantly higher than Slay the Spire.
– Real player with 36.2 hrs in game
Fight with love - deckbuilder datingsim
Go into fights and use word cards to construct sentences of love that damage your opponent if you do it right, maybe… there was no tutorial, so you just had to… work it out. I like the art though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTeow7UgGvA
– Real player with 10.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Card Battler Roguelite Games.
This game sounded interesting at first. An unusual slay the spire type game. The problem is, it still feels like a barely playable demo even after being released from early access. It fixed the problem where the cards in your deck didn’t shuffle, but removed inventory, making the bar, theater and nightclub “date spots” all the same (Before, one sold healing items, one sold cards, and the other sold permanent buffs)
Also, the story is barely translated, and a lot of the cards had been rediculously censored. If this is a game about dating and sex, why can’t the cards swear?
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Dead Simple 21
I didn’t go in expecting much but this is a real gem. Variation on 21 with special cards, play modes, timer, interactive elements. Awesome solitaire or for challenging your mates. Highly addictive.
If you love your card games or need a fun way to kill idle time (on planes, trains, in bed, etc.), check out Dead Simple 21. It’s addictive. I’m challenging anyone that walks past to have a go at beating my high score. And I learned a new card game!
For more niche curation, follow me at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27440015-CSH-Picone/
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Card Battler Solitaire Games.
Dead Simple 21 is a blackjack inspired game where you draw cards from a deck and place them into one of four columns trying to hit 21. This game is a fun casual game to play. It features a fantastic art style and theme. This was fun to play, and I recommend giving it a try.
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
Doors of Insanity
First thing I’ll admit is that I’m a simp & beta tester for the devs, but that’s just because I genuinely think they’re cool guys who are worth supporting. This also means I’ve gotten the game for free, have a bias, etc. You get the idea. Plus, I also think this game is genuinely fun, it actually made me like Deck Battlers in the first place.
Doors is a game similar to Neoverse, Slay the Spire… Deck building, turn based RPG combat. If you’ve played those kinds of games before, you know what you’re getting into.
– Real player with 40.1 hrs in game
Im a huge fan of Slay the Spire in which I was told by the publishers that this was inspired by it (obviously). I’m not the best at making reviews but heres my opinion & reasoning.
Pros:
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Great art style
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Character creator even though its not much
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PVP (havent tried yet but hey you can play with people at least)
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Unique to the cardbased rougelite/rougelike genre
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Leveling system which makes you wanna replay to get stronger
Cons
- Only one character so theres no true style or unique start, every run starts nearly the same.
– Real player with 38.0 hrs in game
Roller Drama
A SITCOM?!?
In Roller Drama you (Joan) live together with five athletes as their coach and hopefully friend:
Anne, Portia, Pippi, Cordelia, and Juliet. They just formed a Roller Derby top team!
Portia is the property “guardian”, the others (you too) just squatted in the dilapidated building. You have to try to be the balancing factor as these top athletes develop close personal relationships and the group navigates rivalries, love stories, and sexual tension.
REAL-TIME FULL-CONTACT SPORT!
All this while playing Roller Derby-like full-contact matches, where in real time you have to give the right hints, decide strategies, and give orders. You’ll have arcade-like controls and power cards!
SURVEILLANCE
Daily life in the game’s world is not easy; political and environmental problems interfere with complex personal lives. The game’s universe is a slightly altered perspective of today’s world, with the same problems but… more explicit. It’s a dystopia that talks about our present (thank you Terry Gilliam).
KEY FEATURES
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Interactive narrative with meaningful game-changing choices
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Explorable universe
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Replayable narrative and matches: every championship is unique, several different endings
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Real-time match play, fully generative
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Deck-building mechanics determined by player choices and game results
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Beautiful, hand drawn art
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Full controller support
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Localized in nine languages
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Cloud saves
WHO ARE OPEN LAB GAMES?
We are four people making narrative sports games since 2017, based in Florence, Italy.