The Solitaire Conspiracy
Bithell? More like Bit heaven! Mike Bithell and his team have a genius where they can take something familiar and well worn (platformer, text adventure, stealth, er… John Wick?) and infuse it with so much character, intelligence, story and warmth that it’s the kind of art that changes you when you experience it.
Their treatment of solitaire may not kick you squarely in the feels like Thomas was Alone or the Circular games BUT it is a great game and has a great twist where the picture cards are characters with powers that alter the game. The short story is great and keeps you hooked until the end (I’ll say no more to keep this spoiler free) and then there are the modes you unlock play playing the campaign - this is what you’ll be playing tomorrow and after that. Countdown is a cool endless mode with a global leaderboard which is both exciting and addictive with that “just one more turn” quality to it. Skirmish mode lets you experiment with the different spy teams - analogous to the suits (clubs, hearts etc) except there are much more than four to choose from, each with their own unique abilities!
– Real player with 28.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Card Game Cyberpunk Games.
I’ve played a bunch of solitaire games on Steam, and while I can’t say The Solitaire Conspiracy is the most anything - not the most challenging, not the most creative, not the most innovative - it’s so well put-together as a package that I absolutely have to recommend it, and with a roadmap for even more content coming, it’s going to keep getting better.
The core of the game is simple; four suits scattered across a board. Move cards on the top of any given pile onto another one of higher value to reach what you need, try to build the suits in the centre from ace to king. You can see every card’s location from the very start, and consequently you won’t ever have to actually bank on RNG to save you. Every face card (jack, queen, king) has a special single-use ability determined by its suit, which you can use to get yourself out of a sticky situation. That’s it, that’s the game. From the first level to the last, regardless of difficulty, the basic rules of playing TSC will stay the same.
– Real player with 7.8 hrs in game
Gremlins, Inc. – Card Game
This original digital card game offers intense sessions for 2 to 6 players. At the core of gameplay lie two key mechanics: “hand management” and “take that”.
SET IN THE WORLD OF GREMLINS, INC.
The game is set in the world of corrupt capitalist gremlins of the future, the setting that’s already familiar to the tabletop community from the digital board game Gremlins, Inc. .
This card game is a standalone game with its own original set of rules and mechanics, and does not require ownership or previous experience with the previously released digital board game.
BUILD PROJECTS WHILE ATTACKING OTHERS AND DEFENDING YOUR OWN ACHIEVEMENTS
The sessions are played for score and for rounds. The player with the highest score at the end of the session wins. Build temporary and permanent projects, play instant action cards and camouflage your plans from the opponents while preparing your attacks.
SINGLE-PLAYER AND MULTIPLAYER MODES
The sessions typically last between 20 and 60 minutes. The game supports single-player and multiplayer modes, including peer to peer sessions as well as games played on the official servers, and allows to play with different decks.
PROVEN BY REAL-LIFE SESSIONS
Before we set to make it into a digital game, this project existed as a real-life card game enjoyed around the world in 6 languages.
A VIBRANT COMMUNITY AND A PUBLIC ROADMAP
We release this card game under the Early Access program as we’ll be expanding and modifying it based on the community feedback. The roadmap includes such features as team mode, ranked sessions and the support of Steam Workshop.
Read More: Best Card Game Tabletop Games.
Mythgard
The game is more about luck eg. my opponent had 3 cards and me just one , after he kill my card my next drop was a ship card with many soldier cards so i dominated him since i had level and gems and i was able to fill up the table with cards and win:) another game i managed to buff a card from 3 to 10 and the enemy has a spell wich can capture my card and use it on his side , another game i use the spell: i captured the highest card the enemy had and after i got another spell to redraw cards from boneyard so i captured another high card again :) … it is just bs and luck in the first case didn’t win since i wasted to much on that card the enemy got a ultimate card and my next drops were shit in the second scenario i win even against the enemy who ca copy the skill of any card yet another bs card :)) , bs cards that can kill you on their first attack , additional moves that can stack :) Every faction has similar overpowered cards so it’s balanced. Artifacts are again about luck and are way to over powered , basicly you can win just by stacking artifacts and do automatic damage to the enemy , in my opinion only two artifacts at a time should be activeand if you want more you can but you got to burn mana and gems and for auto damage artifacts once you destroy the artifact the enemy should recive a procent of the damage dealt by the artifact so it’s fair and balanced .The durability gain when your constrcts die is way to overpowered , in my opinion the damage should be dealt to all the artifacts not just one , after mid game if you have more then 3 artifacts the game is just stacking contructs and wait for a better cards . The Matryoshka artifact is bs with low mana and gem cost and durability 10 lolz it removes the skill from the game , the same as many artifacts. Played against a dude with 75 cards deck and he beat me only because he was lucky and got artifacts who can attack my minions and reduce their hp/attack so with no artifact remove cards it’s a 100% lose since he spammed constructs and also my artifact didn’t drop all game so this is again about luck and unbalanced.
– Real player with 504.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Card Game Free to Play Games.
as far as imaginary cardgames go, Mythgard hits all the right notes:
- cards are acquired in more different ways than I have ever seen in any CCG: 3 cards/day for playing; 1+ cards for completing each of the~20ish story episodes so far; ~30 packs are available through promo codes; you can uncraft and craft cards into Essence currency, including Wild cards which can be crafted into any card of a certain set, colour, and rarity; Silver currency is awarded for playing matches and completing rerollable missions, I find I can quite easily earn 2 packs a day this way; Maat currency is awarded for GGing opponents in matches; and this technically doesn’t GIVE YOU cards, but there are several play modes where you can “borrow” cards and deck lists to check out what you might enjoy playing. Unlike other CCGs, it seems like Mythgard really wants you to play it!
– Real player with 476.8 hrs in game
Cartridge Defense
I’ve played a lot of tower defense games and this one is really compelling. There are difficulty spikes that had me ragequitting, but here’s some advice - don’t be afraid to spread your towers out, and sponsorship mode is endgame.
I love and I hate this game. The number of stages that you spend 30 minutes in, doing really well, and then the boss monster comes out and FUCKING STEAMROLLS YOU is waaaaaay too high. Also there are only a handful of “winning” round 1 plays, I am restarting a lot and I wish there was a better system in place to make sure you have an actual play round 1.
– Real player with 98.3 hrs in game
This game right here is a gem. I have played hundreds of tower defense games, this ones special. Starts simple, and keeps adding layers with tower cards as you progress/farm. the effects on cards add so many ways to play. What a delight to not have a games in game purchase cost money!! it costs regents from playing lvl/farming to purchase packs for more cards, which packs seem to get better as you progress? easy to get to! It still has some bugs i have come into. but for me. nothing game breaking. Just notice it at keep playing/grinding. I am the type of person that likes to jump around from mmo to shooter, to thinker games. like tower defense or whatever. I like to have a game of each type to play at will. and this one has filled a void missing for tower defense for a minute. im a deep fan of such games likes orcs must die 2. where u can really set stuff up. and yes i gave up trying to type proper…can you tell? :)
– Real player with 44.5 hrs in game
For The Warp
As others have pointed out, this game has a lot of great features and has some compelling gameplay. However, there are three things that kill it for me because they lead too far down the path of heavy RNG.
- The shuffler makes no sense. The fact that you don’t discard cards and that every time you draw a hand that you are pulling from your entire deck is against the foundation of what a deck builder game is supposed to be. It has all of the other facets of how to build and manipulate your deck but the player should be drawing from a shuffled stack and continue to do such until the discard pile needs to be shuffled back in. I might have been less opposed to this if you could freely discard cards from your deck without needing to pay for it or have NPC’s want to buy them during events. But as it stands, it is far to easy to get a 18-20 card deck and that is far too much RNG when doing pool draws.
– Real player with 12.2 hrs in game
As others have stated, FTL meets slay the spire.
HUGE potential here. I think a few things need reworked.
1. Balance: jmzero’s review goes in depth.
2. No discard pile: this i feel is an odd design choice, since there’s no discard pile, all cards used immediately go back to the deck, so attaining any new card is a constant lower percentile of getting any card in your deck on every turn. So you may never see your new card in play…ever. Since the deck is shuffled every turn. This is poor design, you cant structure synergy here, as you are constantly threatened to draw the same cards over and over. This just feeds into the balance problem, of “just grab the most OP cards and scrap the rest”
– Real player with 9.3 hrs in game
Cosmica
The game has some polishing to do - things are a little tricky to figure out at first; there’s too much text on some screens; and I like the retro vibes from the art style, but not all the cards have unique art at this point. Once you past the initial lack of clarity though, it’s interesting and unique gameplay. The card effects are simple yet the strategy is intricate, and the deck manipulation aspect is something I haven’t experienced before - l have to think about every play, as opposed to some rogue-like deckbuilders where I often feel I’m on autopilot. I tried it on Steam Link too, and it transfers nicely to mobile. I look forward to seeing what comes of it.
– Real player with 15.8 hrs in game
Top notch for an indie game! My son loves pokemon cards and he got right into this game, I’ll have to get him a copy!
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Dark Cards
The other games by these devs are underappreciated gems, particularly Dark Mist, but also the better known Blood Card, both of which are fantastic. In this case, however, the devs have missed the mark, badly.
It’s worth noting up front that Dark Cards at this point is essentially abandonware… which is a good thing, in my opinion. Get the message that your game isn’t working, ask Steam to withdraw the game from sale, write this game off to experience and move on with your lives. Continuous microimprovements really aren’t going to be enough to make this game any better without breaking the entire thing down and starting again from scratch.
– Real player with 3.7 hrs in game
I would not recommend the game in its current state.
The game’s idea is fun and all but at this point it feels like an unfinished product. This game requires a lot of polish to become a good game. the animations aren’t that smooth and feel a bit laggy, which can be seen in the few examples in the store page. I also encountered two bugs which broke the game and stopped it from responding to alt-F4 in my 30 mins of play time. Nevertheless I still believe in its potential so I will leave my review positive for now.
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
Metroplex Zero
In 2280, Eurasica is ruled by cutthroat hyper-capitalist megacorporations. Only you can thwart ZantoCorp’s attempts to reestablish a dark tyranny. Metroplex Zero brings a new take on roguelike deckbuilding with it’s party-based RPG-style combat.
Visit powerful locations
To resist capitalistic tyranny, you’ll need to power up. Choose your route carefully, different locations give different benefits; upgrade your champion, recruit powerful units, upgrade cards, gain passive bonuses or duplicate any card in your deck.
Strategize to fit your playstyle
With five heroes to choose from, each has its own unique and surprising gameplay. Before each battle, scout your enemies and pick the ideal 36 cards to take on your foes. You are never forced to bring any card you don’t like into battle. During your run you will be able to acquire new cards, equipment, and augments. You can get special surgical implants, level up your heroes, and manipulate corporations into giving you very nice shopping discounts.
No playthrough is ever the same
You’ll never play the same deck twice!
-
Over 250 different cards, allowing for a blend of various playstyles and builds
-
Over 70 unique game-changing augments
-
5 heroes each with very different gameplay
-
Level up your heroes multiple times in every run
-
Choose your own level up perks every time you gain enough XP
-
More than 20 unique random events
-
Over 30 different enemies
Planetary Control!
This is a great game. Ignoring for the moment all the nostalgia feels you get playing a game set in the SotS-verse. (I do. love the original Sots Soo much), The rules are easy to pick up, and the cards are balanced enough that there is no single-win-solution. You can play MP, or Solo against AI players. I highly recommend this as a fun, lightweight game that has a lightweight price to make it easy to sucker potential conquests encourage friends to pick up for weekend gaming.
– Real player with 19.9 hrs in game
Love it! cool graphics explosions and different world to explore! One of my favorite!
– Real player with 13.7 hrs in game
Solaris Rift
BEST TEN MINUTES OF MY LIFE!!
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
A fun little project of a game you can beat in an hour if you try. The devs did a really good job with making the strategy feel complex and worth thinking through with only a handful of main concepts. I definitely recommend checking Solaris Rift out and getting all the achievements!
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game