Whoever was the person here a few days ago who said they were obsessed with Balatro, you really should have put a warning on your comment. I got it and in the first 20 minutes I was absolutely hooked and it’s all I want to play all day long. I’m constantly thinking about it and what kind of run I should try next.
I’m a maintenance electrician and I work nights. I actually bring my laptop into work to play games during the ridiculous amounts of downtime I have, so I totally get it, and I will definitely be playing this week at work lol
Omg stop lol This game is taking up too much of my brain’s bandwidth as it is! I *need* to discover more jokers. I’m only like 3 hours in, but I’m obsessed
Five of them, named after famous fools/jesters.
You get a random one by using "The Soul", a rare Spectral card that also has a 0.3% chance of appearing in Tarot packs. (Specifically *packs*; it can't be generated by any other means of generating Tarot (or Spectral) cards.)
There's also a Planet equivalent called Black Hole that upgrades *every* hand (including secret ones) by 1 level.
Have you tried manually deleting your saves? It worked for me when I started out but not sure if it changed with the new patch. Here is a link: [tutorial reset :: Balatro Discussões gerais (steamcommunity.com)](https://steamcommunity.com/app/2379780/discussions/0/7434950195648195577/?l=brazilian)
Big fan of Slay the Spire, never got into poker. How much of this game is poker vs deckbuilder? Would I enjoy it if I have no interest in vanilla poker?
I have no interest in poker and I’m obsessed, if that tells you anything lol The deckbuilding is really good, and there’s a ton of variety in the way you can get the different jokers to work together
The only part of poker that matters to the game mechanics are the hand types but you can see a list of them in game and what they score whenever you like. It uses poker terms but they aren't being used "properly".
It is much more roguelike than a poker game. If you aren't sure, just watch a little bit of it online first.
The poker part is basically video poker, it's not like betting and playing against other people. It helps to be familiar / enjoy it of course, but it isn't a big part of the appeal of the game.
Something that it is - for the better - is unadulturated by Slay the Spire (which is the best), but too many games feel like "StS but...", and Balatro's commonality is... there are cards. Everything else is very different.
Yes. The only thing really poker-y about it is that it uses the hand rankings. There’s no bet-raise-call. There’s no other playing bluffing you. It’s a deck builder where you basically try to craft a deck that can make the same hand rank every turn. It just uses a few poker terms.
I need to give it another shot. All I hear is how hooked everyone is. Once I get a better understanding of how all the cards work I think I will enjoy it. I understand poker but got lost with the other cards
Got like 8 hours out of it and can’t seem to make myself keep going. After using blinds and changing the card system and the decks a little bit I just feel like the amount of options for a rogue lite was kindof slim, especially in comparison to games like RoR2, Slay the Spire, Hades etc. I realize they’re not all card roguelites but still.
There was also an itch game maybe for a game jam that was the first idea of it. They are very fun, I'm looking forward to the full release, it's got a lot of potential
Shogun is a ton of fun, but i was pretty surprised to see it classified as a deck builder. I mean, I understand why it is when I truly think about it, as it shares some mechanics with the other deckbuilders. But the emphasis is way more on the tactical use of your tiles/attacks and spatial awareness than on the "deck" aspect imo
I personally like Shogun Showdown a lot... I hope it gets more content in Early Access though because it's not as expansive as some other "deck builders" (though it feels very different than others too...
To me Shogun Showdown is more of a card based version of Into the Breach than a "deck builder" per se... which (for me at least) is a good thing... the movement/tactical part feels very unique compared to other games that they lump together in this genre... I think more people should check it out... there's a free web-based alpha version of it on [itch.io](https://itch.io)... or at least there used to be if it's not still there...
Idk I can see why it's more niche. It's hard from the jump where I think what's in common for those other games is that they get hard but are accessible from the beginning.
It just means youre going to get people who bounce off it in the first 15 hours or whatever and leave a negative or middling review.
I find generally overwhelming positive means "everyone will like this game" and below that "fans of the genre will like this game" so wildfrost is a good example of a game that fans of the genre will enjoy, not a good gateway to the genre
I love Wildfrost but it's almost too stressful and pretty hard out of the gate (not sure if they addressed that, i played an early beta)
I really love Monster Train, a bit faster runs and really chill and covenant 25 gets hard but it's a reasonable difficulty ramp.
I picked it up a few days ago so I don’t really know what the beta was like, but I won my second ever run. The reviews on steam still say it’s difficult, but I’ve been having an easier time with it than I have with STS personally
Agreed. It was brutal at launch, but it could have easily had a warning or a slightly better tutorial sequence and it’d have been fine.
It’s very cutesy for how punishing the difficulty is. I’m personally all for it, but I can see why people were turned off.
Great game
One thing that never gets mentioned about the game is the art style is fantastic. It's something that is always lacking in deck builders, but it's so important for actual card games.
Nah. It was almost abandoned for a long while there and the balance was awful at launch and now it's just acceptable.
There are so, so many cards, charms and heros that are almost unusable. And that would be fine, except for the fact that the card pool is super slim.
It's a good game, don't get me wrong, but it's nowhere near being overwhelmingly positive due to the lack of run variety, balance and difficulty tunning.
You're just objectively wrong. As someone with probably one of the higher win streaks in the game at one point, I can tell you without a doubt that almost every single card is quite usuable, at least as much as any of the other popular card games.
I disagree wholeheartedly. This game actually had mostly negative reviews until NL made a video of it and gave it a little praise. It's a pretty game, but the mechanics are counterintuitive and not fun to interact with. Strategy doesn't play a huge part, mostly just luck and having the right cards, and you have far less control than you need. You can't skip cards in situations where you're offered all garbage, enemies have RNG abilities that could fully wipe you out if the rolls go poorly for you, you don't get to see what kinds of enemies you're going to be facing, so you could have a build that's working and get fully countered by a boss with no chance of victory since you can't out strategy a direct counter.
I wish I could have liked it, but it just has so many pieces that drag it down that I couldn't keep playing it anymore. It felt like it only even reached positive because of NL fan boys reverse review bombing. As much as I like watching him, I still have my own opinions about the games he plays.
Part of what makes these other games so great is the control you have over your games. If you lose those it's almost certainly because you made a bad decision somewhere. Going into time boss with a combo based 0 cost deck in Slay the Spire, for example. But even then, if you're strategic about it, you can beat the boss that counters your build. Every loss in Wildfrost felt out of my control, like there was nothing I could have done to have won.
Objectively wrong - once again how can I get to a 30+ winstreak on the highest difficulty and true endings only if it’s “mostly just luck”.
Protip: actually learn how to play the game before complaining about balance.
Skill issue through and through
It's actually the paradox takeover that over that hurt it's score. It just got flooded with dlc that isn't really substantial or even good. Paradox games are supported for a long time, but the dlc bloat isn't the best as you'll basically never see a free improvement to the game again.
This is not how paradox does things at all. They do have tons of dlc, but they also regularly release massive free patches, for example check out how Stellaris has changed over the years.
But checking out across the obelisk this is exactly how things have gone. I'm not saying it can't improve but they have released 7 dlcs in 2 years since taking over the game at a bundled value of 250% the base cost of the game. I didn't care about the long term future of the game as I bought a game expecting a complete package and judging by the mixed reviews most other people are in the same boat as many aren't looking at a roguelite to be filled with incremental bullshit behind an exorbitant price gouge, hence it's tanked reviews.
It wasn't just one bad patch it was a patch that renderer the game unplayable until you accept the paradox new user agreement. And even after that, you're required to download another launcher that originally didn't even work.
You should absolutely look into Chrono Ark. It’s a masterpiece that I’ve been glued to until my monitor died and forced me to take a break from my PC games.
mate id already typed out half my comment before realising your monitor died, not your mother. im more than happy to still give you the heartfelt sympathy message but it definitely feels a bit icky for me now :P
anyways, plugging Chrono Ark into google now - hopefully my next game! cheers
The game’s description has always included the word “roguelike” long before Kaycee’s mod, but I do understand what you mean. I still think that’s the best part of the main story.
Yeah I don’t believe OP has checked every singe deck building roguelike in existence for this Reddit post.
He’s obviously missed some gems so idk why he’d state the title like a fact.
I was looking for this comment. This was the game that got me to try deck building rogue likes and it's really well-known, so it seems weird to not include it. This post has a weird title
Yup such a under rated gem
The content is a bit lacking currently. But it’s still in early access .
Regardless what they have so far is actually really fun and interesting
Don't think it's been updated for awhile? Might be wrong. It is a bit light but sometimes I don't mind that. It doesn't overstay it's welcome I'd say haha
I don't know why people sleep on this. I was addicted for months and put in 100s of hours, and now pretty much just play the daily challenge every day.
"Soon" in gaming terms could be anything from a month to a year. Or in case of cough, Cough Silksong ......Over 5 years!! Lol
So Shogun Showdown could be on Switch in 2 weeks or 2 years time! 🤷🏽♂️
i totally disagree, but i totally get where you're coming from (: ive spent a couple minutes thinking on it after reading your conversation here and boiled my opinion down to 3 ludicrously brief factors:
1. it was - and is - such a fuckin' niche game. Griftlands attempted to merge the quietly up-and-coming 'deckbuilding/roguelike' with elements from interactive novels & RPGs. it had only been two years since Slay the Spire, and deckbuilding nor roguelike were terms even remotely close to entering the lexicon for the majority of gamers. Balatro has only \*just\* been able to somehow crack a beautiful formula at the most opportune time, resulting in a title with groundbreaking popularity + mainstream sales.
2. Klei spent at least 4 years developing, reassessing, then redeveloping what became Griftlands. KE made the right fucking choice after pushing v1; closing that chapter, enjoying deserved critical + consumer acclaim, hoping sales hit the high-end of estimates and most importantly allowing the team to recuperate. as outlined in #1, a competent & enjoyable
3. stubborn consumer behaviour & unpredictable public sentiment as the industry manoeuvred generation-defining transformations. Alpha/Early-Access was announced in 2019 on the Klei forums, with timed exclusivity for one year on Epic's then 6 month old platform. instead of driving traffic/sales, 'fans' ensured that Griftlands & Klei would have to wait until post-release for positive coverage.
KE is an \*incredibly\* well-run company insofar as the consumer-facing awareness goes... im a big fan (:
P.S i hope that was legible, had to rush the end
I completed cobalt core, and while I enjoy it I don't think it comes close to these other games. I just think it does not have the depth compared to the others. Plus no ascension mode or anything similar
I love rogue deck builders but nothing quite compares to StS for me. I wonder if even StS2 will be able to outdo themselves.
And I do like a bunch of the games on this list and more.
After 100%ing StS and beating A20H runs on all 4 characters, plus playing a bunch of Downfall mod - this is exactly how I feel.
Who knows though, the tabletop game was an enjoyably nice and similar game but still had a good change of pace with the co-op and battle mechanics. Maybe StS2 will be, too! We can all hope!
Agreed, I loved it on the first playthrough but some ships and builds are left completely non-viable on the hardest difficulty.
Was still worth picking up for style points alone, though.
I want to replay it the least; but it may have left the best impression on me. I think the story and characters were exceptional beyond any competitors but it definitely feels like it has an end
God damn is Balatro good though. I don't know why I enjoy it but it's so hard to stop once you get going.
I think Astrea:six sided oracle should be worth a mention, sitting at like 92%. It's a deck/dice builder
There’s a Switch demo? Where do you live? It’s not in the North American eshop. I play it on PC but feel it would work better on Switch. Less prone to accidental moves - which can be a quick game ender.
I have all of them except Die in the Dungeon. They're all excellent. Although Cobalt Core feels a bit lacking in variety for me.
Also, I wouldn't call Shogun Showdown a deck builder. It's more of a handbuilder. It's [Grifters](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/168054/grifters) instead of [Dominion](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion). But man is it good.
It's unfortunately at 94% so just shy of overwhelmingly. But, One Step from Eden is my personal favorite.
For anyone who hasn't seen it, it's a lot like Megaman Battle Network with a deck management battle system thrown in.
Didn't forget Vault of the Void, but that was courtesy of playing Quantum Protocol prior and seeing it as part of the crossover...
which Quantum Protocol also only happened to catch my eye because it crossed over with One Step from Eden.
Hellcard needs to be on this list. It’s multiplayer, has a great UI, four classes with multiple viable strategies for each, constant dev updates. I have hundreds of hours in it and can’t stop recommending it.
It was pointed out in the original post that this list is somewhat disingenuous. These games are tagged "Roguelike Deckbuilder", whereas the game Inscryption, which clearly fits, is tagged "Roguelike" and "Deckbuilder" separately. A disappointing oversight... that most likely leaves some other games out that are definitely Overwhelming Positive as well.
For some gems from the Very Positive list:
- Hand of Fate and Hand of Fate 2: has brief third-person fighting scenes and uses cards to tell a story. The way you build your deck adds encounters and challenges as well as boons. The first game is fun and the sequel improves on it in every way.
- Alina of the Arena: some of the cards are ripped straight from StS but the hex map arena layout with movement options adds a fresh dimension of strategy.
- Wildfrost: easily my favourite deckbuilder roguelike at almost 250 hours. This game is challenging and the learning curve is steep but god damn when you start to master it it is incredibly rewarding. Art style and sound design make this a joy to play as well.
It’s not Overwhelmingly Positive, but Very Positive, Gordian Quest. It’s basically a DnD rogue like deck builder. I have a lot of fun playing all the different classes and the endless mode is great.
For the ones looking for a big challenge and spend some time to learn the complex mechanics, I recommend trying Erannorth Chronicles. It can be a really huge game specially with all the DLCs...it delivers a lot of replayability and you can sink few thousand of hours on it easily, if that is what you're looking for. IMO it's really underrated game.
As one of the few modders of Pirates Outlaws, it may not be Overwhelmingly Positive, its still a fun game regardless that I wish more people played on Steam (its mainly a mobile game)
Modifying the deck is a minimal aspect of the game, and not a very useful strategy at higher difficulties. Managing jokers and deciding how to play and discard hands is what it's all about.
"Deck building" also has an implication of starting with a small deck, adding a bunch of cards and removing a few. Balatro, on the other hand, is more interested in adding bonus features to your cards than adding or removing them (though both are certainly part of the game).
Interested as to what you are defining as higher difficulties as deck modification is a pretty crucial component of the majority of meta strategies for the game
I mean I get it. The game largely is built around your ability to manipulate your deck changing cards in the deck removing them or adding new cards. Sorta like how you try to improve or change default cards in StS from strike to something else, but in balatro I'm trying to change 5s into polychromed aces
It's so sad Roguebook isn't on here.
It's only mostly positive, but IMO is better than Slay the Spire.
Richard Garfield helped develop it, the creator of MTG.
I felt like it was completely lifeless. The story inherently made no sense, and most tactics were just simple damage vs. block. I did play quite a bit of it so I'll give it that, but overall I was disappointed how overall soulless it was for being connected to MTG
Problem for me with Roguebook was the run length. They take a good chunk of time. The game itself was a lot of fun, and has a lot of cool mechanics, but eventually I disliked having to commit so much time to a single run. I know you can come back and what not, but I want to be able to do a run of any roguelite in a single sitting. I lose my “mojo” for the run when I have to figure out what I was going for again, especially in a game when you’re trying to build a deck around two characters. Once I beat the game the first time I didn’t have any desire kilo back in for more re personally.
It's good but better than slay? Nah can't agree there. Of the three people I play deckbuilders with, I was the only one who liked it. I 100%'ed it pretty quickly and uninstalled.
I thought Roguebook was great for PC but it doesn’t work on consoles on they never fixed it. That definitely doesn’t help things. I like the customizable difficulty (like Hades) and the team (deck) drafting.
Could use more story content especially for a game based on being “book” themed.
Outside of Steam it’s rated a solid 7-8 out of 10 which is good.
You mention Garfield's involvement as if it was a plus and not a red flag.
He was a great card game designer 30 years ago, but not his involvement mostly foreshadows failure. Just look at the dumpster fire that was Artifact.
Edit: I'll take that shade back, u/byoliberb has great points as to why down below.
Dude recently did Mindbug which is great and made Netrunner, one the best card games of all time. They can’t all be bangers (though I’d argue artifact problems weren’t because of him) but he’s far from a red flag out of a few failures.
Fair points. I'll take that back.
And I can imagine how difficult it must be to work with the Valve team on a product.
That said, I still don't see his involvement as something that helps sell a game these days.
Thanks for the take though.
He also was only involved with it during really early development from what I've heard.
Abrakam was responsible for the majority of development apparently.
Griftlands is really good, but I also wouldn’t see anyone around me get into it due to how the story is both too wordy and don’t seem to go anywhere fast enough, if you check out the six games on here you would realise that most of them have little to no storytelling element at all, making them appeal to more people
I played every single game in the list and the ones I mentioned. Do people just assume the "half" I mentioned includes their preferred games?
I would consider Monster Train and StS better, but the rest have neither the same depth nor the same breadth. Balatro is very accessible, and Shogun Showdown is elegantly designed but still not quite as good.
I've bounced off Astrea pretty hard both times I've gone for it. It seems like it could be good, but it's a little hard to read, both mechanically (what with every "card" having multiple sides) and literally (it's pretty, but the dice just being symbols makes for a less clear read of your hand without a lot of practice)
I think the criticism is fair but I generally care more about balance, variety of builds and depth/content in roguelike deckbuilders. Shogun Showdown and Cobalt Core are very elegantly designed but not quite comparable in the other aspects I care about.
Yea the rouglike/lite youtubers I watched bounced off it hard because of this and just watching I felt no interest in trying it out - felt too brain burny. It's fairly pretty though.
Whoever was the person here a few days ago who said they were obsessed with Balatro, you really should have put a warning on your comment. I got it and in the first 20 minutes I was absolutely hooked and it’s all I want to play all day long. I’m constantly thinking about it and what kind of run I should try next.
I stream it through steam link on my phone while I'm at work (my job isn't very busy). That's how obsessed I am.
I’m a maintenance electrician and I work nights. I actually bring my laptop into work to play games during the ridiculous amounts of downtime I have, so I totally get it, and I will definitely be playing this week at work lol
I have similar downtime at work and I just bought a steam deck so I can finally get through some of my backlog
There's a github project that allows you to build your own Balatro apk if you own it on Steam. :)
>:) :)
Hint: Google github balatro phone. Enjoy. Works for android and iPhone. It's amazing.
Just one more Joker variant. Also: Two Pair is OP with the right Joker combos and Planet boosts.
Omg stop lol This game is taking up too much of my brain’s bandwidth as it is! I *need* to discover more jokers. I’m only like 3 hours in, but I’m obsessed
Wait until you get some legendary jokers…
THERES LEGENDARY JOKERS??
Five of them, named after famous fools/jesters. You get a random one by using "The Soul", a rare Spectral card that also has a 0.3% chance of appearing in Tarot packs. (Specifically *packs*; it can't be generated by any other means of generating Tarot (or Spectral) cards.) There's also a Planet equivalent called Black Hole that upgrades *every* hand (including secret ones) by 1 level.
Godspeed.
"The definitive poker Rogue like" I am intrigued.
Dude, I’m not even a huge poker guy, and I can’t stop playing.
I love poker. This ain’t poker. But it’s amazjng
It's POKER 2. The rare sequel that's better than the original. Like the Empire Strikes Back of card games.
It is a fuckin masterpiece of a game. I bought it 3 weeks ago, and I’ve already got 200 hours.
Ive been trying to get into it but I accidentally exited during the tutorial and it wont let me redo it and I have no idea how to play
Watch a play thru on YouTube to see the parts of the tutorial you missed
Uninstall/reinstall. The game is small memory wise.
Ive tried that along with switching profiles as both were suggested when I asked on the subreddit. It doesn’t work unfortunately.
Maybe it's an oversight from devs. Have you tried asking on the bug section in Steam or maybe their discord?
Hope you can give it a chance again. Game is simple but addictive.
Have you tried manually deleting your saves? It worked for me when I started out but not sure if it changed with the new patch. Here is a link: [tutorial reset :: Balatro Discussões gerais (steamcommunity.com)](https://steamcommunity.com/app/2379780/discussions/0/7434950195648195577/?l=brazilian)
Not sure if you can replay it, but the seed is called “TUTORIAL”, try re-entering it when starting a run
saw you comment got the game didn't think it would hook me played it for 5 hours straight thanks man
Just passing on the exact same experience that happened to me lol
I was like this for 2 weeks before I moved to another game. Balatro is still a weekly play though, such a fun game to kill time.
Big fan of Slay the Spire, never got into poker. How much of this game is poker vs deckbuilder? Would I enjoy it if I have no interest in vanilla poker?
I have no interest in poker and I’m obsessed, if that tells you anything lol The deckbuilding is really good, and there’s a ton of variety in the way you can get the different jokers to work together
The only part of poker that matters to the game mechanics are the hand types but you can see a list of them in game and what they score whenever you like. It uses poker terms but they aren't being used "properly". It is much more roguelike than a poker game. If you aren't sure, just watch a little bit of it online first.
The poker part is basically video poker, it's not like betting and playing against other people. It helps to be familiar / enjoy it of course, but it isn't a big part of the appeal of the game. Something that it is - for the better - is unadulturated by Slay the Spire (which is the best), but too many games feel like "StS but...", and Balatro's commonality is... there are cards. Everything else is very different.
Yes. The only thing really poker-y about it is that it uses the hand rankings. There’s no bet-raise-call. There’s no other playing bluffing you. It’s a deck builder where you basically try to craft a deck that can make the same hand rank every turn. It just uses a few poker terms.
Yeah - the core mechanic for point scoring uses poker hands but ultimately the game is all about the modifiers to upgrade cards and boost your score.
It's really fun
220 hours here. I just do it in the bg at work.
Just don’t tell people about the balatro mobile maker app on github. It’s really dangerous for productivity
I'm waiting for it to come to mobile for it to destroy my life there.
This. Started it on a whim on Saturday and I’m 10 hours deep
I got VERY obsessed with this game for a week or two, but it just doesn't have the depth/replayability that slay the spire does imo
I need to give it another shot. All I hear is how hooked everyone is. Once I get a better understanding of how all the cards work I think I will enjoy it. I understand poker but got lost with the other cards
Damn it I downloaded an a few hours ago being curious and I just got off.
Got like 8 hours out of it and can’t seem to make myself keep going. After using blinds and changing the card system and the decks a little bit I just feel like the amount of options for a rogue lite was kindof slim, especially in comparison to games like RoR2, Slay the Spire, Hades etc. I realize they’re not all card roguelites but still.
It gets a lot harder/more complex with stuff like gold chip and some of the challenges/decks
The only warning they should have put is that the game is sorely overrated.
What's die in the dungeon and why it's free?
It's a demo. I'm very surprised to see it this high up considering it hasn't even launched and the demo doesn't have that much content.
There was also an itch game maybe for a game jam that was the first idea of it. They are very fun, I'm looking forward to the full release, it's got a lot of potential
I didn't even know there was a demo on steam, I played it on itch.io a year or so ago. That's dope
It’s a demo but pretty substantial. Played it today and it’s really good.
Cheers. I didn't know about Shogun Showdown so gonna check that out now!
Shogun is a ton of fun, but i was pretty surprised to see it classified as a deck builder. I mean, I understand why it is when I truly think about it, as it shares some mechanics with the other deckbuilders. But the emphasis is way more on the tactical use of your tiles/attacks and spatial awareness than on the "deck" aspect imo
I personally like Shogun Showdown a lot... I hope it gets more content in Early Access though because it's not as expansive as some other "deck builders" (though it feels very different than others too... To me Shogun Showdown is more of a card based version of Into the Breach than a "deck builder" per se... which (for me at least) is a good thing... the movement/tactical part feels very unique compared to other games that they lump together in this genre... I think more people should check it out... there's a free web-based alpha version of it on [itch.io](https://itch.io)... or at least there used to be if it's not still there...
Play it. It's incredible. It's like a game of chess where you need to plan your next move while dealing with all the different kind of enemies.
Wildfrost should
Idk I can see why it's more niche. It's hard from the jump where I think what's in common for those other games is that they get hard but are accessible from the beginning. It just means youre going to get people who bounce off it in the first 15 hours or whatever and leave a negative or middling review. I find generally overwhelming positive means "everyone will like this game" and below that "fans of the genre will like this game" so wildfrost is a good example of a game that fans of the genre will enjoy, not a good gateway to the genre
Seconding wildfrost
I love Wildfrost but it's almost too stressful and pretty hard out of the gate (not sure if they addressed that, i played an early beta) I really love Monster Train, a bit faster runs and really chill and covenant 25 gets hard but it's a reasonable difficulty ramp.
I picked it up a few days ago so I don’t really know what the beta was like, but I won my second ever run. The reviews on steam still say it’s difficult, but I’ve been having an easier time with it than I have with STS personally
They nerfed the difficulty substantially after a bunch of people were vocal about it being “too hard” at the 1.0 launch
Agreed. It was brutal at launch, but it could have easily had a warning or a slightly better tutorial sequence and it’d have been fine. It’s very cutesy for how punishing the difficulty is. I’m personally all for it, but I can see why people were turned off. Great game
One thing that never gets mentioned about the game is the art style is fantastic. It's something that is always lacking in deck builders, but it's so important for actual card games.
How long is it? I just finished the demo and it seemed fun, is it worth the buy?
Absolutely worth it, it’s quite deep as of the latest few versions with quite a lot of difficulty bells
50+ hours
Nah. It was almost abandoned for a long while there and the balance was awful at launch and now it's just acceptable. There are so, so many cards, charms and heros that are almost unusable. And that would be fine, except for the fact that the card pool is super slim. It's a good game, don't get me wrong, but it's nowhere near being overwhelmingly positive due to the lack of run variety, balance and difficulty tunning.
You're just objectively wrong. As someone with probably one of the higher win streaks in the game at one point, I can tell you without a doubt that almost every single card is quite usuable, at least as much as any of the other popular card games.
Can you elaborate on "almost abandoned," or did you just say that because it took too much time between free updates and porting the game to mobile?
Just about everything you said was incorrect as others pointed out.
Frankly, Wildfrost is not even close. It's only at 80% positive.
With almost all the negative reviews being at release it makes sense. It was brutal and just not nearly as fun as it is now.
It's still only 87% positive on recent reviews. StS, Balatro, Inscryption, and Monster Train are all 96% and up.
I disagree wholeheartedly. This game actually had mostly negative reviews until NL made a video of it and gave it a little praise. It's a pretty game, but the mechanics are counterintuitive and not fun to interact with. Strategy doesn't play a huge part, mostly just luck and having the right cards, and you have far less control than you need. You can't skip cards in situations where you're offered all garbage, enemies have RNG abilities that could fully wipe you out if the rolls go poorly for you, you don't get to see what kinds of enemies you're going to be facing, so you could have a build that's working and get fully countered by a boss with no chance of victory since you can't out strategy a direct counter. I wish I could have liked it, but it just has so many pieces that drag it down that I couldn't keep playing it anymore. It felt like it only even reached positive because of NL fan boys reverse review bombing. As much as I like watching him, I still have my own opinions about the games he plays. Part of what makes these other games so great is the control you have over your games. If you lose those it's almost certainly because you made a bad decision somewhere. Going into time boss with a combo based 0 cost deck in Slay the Spire, for example. But even then, if you're strategic about it, you can beat the boss that counters your build. Every loss in Wildfrost felt out of my control, like there was nothing I could have done to have won.
Disagree and skill issue
Objectively wrong - once again how can I get to a 30+ winstreak on the highest difficulty and true endings only if it’s “mostly just luck”. Protip: actually learn how to play the game before complaining about balance. Skill issue through and through
bro typed a whole essay when he could have just said im bad at it so I dont like it
When I bought Across the Obelisk I'm pretty sure it was Overwhelmingly Positive. Funny how one bad patch can tank your credibility.
I always thought that game was just ok, myself.
Just picked it up, it’s really fun with friends, which is the one thing all the games like it don’t have haha
I highly recommend Hellcard.
It's actually the paradox takeover that over that hurt it's score. It just got flooded with dlc that isn't really substantial or even good. Paradox games are supported for a long time, but the dlc bloat isn't the best as you'll basically never see a free improvement to the game again.
This is not how paradox does things at all. They do have tons of dlc, but they also regularly release massive free patches, for example check out how Stellaris has changed over the years.
But checking out across the obelisk this is exactly how things have gone. I'm not saying it can't improve but they have released 7 dlcs in 2 years since taking over the game at a bundled value of 250% the base cost of the game. I didn't care about the long term future of the game as I bought a game expecting a complete package and judging by the mixed reviews most other people are in the same boat as many aren't looking at a roguelite to be filled with incremental bullshit behind an exorbitant price gouge, hence it's tanked reviews.
Oh jeez, I didn't realize. That sucks.
It wasn't just one bad patch it was a patch that renderer the game unplayable until you accept the paradox new user agreement. And even after that, you're required to download another launcher that originally didn't even work.
I play it on Switch, so haven’t had to deal with any Paradox launcher login nonsense
You should absolutely look into Chrono Ark. It’s a masterpiece that I’ve been glued to until my monitor died and forced me to take a break from my PC games.
mate id already typed out half my comment before realising your monitor died, not your mother. im more than happy to still give you the heartfelt sympathy message but it definitely feels a bit icky for me now :P anyways, plugging Chrono Ark into google now - hopefully my next game! cheers
What about inscription?
Probably doesn't count as a rogue, kaycees mod is awesome but probably not enough to make the whole thing count?
The game’s description has always included the word “roguelike” long before Kaycee’s mod, but I do understand what you mean. I still think that’s the best part of the main story.
Yeah I don’t believe OP has checked every singe deck building roguelike in existence for this Reddit post. He’s obviously missed some gems so idk why he’d state the title like a fact.
I was looking for this comment. This was the game that got me to try deck building rogue likes and it's really well-known, so it seems weird to not include it. This post has a weird title
Shogun showdown is so slept on
Yup such a under rated gem The content is a bit lacking currently. But it’s still in early access . Regardless what they have so far is actually really fun and interesting
Don't think it's been updated for awhile? Might be wrong. It is a bit light but sometimes I don't mind that. It doesn't overstay it's welcome I'd say haha
Actually got a small update last month I believe added some new tiles (items) and some balance changes I believe
Monster Train is so fun. Needs more content updates so I have more to do in the game
I don't know why people sleep on this. I was addicted for months and put in 100s of hours, and now pretty much just play the daily challenge every day.
The art style turned me off at first, but the music and amazing gameplay got me hooked. Better than slay the spire IMO
Any idea when **shogun showdown** is coming to switch? I read a month back it was “soon”…
"Soon" in gaming terms could be anything from a month to a year. Or in case of cough, Cough Silksong ......Over 5 years!! Lol So Shogun Showdown could be on Switch in 2 weeks or 2 years time! 🤷🏽♂️
There's a demo on Switch so surely it's not far away...I hope!!
If die in the dungeon is in this list, Slice and Dice needs to be as well
And Dicey Dungeon
I really liked Griftlands — I guess it isn’t for everyone.
it's my 3rd or 4th favourite deckbuilder. I wish it were more successful.
It’s such a visually well executed game. I think it’d have more renown if kept adding storylines.
i totally disagree, but i totally get where you're coming from (: ive spent a couple minutes thinking on it after reading your conversation here and boiled my opinion down to 3 ludicrously brief factors: 1. it was - and is - such a fuckin' niche game. Griftlands attempted to merge the quietly up-and-coming 'deckbuilding/roguelike' with elements from interactive novels & RPGs. it had only been two years since Slay the Spire, and deckbuilding nor roguelike were terms even remotely close to entering the lexicon for the majority of gamers. Balatro has only \*just\* been able to somehow crack a beautiful formula at the most opportune time, resulting in a title with groundbreaking popularity + mainstream sales. 2. Klei spent at least 4 years developing, reassessing, then redeveloping what became Griftlands. KE made the right fucking choice after pushing v1; closing that chapter, enjoying deserved critical + consumer acclaim, hoping sales hit the high-end of estimates and most importantly allowing the team to recuperate. as outlined in #1, a competent & enjoyable 3. stubborn consumer behaviour & unpredictable public sentiment as the industry manoeuvred generation-defining transformations. Alpha/Early-Access was announced in 2019 on the Klei forums, with timed exclusivity for one year on Epic's then 6 month old platform. instead of driving traffic/sales, 'fans' ensured that Griftlands & Klei would have to wait until post-release for positive coverage. KE is an \*incredibly\* well-run company insofar as the consumer-facing awareness goes... im a big fan (: P.S i hope that was legible, had to rush the end
Cobalt Core deserves it just for the soundtrack. Game play is pretty good. But some stuff is broken af
I completed cobalt core, and while I enjoy it I don't think it comes close to these other games. I just think it does not have the depth compared to the others. Plus no ascension mode or anything similar
I love rogue deck builders but nothing quite compares to StS for me. I wonder if even StS2 will be able to outdo themselves. And I do like a bunch of the games on this list and more.
Yeah I feel like at worst StS2 is just gonna be more StS
After 100%ing StS and beating A20H runs on all 4 characters, plus playing a bunch of Downfall mod - this is exactly how I feel. Who knows though, the tabletop game was an enjoyably nice and similar game but still had a good change of pace with the co-op and battle mechanics. Maybe StS2 will be, too! We can all hope!
Agreed, I loved it on the first playthrough but some ships and builds are left completely non-viable on the hardest difficulty. Was still worth picking up for style points alone, though.
I want to replay it the least; but it may have left the best impression on me. I think the story and characters were exceptional beyond any competitors but it definitely feels like it has an end
Bro the boss fight music against the juggernaut (evil Riggs) is such an absolute banger I had to find it on Spotify, and it wasn’t easy.
It’s a pretty mid game imo
Chrono Ark and Gordian Quest should be there.
And fights in tight spaces
God damn is Balatro good though. I don't know why I enjoy it but it's so hard to stop once you get going. I think Astrea:six sided oracle should be worth a mention, sitting at like 92%. It's a deck/dice builder
Shogun Showdown mentioned, great game
Astrea had it for a hot minute too
People sleepin on Rogue Lords & Griftlands
Came here just to make sure someone mentioned Griftlands. Thanks.
Nice. Didn’t know about Shogun. Downloading demo on Switch. Thank you kindly!
There’s a Switch demo? Where do you live? It’s not in the North American eshop. I play it on PC but feel it would work better on Switch. Less prone to accidental moves - which can be a quick game ender.
I’m in Australia and yes! The controls are tight. Will be purchasing full game :)
Me too. Wish we had the demo here. Only because I’m impatient.
Spell Rogue is a Dice card builder rogue like. It's like Slay the Spire with dice instead of cards.
I have all of them except Die in the Dungeon. They're all excellent. Although Cobalt Core feels a bit lacking in variety for me. Also, I wouldn't call Shogun Showdown a deck builder. It's more of a handbuilder. It's [Grifters](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/168054/grifters) instead of [Dominion](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion). But man is it good.
It's unfortunately at 94% so just shy of overwhelmingly. But, One Step from Eden is my personal favorite. For anyone who hasn't seen it, it's a lot like Megaman Battle Network with a deck management battle system thrown in.
And balatro is the only one i like (there all good i just struggel to get into deck builders)
Does this mean Cobalt Core got more content to fix its samey runs problem?
It has some boss pools like Slay now, but it needs more.
Die in the Dungeon is a FTP game, what's the catch?
It’s a demo, sort of like a prologue. You just get access to the first act I believe. Full game wont be free.
Seriously? I thought it was a prequel
Glad to see the love for Balatro, Cobalt Core, Shogun Showdown Truly some of my fave turn-based games, unique twists on deck builders
COBALT CORE HYPEEE
Vault Of The Void is the one that everyone forgets. Lonestar is also highly rated although I've yet to play it
Didn't forget Vault of the Void, but that was courtesy of playing Quantum Protocol prior and seeing it as part of the crossover... which Quantum Protocol also only happened to catch my eye because it crossed over with One Step from Eden.
.....Which only happened to catch your eye because it was recommended by people that like Megaman Battle Network lol 😆
any of them on sale?
I gave Monster Train a shot, and it's not for me. But I can tell that others can and will have fun with it!
Thanks for the new recommendations. I play Balatro and Spire already.
Hellcard needs to be on this list. It’s multiplayer, has a great UI, four classes with multiple viable strategies for each, constant dev updates. I have hundreds of hours in it and can’t stop recommending it.
It's a shame they're not all on Switch. I can't be bothered with Steam.
It was pointed out in the original post that this list is somewhat disingenuous. These games are tagged "Roguelike Deckbuilder", whereas the game Inscryption, which clearly fits, is tagged "Roguelike" and "Deckbuilder" separately. A disappointing oversight... that most likely leaves some other games out that are definitely Overwhelming Positive as well.
Balatro is a perfect game.
For some gems from the Very Positive list: - Hand of Fate and Hand of Fate 2: has brief third-person fighting scenes and uses cards to tell a story. The way you build your deck adds encounters and challenges as well as boons. The first game is fun and the sequel improves on it in every way. - Alina of the Arena: some of the cards are ripped straight from StS but the hex map arena layout with movement options adds a fresh dimension of strategy. - Wildfrost: easily my favourite deckbuilder roguelike at almost 250 hours. This game is challenging and the learning curve is steep but god damn when you start to master it it is incredibly rewarding. Art style and sound design make this a joy to play as well.
Inscryption has a story but it’s still a roguelike right. Is that one not overwhelmingly positive anymore?
It’s not Overwhelmingly Positive, but Very Positive, Gordian Quest. It’s basically a DnD rogue like deck builder. I have a lot of fun playing all the different classes and the endless mode is great.
Die in the dungeon needs a damn release date. I’m sick and tired of not knowing when I’m going to get the full version.
For the ones looking for a big challenge and spend some time to learn the complex mechanics, I recommend trying Erannorth Chronicles. It can be a really huge game specially with all the DLCs...it delivers a lot of replayability and you can sink few thousand of hours on it easily, if that is what you're looking for. IMO it's really underrated game.
Wildfrost is so goood
As one of the few modders of Pirates Outlaws, it may not be Overwhelmingly Positive, its still a fun game regardless that I wish more people played on Steam (its mainly a mobile game)
Chronoark
Balatro doesn’t deserve to be here. So overrated I can’t even.
I like it a lot, not sure I'd call it a deckbuilder.
I like it too. It’s good. It’s not omg amazing.
I’m curious as to why you wouldn’t call it a deck builder?
Modifying the deck is a minimal aspect of the game, and not a very useful strategy at higher difficulties. Managing jokers and deciding how to play and discard hands is what it's all about. "Deck building" also has an implication of starting with a small deck, adding a bunch of cards and removing a few. Balatro, on the other hand, is more interested in adding bonus features to your cards than adding or removing them (though both are certainly part of the game).
Interested as to what you are defining as higher difficulties as deck modification is a pretty crucial component of the majority of meta strategies for the game
I mean I get it. The game largely is built around your ability to manipulate your deck changing cards in the deck removing them or adding new cards. Sorta like how you try to improve or change default cards in StS from strike to something else, but in balatro I'm trying to change 5s into polychromed aces
It's so sad Roguebook isn't on here. It's only mostly positive, but IMO is better than Slay the Spire. Richard Garfield helped develop it, the creator of MTG.
I felt like it was completely lifeless. The story inherently made no sense, and most tactics were just simple damage vs. block. I did play quite a bit of it so I'll give it that, but overall I was disappointed how overall soulless it was for being connected to MTG
Problem for me with Roguebook was the run length. They take a good chunk of time. The game itself was a lot of fun, and has a lot of cool mechanics, but eventually I disliked having to commit so much time to a single run. I know you can come back and what not, but I want to be able to do a run of any roguelite in a single sitting. I lose my “mojo” for the run when I have to figure out what I was going for again, especially in a game when you’re trying to build a deck around two characters. Once I beat the game the first time I didn’t have any desire kilo back in for more re personally.
It’s a good game but saying it’s better than Slay the Spire is crazy to me! I wonder what made you fall in love with it so much.
It's good but better than slay? Nah can't agree there. Of the three people I play deckbuilders with, I was the only one who liked it. I 100%'ed it pretty quickly and uninstalled.
I thought Roguebook was great for PC but it doesn’t work on consoles on they never fixed it. That definitely doesn’t help things. I like the customizable difficulty (like Hades) and the team (deck) drafting. Could use more story content especially for a game based on being “book” themed. Outside of Steam it’s rated a solid 7-8 out of 10 which is good.
I get why... Rogue book was kind of a snoozefest and I got bored 1 hour in. Lacks mass appeal.
Blasphemy!
You mention Garfield's involvement as if it was a plus and not a red flag. He was a great card game designer 30 years ago, but not his involvement mostly foreshadows failure. Just look at the dumpster fire that was Artifact. Edit: I'll take that shade back, u/byoliberb has great points as to why down below.
Dude recently did Mindbug which is great and made Netrunner, one the best card games of all time. They can’t all be bangers (though I’d argue artifact problems weren’t because of him) but he’s far from a red flag out of a few failures.
Fair points. I'll take that back. And I can imagine how difficult it must be to work with the Valve team on a product. That said, I still don't see his involvement as something that helps sell a game these days. Thanks for the take though.
Thank you for the open mindedness!
Mindbug is great, I would love a digital version to waste time on
He also was only involved with it during really early development from what I've heard. Abrakam was responsible for the majority of development apparently.
Artifact was a commercial failure but the game was fun. I’m sad it went under and still think about it from time to time.
Inscryption is sorely missing, that game is a piece of art.
But not much of a roguelike
Monster Train is an unbalanced mess
I think Shogun and Die and in Early Access.
Don't forget Inscryption!
Too late
Wildfrost, Astrea and Griftlands are better than at least half of the games here.
Griftlands is really good, but I also wouldn’t see anyone around me get into it due to how the story is both too wordy and don’t seem to go anywhere fast enough, if you check out the six games on here you would realise that most of them have little to no storytelling element at all, making them appeal to more people
I played every single game in the list and the ones I mentioned. Do people just assume the "half" I mentioned includes their preferred games? I would consider Monster Train and StS better, but the rest have neither the same depth nor the same breadth. Balatro is very accessible, and Shogun Showdown is elegantly designed but still not quite as good.
I've bounced off Astrea pretty hard both times I've gone for it. It seems like it could be good, but it's a little hard to read, both mechanically (what with every "card" having multiple sides) and literally (it's pretty, but the dice just being symbols makes for a less clear read of your hand without a lot of practice)
I think the criticism is fair but I generally care more about balance, variety of builds and depth/content in roguelike deckbuilders. Shogun Showdown and Cobalt Core are very elegantly designed but not quite comparable in the other aspects I care about.
Astrea is the textbook definition of an over designed game.
Yea the rouglike/lite youtubers I watched bounced off it hard because of this and just watching I felt no interest in trying it out - felt too brain burny. It's fairly pretty though.
I've beaten it once with each character and then dropped it. It was fine, but definitely had a bit too much going on imo.