I don't have a lot of time for gaming anymore and with around 1000 games in my library I've never even played, I'm trying to cut back on buying new ones. So when a friend told me I had to play this one, I was skeptical. I do love card games and strategy - but I also have a lot of burnout from poor Early Access experiences and since my maternity leave is over and now I have to ugh, make money AND look after a baby, absolutely no spare time for gaming. So I surprised myself when I realized that three days after launching this, I'd managed to clock up 15 hours.

That pile of paperwork next to me, the unfinished laundry and my mums messages asking if I'm okay because she hasn't heard from me for a few days may be related in some way, but you can't prove anything! I was so tired last night I beat the final boss with the Ironclad for the first time, sent a screenshot to the friend who bullied me into playing the game (essential step), turned my PC off, walked to bed and fell asleep, to dream of deck building.

Despite my friend having played double my hours and generally being vastly superior at games to me, his playstyle choices have been vastly different. He prefers Silent, the poison character, whereas I prefer Ironclad, the strength deck. He'd never used the style of deck I used to get my first win (barricade, massive armor stacking, dual wield into body slam) and I played with quite a few different deck types before settling on my winning synergy. Even though there are not a massive array of cards, there is a significant amount of choice and strategy in your play, coupled with constant adjustments needing to be made as you pick up relics and rewards.

With over 9,000 reviews (no I mean literally, that's not a meme) and overwhelmingly positive, you don't need someone slow to this bandwagon to describe the mechanics of the game. What I will say is this is a fun roguelike deck-building card game that is simple to grasp, hard to master and incredibly addictive. I'd love to say it can be played in short bursts when you have 30 minutes here and there, but only if you've levelled your willpower to max and can walk away from the PC.

Highly recommended from me, even in Early Access, with hopefully even more content to come.

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