Card Games Are Getting Even More Inventive On PC, And I Couldn’t Be More Excited

Traditional deckbuilding card games have long captured the hearts of gamers, with many eagerly anticipating the arrival of Slay the Spire 2. However, the genre is witnessing a refreshing evolution as innovative titles blend elements of tactical RPGs and tabletop gaming, pushing the boundaries of conventional deckbuilding. The recent Steam Next Fest provided an excellent platform for players to sample these exciting new offerings, hinting at the future direction of card games.

Innovative Gameplay in Shuffle Tactics

Among the standout titles is Shuffle Tactics, which elegantly bridges the gap between deckbuilders and tactical RPGs. At first glance, it resembles a classic Final Fantasy Tactics-style game, featuring multiple units maneuvering across a grid to engage enemy forces. However, the twist lies in the characters’ unique hands of cards, which allow players to buff allies and launch attacks against opponents.

Beyond its clever premise, Shuffle Tactics excels as a tactical game, featuring a deck filled with inventive abilities. One notable skill allows the protagonist to hurl their sword across the battlefield, while others can only be activated when the sword is out of the user’s grasp. Positioning plays a crucial role, enabling players to orchestrate satisfying strategies that involve knocking enemies into one another. The battles are brisk and engaging, allowing players to test their strategic prowess without overstaying their welcome. Between skirmishes, players can interact with NPCs to upgrade their decks, ensuring a seamless blend of tactical gameplay and deckbuilding mechanics.

Exploring As We Descend

Moving further from traditional deckbuilding, As We Descend incorporates adventure game elements into its design. While combat remains familiar to fans of the genre, each character possesses their own hand of cards that can be enhanced between battles. A unique feature divides the battlefield into guard and support zones, with character movement between these areas affecting available abilities and adding strategic depth. Players must also protect a powerful artifact, the lantern, throughout their encounters.

What truly distinguishes As We Descend is its narrative and light city-building elements. The game opens in the City-Vault, a sanctuary shielded from a consuming miasma, where players must ensure the protective barrier remains intact. Within this hub, players can utilize special cards to engage with citizens, facilitating shopping, unit upgrades, and chance encounters that yield various rewards and consequences. Each expedition outside the City-Vault is a quest for resources, with players limited in how much they can carry, adding an intriguing layer of strategy to the overall experience.

Reimagining Deckbuilding with Into the Restless Ruins

Taking a bold step further, Into the Restless Ruins redefines the deckbuilding genre by shifting the focus from combat to dungeon creation. Here, players use their deck to construct a dungeon, with each card representing a different room. Once the build phase concludes, players explore the dungeon they’ve crafted, automatically engaging in battles with enemies while benefiting from the bonuses provided by the strategically placed rooms. The objective is to uncover seals hidden within preset rooms, which are essential for progressing and ultimately confronting a boss.

This innovative dungeon-building mechanic draws inspiration from tabletop RPGs, allowing players to engage in both combat and creative problem-solving as they design their own dungeons to maximize rewards. While roguelike deckbuilders have been a staple in the indie gaming scene, the potential for fresh surprises remains vast. As developers continue to explore and expand the genre, the excitement surrounding these new titles suggests a promising future for card games.