Nowhere Prophet

Not necessarily my type of game, but it isn't bad.

Why is this game Steam Deck verified? Not all options are mapped to buttons, the map can be controlled with the touchpad but Y axis is inverted and X axis is not inverted, which makes it extremely awkward to navigate. Tip: you can set the options to ‘cursor’, which turns the right stick into the mouse. Works better but is finicky. I think that the game itself might actually be okay but will need to try again sometime later on a pc.

It's good. It's a bit weird, but it's good. Functionally, this is a Banner Saga esque resource tracking game where your units die. But it's also a ccg roguelike. The spin it puts on this is interesting. Your summons take chips of damage, which lowers their cost, drops their starting health, and can eliminate them from your deck if they get damaged enough. So everything plays kind of expendably. Chump blockers don't stick around long unless you keep spending resources at campsites to renew them. Of course, a unit that KOs a player loses its damage chips, increases its cost, and gets an upgrade. So there's a lot of flex to your deck even over the course of a single area. Runs, for their part, are solidly long. About 4~ hours on normal, which I cleared on my first try. Unlocks are mostly different ways of playing. New classes and cards. This isn't a roguelike you grind to win. Which. Does mean it might not have huge staying power unless you really vibe with the mechanics. I thought they were cool, but didn't love them enough to do another run. I think on sale, this is a really safe pick. It's good, approachable, solidly written, the art is nice. It wasn't lifechan…

Extremely frustrating and not fun at all. Game has no customization and is extremely dull and annoying, feels more like a job than a game.

Faith walks barren roads Every follower matters Hope survives the dust

It's slay the spire, but with more lines of text and worse. Crucially: it's really hard, meta progression is very slow, balance is really poor at times, and bugs still exist. For example of the latter, I "merged with the machine" after beating both final bosses and didn't unlock anything despite playing a whole game (not quick) of a leader and deck I don't enjoy just because they would unlock other leaders and decks. There's 2 hours down the drain just because the dev either has a bug or is spiteful. Either way I can't recommend a game that doesn't respect your time.