The Mnemograph

Overall, not too shabby. I'm fond of the premise, and the way the game is split into several phases is neat and clean. So far my only concern is the slowness of the game's key component, the card game that depicts the events taking place within the city during the night. Being able to speed things up would be greatly appreciated. And I suppose I expected a bit from more the factory management phase, so extra upgrades and things to tweak would be welcome additions. Come to think of it, this also applies to the city control phase. I do see the value in keeping things on the lean side, but there's lean, and there's barebones, and the line between them felt rather thin to me in this case. Other than that, I'm not seeing any issues that'd prevent The Mnemograph from becoming a swell little game towards the end of its early access journey. I have zero recollection of just how it infiltrated my wishlist, but I'm pleased that it did.

Review written a few days after Early Access release — the game may have changed significantly since then! Mnemograph is built on a fascinating concept that mixes three distinct phases: construction, expansion, and combat. Each stage feels meaningful, with choices that carry real consequences later on. - Production phase: You must decide whether to focus on resilience or raw production capacity. Every decision has trade-offs, and you’ll need to live with the ripple effects in later turns. - Expansion phase: Do you grab territory from an opponent or expand into free spaces? Both paths have different outcomes. Taking the lead in conquest makes you the first player to act in combat — which isn’t always ideal. Timing your push is crucial. - Combat phase: Easily the most fun part. Depending on turn order, you’ll need to defend, protect your boosts, or go on the offensive. This is where big plays happen. The card variety is impressive, with different specialties shaping unique strategies and battles. - Quests: On top of that, quests can either give you powerful boosts or completely wreck your plans. Risk-taking is present in every phase, and it makes the whole experience thrilling. Th…

After a few hours playing, I'd say this is pretty good! I'm halfway through my second run, and though I have to fight hard my habits of reloading a save as soon as I'm trailing far behind my AI opponents, the depth of the game starts to show itself around that point. I reckon the first couple of turns will always kinda seem the same, but after that, your choices start to matter, whether it's during the deck building phase, or during the actual card battle phase. You have to think carefully about the cards you play, and the simplicity of the first few minutes make way to a surprisingly rewarding and challenging game. My only grief is that it lacks a tiny bit of UI hints to guide the beginner. For example, it took me a few seconds to remember that you can't play more than 3 cards during a turn, and there were no visual cues to help me realize that I had reached my limit. I'm pretty sure this can be easily fixed, and that's what an early access is for. Beside, once you've got the hang of it, the ropes of the game come quite naturally. But aside from this minor issue, the game is surprisingly polished and seems quite balanced. 5 bucks is more than worth the price!

Run a cutthroat newspaper factory. Not my cup of tea but for someone who loves getting into a nice layered board gamesque game this might be right down your dark alley filled with thugs ready to beat the ♥♥♥♥ out of you to take your territory because this game is kind of a mob simulator with a printing press front on it. I recommend this game if you like papercuts and crime.

Yes. https://youtu.be/swSyPRiNnJs

A cool game with an interesting take on deckbuilder gameplay. I would say that the gameplay doesn't match the theme very well though - it feels more like you are a generic crime boss than a newspaper editor and the whole memories of the dead thing isn't really explored at all. Definitely worth $5 if you are a deckbuilder fan though!