Fate’s Theater

This is the first review I've ever left because I think this game deserves more recognition. I've really enjoyed it and believe it is more than worth the price. As someone who loves completing collections and gaining acheivements, it defintely scratches that itch. The poetry is well written and keeps things intresting, plus I really like the artstyle. Games can drag on a bit (8 hours in and I still can't finish a game in 7 rounds or under like you need for an achievement), but I expect an update to add custom rules or something could easily help this. Like some people, I was shown this game because I played and enjoyed Bad End Theater. If you liked that game because of the narrative only this might not be the game for you, but for this price you should give Fate's Theater a shot anyways.

Really fun, and good for the price! Only thing is, the rounds can basically go on forever once you figure out how to balance your points to spend against the ai... most of the three hours I've played as of writing this was in just one round in singleplayer... got to the point I just had to quit cause it was starting to get frustrating as the ai kept getting boons that would help it JUST enough that I couldn't get one over it. As soon as I would get it down to 3 cards it would keep getting boons that would put me at just enough disadvantage for it to match me, only for me to be able to get it back down to 3 cards, then it would keep getting boons all over again... it was just a loop of this the entire game. Might be better against friends, but I have only played singleplayer so far si I can't say. Still worth a shot and a really cool game!

probably the best option there is for a cards game currently available on steam... too bad it's pfl...

Interesting concept on the dual of fate's idea. The gameplay loop has you buffing and getting debuffed mortals to complete stories together. You can create some interesting combos with some fun outcomes. My issue with the game is the "battle" mechanics are a bit simple and honestly feel like the games will just go on forever teetering and tottering between the two sides. There are random events that happen between rounds but other than making one side stronger for that turn they didn't really seem to have much effect on the rest of the game as a whole. With some tuning I think this could be really fun. I recommend this if you like create little stories and then getting stuck in a stale mate for eternity.

Not so much a game as it is a [i]toy[/i]. The play loop itself is almost perfectly zero-sum without the RNG 'fate' system. What that means is that it's incredibly difficult to meaningfully win or lose on a turn-by-turn basis unless the game itself is favoring one player or another. And with some of fate's actions resulting in little more than just moving points around... some of the game's own interferences don't change the 'zero-sum-ness' of it all. An easy and good way to change this game to make it more strategic and, dare I say? Fun. Is to make it so the mortals themselves aren't functionally identical. Sure, fate sometimes makes changes to a particular type of mortal, but if the mortals themselves did something besides just [i]being[/i] pieces to fight over, the game would feel a little less like a game of War occasionally being manipulated by dice rolls.

It is a cute idea for a game and normally I eat these types of games up. The only reason I'm not recommending is because the AI is just awful. Games will sometimes last hours and it takes awhile to figure out a good strategy for the game. The worst part is is that because of the amount of randomness you can't really have a strategy. In the last game I had I was going to win and then the ai end of round events literally just stopped me from refilling fate and voting for like 4 rounds in a row and because of that I lost. There is no strategy in that. If you are interested in deck builders play inscription or balatro, they are much better and actually fun - like seriously don't waste your 3 bucks.