Kernel

This game is a roguelite, meaning each run begins on a randomly generated map filled with various events and encounters. While the map may feature multiple types of events, the main focus of the game is combat. Players are often faced with standard battles, challenge elite enemies, or take on a formidable boss to conclude their run. Each battle’s difficulty is indicated by a star rating. Aside from battles, the only other type of event you will encounter is a random event or the shop. In these shops, you have the option to purchase new cards to expand your deck or select an artifact that grants specific passive bonuses, enhancing your abilities or providing long-term advantages. Although the map allows movement to the left or right in order to reach as many events as possible, there is a circle that gradually pushes you toward the center. If you get caught outside this safe zone, your run ends prematurely. Combat in this game is card-based. At the start of a battle, you draw five cards from your deck and use them to place units on the battlefield. Each card has an energy cost, and since your energy pool is limited, you must make careful decisions about whether to deploy multiple…

I played the game demo for 4 hours so I can say it's good. It's a deckbuilding auto battler, it has some weird sprites and mediocre controls, but it is really fun, and sometimes a good idea and execution are enough for a game to be good. It's sad that it doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Kernel, developed and published by ArchZoDo, is an inventive indie title that ventures into the uncharted intersection between deck-building strategy, auto-battler mechanics, and roguelike exploration. It is a game built on the idea of fusing tactical planning with emergent combat, placing the player in the role of Kamus, a lone wanderer traversing mysterious star worlds in pursuit of the ultimate truth behind the destiny of souls. From the outset, Kernel establishes a melancholic sci-fi atmosphere, suggesting a universe where existence itself has reached an end and only through conflict, intellect, and evolution can meaning be rediscovered. This backdrop gives the game a philosophical undertone uncommon in its genre, elevating its structure beyond a mere strategy experience and into something with an almost metaphysical texture. The core gameplay in Kernel is centered around the careful construction of a card-based skill system that fuels the player’s progression. Players acquire skill cards, items, and summoned creatures as they advance through procedurally designed maps. Each run requires the player to build a deck that can withstand increasingly difficult challenges as enemies…

A++ can't wait for updates and development

Seriously great game and especially potential. From the perspective of game mechanics maybe the most fun Auto Battler I've played until now. I think higher difficulty settings/mechanics would be nice at some point. I'm looking forward to future updates!

Balance is WAAAAAAAAY off. Spent about 30 minutes on a run just to wipe the entire field with two cards I had from the very beginning, they legitimately had zero modifications on them. Could be a good game, but it has a massive amount of work to go to get it to a playable state. As is there is no reason to play. No depth or challenge whatsoever. Tried two more runs assuming I just wasn't deep enough into the "story" causing the game to be easier. Nope. Each and every time I just toss two cards down and wipe the entire field. My units are basically irrelevant. Really confused with the balancing of this game. There is no way it was tested at all before being released into early access. Who in their right mind thought this was in a playable state?