Stolen Crown

Fantastic indie gem. This one is small but beautifully formed. The quick version is that it combines: 1. Deck building to equip heroes with potential actions, similar to Trials of Fire and Alina of the Arena 2. Roguelike runs, where you choose between different types of event (combat, boss combat, merchant, dungeon, workshop etc) similar to many card-battling roguelikes / Slay the Spire-likes 3. Turn-based, hex based tactical combat, with direct control over your main character and potentially, one or more allies. The combat is similar to Crowntakers, Faeria and Alina of the Arena. Each of the three main ingredients is solid and enjoyable and they form up together very well for a compelling 'one more stage' 'one more run' experience. The combat is the star. You start out with just a single hero and potentially one ally. Heroes have both abilities, which run on cooldowns, and also cards. Allies only have abilities. As you complete stages, you can: ~ Add more abilities to your Hero and allies, via levelling up with experience ~ Add more cards to your hero deck ~ Find relics, which give passive boons to your team ~ Add more allies ~ Forge more powerful cards by combining exis…

Don't let the simplistic graphics fool you; the gameplay loop is extremely fun and challenging. So many roguelike/lite deckbuilders could learn from how cleanly this game gets you into a new run, mixes in some rng, and keeping you hungry for what's next. It's the kind of game where you keep wanting "one more". Very different games, but I'd compare that play-time fun-to-grind efficiency to "Monster Train", which is very high praise. I mean efficiency as opposed to the long haul, somewhat tedius grinds that can be found in otherwise good games of this genre. Worth the price, absolutely.

Amazing concept, that deserves much more attention and support! Roguelike-CCG meets tactical board-game - i love it! Sadly, the game keeps crashing for me, which is why i refunded it...

Cute little deckbuilder with a tactical angle. Classes play pretty differently and there's some interesting relics that also change the playstyle.

+Player choice +Passable music -Aesthetics are low -Plays somewhat poorly, feels like a chore with a mix of puzzle-like feel to it -Doesn't somehow feel satisfying = Neutral review, but since I wouldn't recommend such to myself, I won't do it to you either. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬛ ⬛🟨⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧⬛🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧⬜⬜⬜⬛⬛⬛⬜⬜⬜⬛🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧⬛⬛⬛🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬛🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛⬛🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬛⬛⬛🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧⬛⬛⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧⬛⬛⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧⬛🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

I liked this at start, however the first run that I won I found the final boss to be a complete slog. The first two phases were fine, but the third he comes in with 125 health with 10 mana and an obnoxious combo of abilities, starting with every two turns he heals for 10 and clears all debuffs as well as halves damage for that turn, then every three turns he sets all incoming damage to 1. This lead to an incredibly long and boring fight where I had summons tanks while I slowly whittled away his health. The game isn't worth that fight.