Tetra Tactics

I get that they felt the need to innovate something, but they added an annoying layer of complexity on FF's simple basic game.

User interface is unhelpful. Card interaction is unintuitive. There is no capability to help plan potential card interactions such as highlighting cards that the card you play will interact with, forcing the player to rely entirely on memory for every card interaction. The saving grace there is that if you have a really good memory, you'll likely excel at this game. Overall not a great successor to Triple Triad.

The roguelike you're looking for. Huge depth with deck building mechanics. Each move matters and the sheer amount of strategy makes less of a stat grind like other roguelikes

Tetra Tactics is a creative fusion of tactical card battles and roguelite progression, developed by Jabari Alii, Adrian Marple, and manadream, and published by indie.io. Drawing inspiration from classic grid-based card games, it expands those familiar mechanics into a much larger standalone experience centered on strategic planning, deck customization, and repeatable adventures. Instead of relying solely on the luck of card draws, the game places heavy emphasis on positioning, timing, and understanding the strengths of every card in your collection. The result is a title that rewards careful thought while remaining approachable enough for players who are new to the genre. Combat takes place on a compact board where every placement matters. Cards represent different combat styles and elemental affinities, requiring players to think several turns ahead before committing to a move. Capturing territory and outmaneuvering opponents becomes just as important as collecting powerful cards, creating encounters that feel closer to tactical puzzles than traditional card battles. Because each decision can dramatically alter the flow of a match, victories feel satisfying and earned rather than…

Info about me and my playtime: I have played 5 runs. I typically dislike meta progression in roguelikes. I know the developer of the game. Review: Initially the game is mind-numbingly hard. Easy to understand on a baseline, but as soon as you realize how many options you have, decision paralysis quickly can overtake you. My suggestion? Don't look for optimal play, look for plays that will improve your position. Also try to do this using your worse cards first, so you have your good cards still to correct for errors. After only a short while of playing the game, you start to get a feel for how the game works more intuitively, and you can start to bait out bad moves by the enemy AI- although after 5 hours, i still keep getting surprised by it. This is a good thing. The game also features pretty in-depth meta progression, and doesn't demand a ton of time from you, You get the meta-currency quickly. If you've played other games like this, it will feel familiar. Some increase your rewards, some decrease the cost of shops, some improve your starting position, and some give you more heroes to play. The most interesting part of meta progression (and eventually just regular tweaki…

I wanted to like this because it's the closest thing to Triple Triad I've seen on steam, but I honestly couldn't find any enjoyment playing it. I probably could have given it more time to see if it would grow on me. There might be too much going on with the upgrades, and the different rules, the symbols that really don't matter ultimately? Not my cup of tea.