Griftlands

Very slick and underrated card game. Great worldbuilding, characters, writing and pacing. It has kind of an OG Star Wars vibe to it. Klei games always have good art direction, and this is no exception. The card battles are well done too. There's "negotiations" and "battles" so you have two different decks and it doesn't feel repetitive. My main complaint is that this game shouldn't have been a roguelite card game. As I said, the story and writing are great, but they're just too rigid for multiple playthroughs. You can unlock three different characters to play as, but once you've played through each one a couple times, you start to dread playing the same character again. There are little randomized elements in each of the three main stories that add replayability, but it's not enough to make more runs feel worth it. The game just seems like it would have worked better as a more traditional turn-based RPG. It's still a very solid game, and I do recommend it. You might tolerate the repetition better than me.

It's a cool and engaging concept. The stories and gameplay of the 3 playable characters get progressively more fun and interesting, so there's certainly something to look forward to. The one thing I cannot wrap my head around, is the abhorrent Mettle system (character upgrades.) It takes an absurd amount of time grinding to max it out. And unless you're a complete newbie at roguelike cardgames, you'll have finished all of the content before you get there, but that's not the cherry on top. Once you reach Prestige 7 (the final difficulty modifier), you'll realize that all of your grinding, enjoyment or even just habituation of the enhanced gameplay goes out the window, as said difficulty DISABLES the upgrades. Why you would include this system just to scrap it, I have absolutely no idea. But in the end I had a fun time, so it's be a recommendation despite this major flaw.

This is the only deckbuilder I have played so far and man, it's so frigging difficult - and addictive. The achievements of this game are so far off everything that I manage to get done..... But the game is a breeze. The mechanics are cool and well explained. The presentation is superb - as can be expected from Klei games. The sound is great. So, for me this game is a garantee to have a good time and get distraction from everything that sucks nowadays.....