This game is a great price for what you're getting, but the focus on creating a "meta" nostalgiac experience as opposed to focusing on being a card game somewhat detracts from the experience IMO (!!!Spoilers!!!).


I haven't quite finished it yet, but the I've enjoyed playing what I have played, being about 70% way through all MAIN aspects of the game. Being separated into 3 acts that don't have (much) of an impact on one another doesn't benefit the game, but I'm hoping we can revisit each game type once the full story is complete.
The 1st act is the cabin, and I love just about everything. The aesthetic, card system, secrets, and mechanics all meld together well, allowing for interesting gameplay and a 9/10 rogue-like. Even when you die in this section, you get to pick pieces from your deck of cards to create a deathcard, a player-character card that can be used in future runs and can be used by other people randomly as they play and find them through the game. Even if the game is frustrating, you can look to your death card to get an idea of what the next few runs can look like. It gives hope and lasting impact to runs that, in most other rouge-likes, would probably be considered "throwaways." The "bleak with a silver lining" feeling is something the game rides on the shoulders of for the majority of the first section. You are trapped, one of many caught, but in a half buffalo bill way and a half "grandma wants me to come over to talk" kinda way.
I really enjoyed the cabin section of the game, but the next 2 fell flat, with act 2 being more like a sequel/prequel to the first section with some revisions to the combat system which I, again, didn't love, (specifically the fact that squirrels are mixed into the deck, instead of having it's own separate deck you can pull from). The new cards and deckbuilding aspects were cool though! I liked the new cards, but avoided the majority of the magician cards, since they didn't syngergize well enough to put in with my preferred deck of mostly beasts and necro cards. The robot cards were decent, but I didn't really like the energy currency, which brings us to...
Act 3 is a bit more similar to act 1 than act 2, with a similar map and area to explore with but a few revisions to mix things up. 5 lanes instead of 4 on each side of the table, and a deck of exclusively robot cards with some new abilities. I don't mind the cards, but the battery system just doesn't really work that well. most cards can't be played until you have enough energy to play them, which gains by 1 each turn to a total of 6, which some cards require. You cannot amass more energy than 6 as far as I know. This usually forces a mixed deck, but if you consistently draw cards that forces you to skip turns or just play empty vessels (0/2, replacement for squirrels), until you can actually get something on the board, which CAN happen in act 1, but more opportunities for cards and more frequent events to upgrade/merge them present themselves, so it feels like it's your fault, WHICH IT IS. THAT is my favorite part of this game, the forgiveness without babying. The checkpoints and open world mechanic just forces the player to backtrack through areas for shops or essentially keep running into a brick wall, hoping something will make it crack. The more I play it, the less I like it.
All of the secrets are fun, no frustration there. I just wish you could return to a previous area without resetting your save data...

Overall: 7.8/10. As a full game, it's disjointed and obviously panders to a specific demographic of early-3D computer gamers who have grown to some degree. Past the nostalgia-baiting, it's a really good game that is conceptually fun, but sometimes lacks focus on it's gameplay progressing, instead vying for 2.5 games in a trench coat, all of which are related by blood. Buy the 20 dollar game.

UPDATE: Finished the game. The ending half redeemed the third act, and as the third act fleshed out it tied more into second one. I hadn't seen a boss at the point of writing the previous paragraph, and now I feel like you should most definitely play it. 8.3/10

This game is a great price for what you're getting, but the focus on creating a "meta" nostalgiac experience as opposed to focusing on being a card game somewhat detracts from the experience IMO (!!!Spoilers!!!). I haven't quite finished it yet, but the I've enjoyed playing what I have played, being about 70% way through all MAIN aspects of the game. Being separated into 3 acts that don't have (much) of an impact on one another doesn't benefit the game, but I'm hoping we can revisit each game type once the full story is complete. The 1st act is the cabin, and I love just about everything. The aesthetic, card system, secrets, and mechanics all meld together well, allowing for interesting gameplay and a 9/10 rogue-like. Even when you die in this section, you get to pick pieces from your deck of cards to create a deathcard, a player-character card that can be used in future runs and can be used by other people randomly as they play and find them through the game. Even if the game is frustrating, you can look to your death card to get an idea of what the next few runs can look like. It gives hope and lasting impact to runs that, in most other rouge-likes, would probably be considered "throwaways." The "bleak with a silver lining" feeling is something the game rides on the shoulders of for the majority of the first section. You are trapped, one of many caught, but in a half buffalo bill way and a half "grandma wants me to come over to talk" kinda way. I really enjoyed the cabin section of the game, but the next 2 fell flat, with act 2 being more like a sequel/prequel to the first section with some revisions to the combat system which I, again, didn't love, (specifically the fact that squirrels are mixed into the deck, instead of having it's own separate deck you can pull from). The new cards and deckbuilding aspects were cool though! I liked the new cards, but avoided the majority of the magician cards, since they didn't syngergize well enough to put in with my preferred deck of mostly beasts and necro cards. The robot cards were decent, but I didn't really like the energy currency, which brings us to... Act 3 is a bit more similar to act 1 than act 2, with a similar map and area to explore with but a few revisions to mix things up. 5 lanes instead of 4 on each side of the table, and a deck of exclusively robot cards with some new abilities. I don't mind the cards, but the battery system just doesn't really work that well. most cards can't be played until you have enough energy to play them, which gains by 1 each turn to a total of 6, which some cards require. You cannot amass more energy than 6 as far as I know. This usually forces a mixed deck, but if you consistently draw cards that forces you to skip turns or just play empty vessels (0/2, replacement for squirrels), until you can actually get something on the board, which CAN happen in act 1, but more opportunities for cards and more frequent events to upgrade/merge them present themselves, so it feels like it's your fault, WHICH IT IS. THAT is my favorite part of this game, the forgiveness without babying. The checkpoints and open world mechanic just forces the player to backtrack through areas for shops or essentially keep running into a brick wall, hoping something will make it crack. The more I play it, the less I like it. All of the secrets are fun, no frustration there. I just wish you could return to a previous area without resetting your save data... Overall: 7.8/10. As a full game, it's disjointed and obviously panders to a specific demographic of early-3D computer gamers who have grown to some degree. Past the nostalgia-baiting, it's a really good game that is conceptually fun, but sometimes lacks focus on it's gameplay progressing, instead vying for 2.5 games in a trench coat, all of which are related by blood. Buy the 20 dollar game. UPDATE: Finished the game. The ending half redeemed the third act, and as the third act fleshed out it tied more into second one. I hadn't seen a boss at the point of writing the previous paragraph, and now I feel like you should most definitely play it. 8.3/10