Deckbuilders remain one of my favorite roguelike-styled games, and we had four very different ones that I wanted to give a shoutout to for 2022.
Honorable Mentions — Castle Morihisa
A riff off of Slay the Spire‘s formula, Castle Morihisa took the deckbuilding design to feudal Japan for card battles against yokai, Oni, and lots of ninjas. I liked the idea of the passive tree being randomized on each play, along with the different varieties of characters. All-and-all, I didn’t think the game did enough from a design standpoint to stand out among the other games and why it takes an honorable mention.
#3 Potionomics
What happens when you combine running a shop, dating, and cards into a magical world? You get Potionomics. This game comes close to delivering the shop sim aspect from Reccetear, but doesn’t quite get there in that respect. I like the idea of negotiation battles as you try to get the most money for your goods, and the aesthetics are fantastic. What stops it from getting higher is that the deck building is limited to the shop negotiations and not really used anywhere else. But the game itself is quite charming and I hope is the start of more in this style.
#2: Circadian Dice
While not quite a deck builder, Circadian Dice is a “dice builder” game that I tried the demo to a long time ago. Now all, while the game doesn’t quite get there in terms of aesthetics, the gameplay is very solid. You need to balance upgrading your dice, while keeping ahead of the enemies, and completing the different challenges all to get a high score to unlock more areas. The presentation I feel is the weakest aspect, but if you are looking for something different from a deck builder, then definitely check this one out.
#1: Vault of the Void
2022 was surprisingly light in terms of the release of deck builders, with many of them coming out in 2023. Vault of the Void has been in early access for some time, and the game finally released with another different take on deck building. Focusing on combos and upgrades, the game plays differently compared to the other ones that I’ve seen. Similar to Monster Train, you need to establish a game plan in terms of the cards and the enemies you are going to fight, and then execute it as well as possible if you want to stand a chance at winning.
